When working with autistic and ADHD clients, sensory needs can have a significant impact on how safe, regulated and able to engage someone feels in therapy.
But those needs are not always obvious.
A client who withdraws, becomes overwhelmed, struggles to focus or avoids certain situations may be responding to sensory overload rather than something we would traditionally understand through a Schema Therapy mode alone.
That is why we are offering this Sensory Profile Plan available as a free resource.
It is designed to help therapists explore a client’s sensory preferences, sensitivities and needs in a more structured way, and to think about how those factors may be affecting the therapy process.
Why a sensory profile can be useful
For neurodivergent clients, things like noise, lighting, touch, movement, temperature, clothing, smells or busy environments can have a much greater impact than we might initially realise.
Understanding these patterns can help us:
- identify possible sources of sensory overload
- create a greater sense of safety and stability in therapy
- avoid misinterpreting neurodivergent responses as psychopathology
- adapt the therapy environment where needed
- support clients to better understand and communicate their own sensory needs
In Schema Therapy terms, this can also help us make better sense of what we are seeing.
For example, withdrawal may sometimes look like a Detached Protector, but in another context it may simply reflect the need to recover from sensory or social overload.
The more information we have, the better our formulation can be.
A neurodiversity-affirming approach
One of the important principles in neurodiversity-affirming practice is that Healthy Adult functioning does not mean neurotypical functioning.
Our work is not about trying to make autistic or ADHD clients behave more like neurotypical people.
It is about understanding the person in context, identifying schemas and trauma where they are present, helping them meet their emotional needs, and supporting them to build a life that works for them.
Sensory awareness can be one useful part of that process.
Download the free Sensory Profile Plan
You can download the Sensory Profile Plan below and use it as a practical starting point with clients.
It may be particularly useful during assessment, formulation, or when you are trying to better understand what contributes to overwhelm, withdrawal or difficulty engaging
