The evaluation of brief training on working with autistic people for NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression (NHS TTad) staff

Abstract: This paper describes the evaluation of a simple service adaptation and associated brief training for NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression (NHS TTad) staff on working with autistic people. A simple question regarding whether clients identified themselves as autistic and an associated data system flag was introduced to an NHS TTad service. A brief training regarding the use of the flag, a brief overview of autism and a consideration of general adaptations that might help autistic people was developed. Core outcomes of confidence and therapy self-efficacy were reported for pre-training, immediately post-training and at three months post-training. At three-month follow-up, six therapists were interviewed to explore changes in practice following the training. There were significant changes in confidence and therapeutic self-efficacy post-training that were maintained at three-month follow-up. Therapists report several changes to practice that they related to the training. This is the first paper to describe and evaluate training for therapists in NHS TTad on working with autistic people. Key learning aims: (1) To describe some of the challenges to NHS TTad services in working with autistic people. (2) To describe the system adaptation and therapist training introduced to this service and the approach to evaluation. (3) To report outcomes from the evaluation of the training for NHS TTad therapists in working with autistic adults. (4) To consider further research and practice in the processes to make NHS TTad services more accessible and effective for autistic adults.