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Are you a working professional with autistic traits, a diagnosis of Asperger’s, or consider yourself to be on the autism spectrum?
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Do you struggle with social interactions, especially at work?
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Do you misread social cues? Or have miscommunications with your neurotypical friends, coworkers, and family?
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Have you noticed that your autistic traits impact your work and/or relationships?
Things are harder for you sometimes than they seem to be for other people. Sometimes, you feel lonely or isolated. Social interactions can be stressful. Because, you often feel anxious when you know you’ll be around other people, especially if you don’t know them well. Maybe, you’ve had misunderstandings at work or difficulty communicating with your romantic partner.
It can be hard to find people who understand you and your autistic traits.
You’re a successful working professional. Therefore, you have many strengths and technical skills that are useful in the workplace. However, you struggle to navigate the social complexities of your work environment. You struggle to develop and maintain friendships and romantic relationships. And, you may be dealing with work miscommunications that cause tension at work.
Because you have so many intellectual strengths, but you still have social challenges, it can be difficult to find a group of people who understand you. But, autism support is available.
The benefits of group therapy for a neurodiverse working professional
When you join an autistic support group or a social skills group for working professionals, you gain a neurodiverse community of support. Maybe, you are looking for more autism resources in Silicon Valley or the Bay Area? We get it. We understand that this can be challenging, and we want to help!
The bottom line is that you are ready to understand yourself better. You are ready to develop new insight and learn some new skills for dealing with the world around you.
Our working professionals group can give you a safe space to learn about what it means to have autistic traits, to build new relationships, and to learn new skills. A group may sound intimidating to you at first. We understand feeling socially anxious. But, we’ve found that a supportive group setting can help improve your confidence and bring lasting change in your life.
Do you want to learn how to do these things at work?
- feel more comfortable and effective at communicating with co-workers and loved ones?
- reduce confusion and conflict
- better handle stress and anxiety?
- understand yourself better?
- make friends and reduce loneliness?
- get to know other working professionals with autistic traits who understand the same issues you’re facing?
Our Adult Autistic Support Group for Working Professionals Could Be Right For You!
Reserve Your Spot in the Autism Social Skills Group Now
In our supportive and educational group for working professionals, we focus on a few main concerns:
First, we want to make sure this therapy group is for you! The working professionals group consists of up to 8 neurodiverse individuals. We meet weekly for 1 hr 30 mins at our Palo Alto office in Silicon Valley. All our groups are run by a therapist who specializes in working with adults on the autism spectrum.
We understand that social interactions in general can be very stressful. Then, this stress is made worse by the demands of your career, family, managing your time, changing personal roles, and living on your own. Therefore, we will help you identify strategies to improve communication. You will learn how to better manage your stress and social anxiety. Through positive connections with other neurodiverse working professionals in the group, you will gain confidence. Ultimately, we will help you develop the skills to lead life to the fullest.
Learn social skills in our working professionals group for autistic adults
It can be hard to build quality relationships with colleagues, friends, and romantic partners as a high-functioning autistic adult. Unfortunately, we know that these challenges can lead to isolation, bullying, social anxiety, and difficulty with social communication. As a result, the main goals we work on in our social skills classes or, adult groups, in our Palo Alto office are:
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Building friendships & intimate relationships
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Managing work miscommunications
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Improving non-verbal communication
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Enhancing Listening Skills
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Providing constructive feedback
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Perspective-taking
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Empathizing
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Learning Unwritten Social Rules
Learn how to cope with stress and anxiety in our working professionals group in Palo Alto, CA
Baseline levels of anxiety tend to be much higher in adults on the autism spectrum. Throughout the day, small stressors adding up. Therefore, by the end of the workday, you may feel emotionally and physically exhausted. In our group, we learn about stress coping skills for people with autism. In addition, we will discuss some of the best ways to adapt to life changes and transitions. Because we know this can be a major source of anxiety. Most importantly, we want you to leave each session with clear skills to use in your day-to-day life. Some of these skills include:
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Managing Stress & Worries
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Learning about Emotions and Unhelpful Thinking Habits
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Managing Sensory Sensitivities
We believe that these skills will help your life in a positive way.
Improve your self-awareness in our working professionals group for neurodiverse adults.
In group you will build self-awareness, self-confidence, and self-advocacy skills. These are the basis of self-determination. In fact, research shows that better self-determination links to a higher quality of life. You will learn more about your own needs, strengths, challenges, and values. You will get strategies to help you better manage challenges. Also, you will learn to set goals that align with your values and capitalize on your strengths. Building up these self-determination skills will help you lead a more fulfilling life.
For example, for any work project you’ve done, you needed to know the requirements and goals of the project. What if metaphorically speaking, you were the “project”. You need self-awareness to know what your requirements and goals are. Perhaps your goal is to improve your marriage or friendships, improve communication with co-workers, or reduce loneliness and lead a more fulfilling life. What do you need to achieve your goals? In the working professionals group, we will help you learn about yourself and the requirements for your “project”. You will grow in self-awareness, and learn how to better communicate yourself and advocate for your needs. This will help you achieve your “project” goals. Every group member is working on self-growth. Therefore, you will help each other.
Benefits of group therapy for neurodiverse working professionals
- Safe place to explore your struggles with others who get you
- Finally, feel like you belong
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Learning from others (there is a lot of wisdom held by the group)
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Group members can relate to your life experience
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Reduces stigma and shame
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You see others growing and it inspires you
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You feel accountable to the group. This helps you stay motivated and action-oriented
The Social Skills and Support Group for Working Professionals Details:
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Duration: 20 Sessions, Meet once a week
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Days/Times: TBD (typically a weekday evening)
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Start Date: Groups typically start August/September and January/February
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Price: $150/Session
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Learn more about fees and payment
Best of the Blog: Posts for Neurodiverse Working Professionals in Silicon Valley
- Introduction to Blog Series About Social Skills for Neurodiverse Adults
- Facial Expressions
- Small Talk
- Conversations
- Sensory Overload
- Hyperfocus
- Smiling
Join the working professionals group in Palo Alto, CA:
This group is just for neurodiverse working professionals with autistic traits, in the SF peninsula on the border of the South Bay Area. Our autism therapy expert and other group members help reduce your anxiety and stress and will improve your communication skills with key people in your life. Additionally, we help you better manage personal and work relationship conflicts, make friends, set and achieve personal goals, and problem-solve.
If you are ready to help your relationships, better cope with stress and learn more about your neurodiversity, it’s time to get started. Please follow these simple steps to join our group at our autism therapy clinic in the South Bay Area:
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Contact Open Doors Therapy to schedule a free consultation call,
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Attend a 1-hour intake meeting with one of our autism therapists to make sure the group is the best fit for you,
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Join our working professionals group & start learning new life skills!
Other Autism Services at Open Doors Therapy
Our Palo Alto/Bay Area autism therapy clinic serves individuals with autistic traits (Aspergers, high functioning autism, undiagnosed autism traits, etc) and their families. Specifically, our autism services include individual therapy, parent counseling, and group therapy. Our support and educational groups include college students with autistic traits, young adults with autism, neurodiverse adults, women who identify as neurodiverse, and gifted youth and caregivers. To support parents I offer a mother’s group and an online parent support group. I also offer a online group therapy in the state of California. Furthermore, I have been blogging to expand the available knowledge and resources for autistic adults. If you would like to learn about any of our autism resources, please reach out today!