Aligning Counseling Psychology with Neurodiversity Scholarship: A Call to Action

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Sivathasan, S., Moravvej, M., Botha, M., & Bottema-Beutel, K. (2026). Aligning Counseling Psychology with Neurodiversity Scholarship: A Call to Action. The Counseling Psychologist, 54(5), 809-834. https://doi.org/10.1177/00110000261458822

Publication date: 1 Jul 2026 Added to AutiHub: 13 Oct 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)
  1. Shalini Sivathasan
  2. Maryam Moravvej
  3. Monique Botha *
  4. Kristen Bottema-Beutel

Abstract

Neurodivergent people are a notably underserved population in counseling psychology, which is an urgent concern given that they experience elevated rates of mental health challenges and express a desire to receive mental health services. In their Major Contribution (MC), Porras Pyland & Rodriguez Tackett make substantial headway in introducing these important issues to the field. We situate our response to their work in existing neurodiversity scholarship and advocacy efforts, in addition to existing counseling psychology frameworks. We note areas of consensus, and also areas where our perspectives diverge, particularly around neurodivergent identity, terminology, the conceptualization of mental health disparities, and proposed therapeutic frameworks. Finally, we highlight the ways in which counseling psychology is already well aligned with the goals of the neurodiversity movement, and close with a productive vision and call to action, offering initial suggestions for practitioners seeking to better serve neurodivergent clients.

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Cited references
66
With a DOI
46
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
20
20 / 66 (30.3%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
1 / 66 (1.5%)
References with detected author names
65 / 66 (98.5%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
20
References with raw author names still to review
1
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
204
From DOI or external metadata
204
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
116 / 204 (56.9%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 88 / 204 (43.1%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
44 / 204 (21.6%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 44 / 116 (37.9%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 23 / 169 (13.6%).
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