About this event
This workshop begins by exploring the concept of the self through a person-centred lens, focusing on the inherent potential for growth, authenticity, and self-acceptance. From this integrative perspective, we will examine how societal narratives can obstruct the realisation of these potentials in autistic clients by positioning them as objects of shame. The workshop will then delve into psychoanalytic and Lacanian concepts, including Julia Kristeva’s theory of the abject, providing a deeper understanding of how shame is internalised and how the self emerges through language.
In many societal narratives, autistic individuals are unwittingly positioned as objects of shame, with their sense of self shaped by external judgments and societal stigma. This workshop explores how these dynamics are internalised, affecting the client’s self-concept and capacity for self-expression.
Drawing on theories of the self’s emergence through language and Kristeva’s notion of the abject, we will examine how autistic clients often encounter significant barriers to claiming a dignified subjectivity. These barriers are not inherent but are constructed through societal misrecognition and the introjection of shame. The workshop will focus on practical and theoretical approaches to help clients deconstruct these harmful narratives and reconstruct their sense of self as a subject of dignity and agency.
Key areas of focus include:
– Understanding person-centred and psychoanalytic perspectives on the self and its emergence in language.
– Exploring how societal narratives create and perpetuate shame in autistic individuals.
– Recognising the impact of introjected shame and the concept of the abject on self-concept and identity formation.
– Therapeutic approaches to fostering a non-shameful self-concept in autistic clients.
– Techniques to support clients in reclaiming their subjectivity and dignity.
Learning Objective Participants Can Expect From This Event
- Through a blend of theoretical exploration and (fictionalised) case discussion, participants will gain deeper insights into the relational and linguistic processes that shape the self. The workshop will provide actionable strategies to empower autistic clients to move beyond the shameful object and toward a dignified, self-affirming subjectivity.
- Placing autism within a frame of systemic oppression.
- An account of the lived experience (mine) of autistic shame.
Who is This Workshop Appropriate For?
- This workshop is suitable for psychotherapists, counsellors, and other mental health professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of the intersection between autism, shame, and self-concept reconstruction. Participants will leave with a richer framework for supporting autistic clients in their therapeutic journey toward authenticity and self-dignity.
How May This Workshop Impact Your Practice?
- Participants will leave with a richer framework for supporting autistic clients in their therapeutic journey toward authenticity and self-dignity.self-concept reconstruction.
RECORDING
This workshop will be recorded and you can use the ticket function to pre-purchase the recording before the event. This will be useful for colleagues who are not able to attend the event live and also for those who attend the event live and want to watch it again.
ZOOM
This workshop will be hosted on the Zoom meeting platform where we will use our cameras and microphones to interact with each other as a group.
SELF-SELECT FEE
The self-select fee is a radical inclusion policy to open learning for all colleagues. The guide price for this event is £20.00, however, we appreciate that income varies greatly in different locations and circumstances. Please contribute what you can to help us maintain inclusive professional training.
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All the colleagues at ONLINEVENTS and the presenters we collaborate with are committed to working in a manner consistent with the BACP Ethical Framework, which can be accessed on the link below. When registering for this event you are agreeing to be present and interact in a manner that is consistent with this Framework.
Stephanie Aspin
I am an anti-oppressive integrative therapist who works with autistic adults. My practice integrates a person-centred approach with one which is orientated towards the creative arts and is informed (although not dictated) by psychoanalytic narratives as they relate to the self and identity/ies.
I am also a researcher, recovering academic, educator (with the autistic collective A-Typicats), and author and hold doctorates in both poetics/contemporary poetry and counselling studies. I have a book forthcoming: Poetry/Therapy: How Words Help (PCCS, 2025). I am autistic.
Website | www.stephanieaspin.com | www.a-typicats.com
Instagram | a_typicats
