Eastwood Psychologists

Mental Health Services for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

What are Mental Health Services?

Mental health services help improve a person’s emotional, psychological and social well-being. They include pharmacological interventions (medicines) and psychological interventions. At Eastwood Psychologists, our scope of practice includes psychological interventions. We offer both Counselling and Psychotherapy to improve the mental health of clients with Autism. Counselling and Psychotherapy are both “talk therapies”, which means that the client’s mental health is supported by talking with their therapist.
In Psychotherapy, the therapeutic relationship between the therapist and the client forms the basis for emotional healing. The goal of Psychotherapy is to help the client understand and change their own thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Psychotherapy is particularly helpful for clients who are experiencing significant difficulties with mood or anxiety. For more information about Psychotherapy, please see our psychotherapy page. There are many different types of techniques that psychotherapists use to help their clients.
Counselling is another type of “talk therapy” that is often used to help promote the mental health of people with Autism. In Counselling sessions, the therapist helps a client think through their situation and options in order to solve or cope with their problems. Counselling is especially helpful when a client needs support with solving a problem in their life.

Do people with Autism have mental health difficulties?

Absolutely! People with Autism experience all the same types of mental health difficulties that anyone else experiences. In fact, having Autism puts people at increased risk of mental health difficulties. Estimates vary, but one study found that 40% of children with Autism also meet criteria for an anxiety disorder , compared to about 10-20% of children in the general population.


Mental health problems in Autism, despite being common, are often overlooked or undertreated. There are many reasons why people with Autism don’t access mental health treatment, but one of the reasons is that therapists are not always confident about how to adapt their therapies to meet the needs of people with Autism. At Eastwood Psychologists, our experienced, regulated psychologists and psychotherapists are knowledgeable about accommodations that help children and adults with Autism access, and benefit from, psychotherapy and counselling. Please reach out to us for more information!