Certificate in Working Therapeutically with Autistic Adults
This page describes the Certificate in Working Therapeutically with Autistic Adults course that is running from 28th February 2026 on selected SATURDAYS.
YOU CAN SEE ON THIS PAGE
the course description
the training dates
the supervision group dates
the fee (enrollment, then either a one-off, or make 3 payments)
What is this course?
This course has been written for counsellors and psychotherapists who are concerned about equity and inclusion regarding neurodiversity, and, most importantly, are very concerned about autistic people when they come into therapy.
What we are offering here isn’t a ‘model’ of therapy, as such. But our training is focusing on being neuroaffirming, culturally attuned, trauma informed, and social justice minded, and genuinely therapeutic. These are key elements of being neurodiversity-affirming, and our course emphasises the skills of doing good therapy as well. Our work as therapists must be leading to outcomes of better mental health and wellbeing of autistic clients.
We take the positionality of the bio-psycho-social model, rather than the medical model, in all that we believe in. The course presentations are around big subjects, such as relationships, minority stress, being a human being, the history of autism as it relates to us therapists, and much more.
Why do therapists do training to work with autistic clients?
You probably already know this, that legally, autistic people have a right to mental healthcare being adjusted to their needs. And yet, what exactly does that mean - ‘adjusted to their needs?’ Does it mean that therapists have to adjust the design and delivery of therapy so that it works for autistic people? Yes, it does. You know, autistic people themselves state that the biggest barrier to therapy is the lack of knowledge of the therapist about autistic people. The research materials show this, and it is what we hear from clients on a weekly basis. Autistic clients do know when a therapist actually does not understand what real autistic people are like, and the realities of life experiences and wellbeing.
Autistic people have the most challenges with their mental health and suicide, and yet they are the population that are least likely to seek help. Our sector needs to rebuild trust in the quality healthcare that we have the potential to provide to improve mental health outcomes for autistic clients.
What is the format like on the training days?
The training is delivered live in a group of attendees and trainers on Zoom.
Each course module is one day. Each day has 4 sessions.
From 10 am until around 11:20 am (then a15 min break)
From 11:35 to around 1 pm (then one hour for lunch)
From 2 pm to around 3:20 pm (then a 15 minute break)
From 3:40 to around 5 pm. (end of the day, end of module)
Nearly all of the sessions have something presented and that then is followed by a group discussion related to it.
Additionally, there is a supervisory clinical discussion group that you can come to (10 am until 12 noon). We found these to be really lovely for bonding, processing, and reflecting together (also an option of bringing your client work for supervision or for group insights).
How will this enrich my work?
The learning materials have been written by Vauna Beauvais and Eoin Stephens, both psychotherapists of over 25 years with expertise in autism and neurodiversity, as well as in therapy - and both are autistic people
The course curriculum includes insights from the clinical experiences of the trainer's professional therapy and supervision practice, their own lived experience (along with those of attendees) and learning assertions that are supported by up-to-date research.
Overall, what emerges is that colleagues who study with us are impacted by the experiences on the course and this becomes integrated. We found that what happened as the course was going along was that the attendees were evolving as professionals. Paramount is our respect for you and for what you already know and do in your therapeutic practice. in the ways that you already know it. And we join together with who and where you are (and who we all are, in fact) along with what is contained in the course materials, to enrich us all with the added layer of the lens of autistic people. Insights, lightbulb moments, and thought-provoking times follow our exploration of autistic clients’ inner experience and outer realities. We leave with this informing our work.
Is this course for me?
If you feel reasonably skilled to work with autistic adults already, and yet know there are some ways in which you feel there’s something not always working out with those clients, this certificate course offers a lot of information and practical how-to’s. And, because real clients are never like case vignettes in books, the group discussions are invaluable for exploring the nuances involved. equips you to work therapeutically with autistic clients and feel confident about having an inclusive practice that enhances (and saves) the lives of autistic people coming therapy.
