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Note: I use the word “cult” here as shorthand for “a closed cultural context where rules and coercive control of the individual have a potentially harmful effect.” (1) Max Marnau Spiritual abuse is not primarily the well-publicised sexual abuse within churches, church-related organisations, and cults. While spiritual abuse may well include sexual abuse, and sexual abuse within a faith context is undoubtedly spiritual abuse, that is not the core of it. The core is, as Barker (

Why increasing numbers of Autistic adults are turning to AI for support, and what this trend reveals about gaps in the counselling profession. Philippa Balazs Back in August, BACP published my blog “Are Autistic clients best served by Autistic therapists?”. The blog was inspired by the recent development of the Autistic Therapist Directory and highlighted the systemic failings Autistic clients face in therapy; why many are seeking openly Autistic counsellors; and my call-to-a

How to cope with being perceived as a neurodivergent person

A therapist’s lived experience of autistic menopause, identity, and mental health Menopause is often described as a biological transition. For autistic and ADHD people, it is something much more complex. It is sensory. It is emotional. It is neurological. And for many of us, it arrives early, loudly, and without a map. I am autistic ADHD – AuDHD, 60 years old and post-menopause. I am also a therapist. This work matters to me because I have lived it — not just in theory, not j