“I Don’t Think There’s a Cookie-Cutter Way of Working With People With Autism”: Mothers of Children With Autism and Their Experiences With Counseling Services

Abstract

Clinical mental health counselors can play a critical role in treating children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as they age toward adulthood. While best practice for treatment of children with ASD should be individualized and include a family-centered approach, the experience of the mother receiving mental health services has not been previously explored in counseling research. For this study, we utilized interpretative phenomenological inquiry to examine the lived experiences of mothers (n = 8) who navigated the complexities of the counseling services for their child(ren) with ASD. Implications for clinical mental health counselors and counselor educators were presented to better serve this ever-increasing client population.