Talk Psychotherapy with

 High Functioning Aspergers Syndrome

Because High Functioning Aspergers  Syndrome (HFA) children often have well-developed verbal skills they are assumed to be very perceptive. Insight-oriented psychotherapy is frequently attempted to reduce their emotional distress. Psychotherapy focused on discussions of empathy, social difficulties, and depressive symptoms can be counter productive and is not advised for several reasons.

Many HFA children try to process their social interaction efforts through their area of strength and comfort, logical rational thought. They try to logically and rationally figure out what they should do in social situations, step by step. Verbal psychotherapy's rational verbal review of emotion and  socialization further rehearses and reinforces this approach. This is exactly opposite to what they need to do.

This is like relying forever on the dance instructor's "1-2-3" to become a skilled dancer. Though that is certainly where you start. To be a good dancer you have to integrate the steps into reflexes, rather than continuing to replay the dance instructors voice of "1-2-3." HFA Aspergers children can do the "1-2-3" equivalent, "Hi, My name is.....", " Do you come here often?" "That's a cool CD player your have"

The problem is that they are so uptight in social situations that they can't get beyond that. They don't feel confident that they can rely on being spontaneous in social situations. To compensate they try to cognitively preprogram themselves for what they think they should do in a specific social situation. This is exactly the opposite to what one does to relate smoothly. So, you do not want to keep rehearsing this approach with verbal psychotherapy or social skills training. You have to get them beyond it, just like you have to do in dancing. And, you are heading the wrong way to get there if you are doing verbal psychotherapy and social skills training.

Before anything useful can happen socially for HFA they have to feel comfortable in social situations. And, that is what CAER treatment is about.