Max Marnau - Autistic Counsellor

Autism is a neurodevelopmental difference which has been clinically identified in approximately one percent of the UK population, though the true number is likely to be twice that. Either way, we are a small minority. We experience and process in a way which is unfamiliar and often mystifying to the majority.

Autism is often seen as a collection of behaviours, and pathologised as a disorder; it is in fact a collection of experiences both cognitive and sensory, and although it is not a disorder, in a majority non-autistic population it is certainly a disability. We find non-autistic people as unfamiliar and often mystifying as they find us, which can lead to isolation, low self-worth and anxiety, and can make us vulnerable to bullying and worse. We can also find society’s systems unfathomable, leading to poor outcomes in areas such as employment, housing and healthcare.

None of that is inevitable. Counselling with someone who shares our neurotype and therefore understands our experiencing and processing style, the way we like to live and the way we cope – or don’t cope – with the society we live in can make all the difference. All those things we have struggled to explain to non-autistic people are understood, most of them from experience. As one of my clients commented “I have had great counsellors before, but you are the first one who gets it”.

Autistic-autistic counselling has a quality all of its own. Please get in touch; if I don’t have availability, I have a large group of autistic colleagues to refer you on to.

I also work with non-autistic people; a long lifetime of curiosity about people and how they work means that I “get” you too!

If my full fee is unaffordable, please don't hesitate to ask for a concession. I offer a free introductory session to see whether we are a good fit.