If you are already doing good work with autistic clients (that is actually therapeutic) we know that you will also benefit from this course. When you have a group of therapists from a variety of backgrounds and training modalities, there is a lot to offer each other in the viewpoint sharing realm, as we talk through the work that we do. And with everything focused on deeply understanding and responding to autistic adult clients, we find that we travel from a place of being with clients therapeutically from intuition to a place of informed work about how and why therapy is therapeutic for autistic clients. This is, not only empowering for the therapist, but also is exciting and interesting progression and development as a professional person.
The Course Contents
Some of the content that is covered in the course is shown below and in the adjacent graphic.
The course has been written and ran three times now, February to May 2024 was the first time, amd September to December 2024 the second time, and March to June 2025 (the third time). If you enrol this will be the 4th time this course has ran.
We can tell you what content is in the course, however, each course is adapted to who is in the course (attendees) and what their needs and interests are. So some of the sections of the course will be especially adapted to what the group needs.
Here is what is in the course (plus anything extra that we add or is requested).
Working therapeutically with autistic adult clients in the following areas:
Internalised ableism
Stigmatisation of autism (and internalised stigma)
The journey of identity reformation for late identified autistic adults
Burnout: Identifiying, immediate coping, recovery planning.
Understanding shutdowns and inertia
'Meltdowns’ and high arousal states
Dealing with organising life and executive functioning
Significance of life experiences of being pathologised, oppressed and marginalised
The role of social scripting, sterotypying and social norms causing harm
Issues around eating including autistic clients and 'eating disorders'
Gender differences with autistic people (and relevance of gender historically)
Issues of sleeping, and going to GP’s and other medical experiences
Anxiety, including PTSD, OCD, and Social Anxiety.
The history of autism as it is relevant to therapists (to underpin clarity about healing)
How therapy can harm clients (even well-intentioned therapists) and the alternatives
The collective trauma of the autistic population
Overview of what is therapeutic for the autistic client population in general
How to select what is therapeutic for each individual autistic client
Discussion of therapeutic modalities - eg TA, CBT, Narrative Therapy, Person Centred
Where is the social justice issue here? How to approach this.
Neuroaffirming language, and presuppositions relevant to autistic adults.
Autistic community and culture: support, information, belonging
Relationships and friendships: Risks, realities, and a new approach
Crises that autistic people can face (and clients have often encountered in life)
Autistic obsessing and addictions,
Being mindful about the therapeutic relationship,
The processes, e.g. power-sharing as a baseline approach, and why this is useful
Autistic processing.
Body awareness and emotions (how to identify and manage feelings)
Knowing the self: Reclaiming, emerging, and conscious unmasking decisions
Self-ownership, self-asserting, and self-advocacy
Addressing barriers to inclusion
Fulfillment and self-actualisation (Based on 'Quality of Life' framework)
Workplace accomodations. Rights, responsibilities and relating to HR and managers.
Autistic people with ADHD also (AudHD)
Discussions of our actual current client work
and more, and more, and more……
WHAT'S INCLUDED
6 live training days and 2 live discussion mornings (Saturdays)
Time: 10 am till 5 pm GMT (UK and Ireland time)
The group meets live on Zoom
Multimedia presentations followed by group reflections and meaning-making
Professional discussion group sessions (our actual work)
Reading List, and resources are provided (multimedia)
4 extra videos of course content (after the course ends)
Subject Handouts are provided (our own materials plus research papers, etc)
A Self Reflective Journal to document your learning insights
WhatsApp group for asynchronous chat and to see the extra resources
Video replays are provided for course attendees and available for 6 months
The Certificate is awarded on completion (attendance plus submitting the assignment)
Automatic listing on the therapists directory for 6 months after completion
Free ticket to Live Online Conference event (2026 or 2027)
Certificate Award Criteria
To attend all of the dates and comple the two assignments.
Assignment one:
A very short self-reflective piece following on from module one
Assignment two:
You can do a written piece or a creative piece.
if written: 3,000-3,500 word written piece
OR produce something in any format, eg create a video, presentation, client resources, essay, article, presentation, teaching, client handouts, or something else creative that meets the criteria (due 3 months after the last course attendance date)
Examples of creative projects for assignment 2 are: Blog posts, Handouts for clients, journal articles, videos, newsletter articles, comic strips, art pieces (with explanation), presentations, community projects, write a song or a play…
The Dates
TRAINING DAYS ON ZOOM. 10 am till 5 pm (UK and Ireland Time zone).
28th February 2026. Training day 1
14th March 2026. Training Day 2
11th April 2026. Training Day 3.
25th April 2026. Training Day 4.
16th May 2026. Training Day 5.
6th June 2026. Training Day 6.
ADDITIONALLY - 2 extra days
Professional discussions morning:
A space for peer discussion about our job role, - including any aspect of our understanding of the course cntent, discussion of running a neuroaffirming practice, presentation of your actual work, along with any ‘spot supervision’.
28th March 2026. 10 am till 5 pm.
30th May 2026. 10 am till 5 pm.
The Regular Fee (the early bird fee is below in the purple)
For everyone to enroll, there is £400 to pay to book your place on the course.
Then:
one-off payment £895
or
3 payments of £306, £306, £306,
THE EARLY BIRD FEE. Save £95
ENDS midnight 18th january 2026
£400 to book your place on the course. PLUS
Either: One-off payment of £800
Or: 3 payments of £275, £275, £275
Course Benefits
Gain 48 high-quality training hours for professional development and a certificate
Expand awareness and enjoy developing as a person, as well as a professional, in line with our changing society.
Enjoy deepening learning together and stay in touch to be part of a growing and supportive community of therapists
Understand barriers to therapy, and how to approach the big issues of equity, diversity and inclusion
Enrich and deepen your own understanding of self, as an autistic or ND person
Be supported as a therapist and feel confident about offering therapy to meet autistic need
Secure Your Place on the Course
If you would like to book a Zoom chat with Vauna, please use the contact form to get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits
Certificate award, on completion of the course and the two assignments.
We issued our first certificates to attendees who enrolled on the February 2024 program. And in March 2025 we issued the certificate to our colleagues who joined us in September to December 2024. And our colleagues who came on the March to june 2025 course will complete and recieve their certificates, as will those colleagues who attended the course from September to December 2025.
How great is that?
(Very!)
Meet the Trainers
Natalie Clarke
Vauna Beauvais.
FAQs
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Inclusion and diversity policy coming soon, along with comprehensive descriptions of our values and positionality as people, and as trainers.
For the moment, in short, here is who we are: While we recognise and value people of all social groups and lifestyle choices, and we (trainers) are members of various minority groups ourselves, we know that we are White, and Cisgender, and that there will be some unconscious biases in our training. We are committed to exploring and unlearning prejudiced beliefs and actions, and are driven to reflexive action as an ongoing base reality.
For all people who are thinking of joining this course, it's essential to know that participants are of equal worth and it is crucial to us that folks be referred to and treated as such throughout, by ourselves, and by members in the learning groups. It's really important to us that any harms are not done, and if any delegate experiences anything harmful on our training sessions that time will be made available for exploration, feedback, education, and repair.
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Yes. You can have your camera sound either on or off, or sometimes one or the other. We make use of the chat and raised hand facility, too. There are no rules about whether you are sitting, standing, or moving around. It is of primary importance that you meet your own comfort and energy needs. All we ask is that you block out noises that are not meant to be introduced into the training group (eg people talking in your room) and that you turn up dressed.
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Counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists, and coaches.
If you are working with autistic adults and you aren't sure whether this is the right course for you, please contact me and lets talk about it.
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On completion of the course and passing the assignment you will be awarded ‘Certificate in Working Therapeutically with Autistic Adults’.
You can count this as valid CPD hours: 36 hrs live training days, plus 2 hrs training videos, 4 hrs supervision group - total 42 hrs.
This isn't a certificate that Is recognised as one by mainstream education, nor is it currently accredited any other way. Now that we have ran the course through once, we are in a position to apply for course accreditation and will keep you posted about that. But, as said before, the CPD hours are valid, regardless.
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If you think that you may be interested in joining this course and gaining this certificate in the future, you can register your interest here.
If you know now that you are ready to secure your place you can do that here on this page when the enrolment is open
if you arent yet sure, or would like to talk it through, please contact me by using this contact form