How do I know if I might be autistic as an adult?

Many adults notice a lifelong pattern: sensory sensitivities, social fatigue, a need for recovery, difficulty with change, and feeling that social life involves effortful decoding. For some, the clue is repeated burnout from masking and coping rather than obvious outward traits.

Is it worth seeking therapy without a diagnosis?

Yes. Therapy can help you understand your nervous system, reduce overload, work with burnout and anxiety, and build a more sustainable way of living. Support doesn’t have to wait for a label.

What’s the difference between autism and social anxiety?

They can overlap, and some autistic adults also experience social anxiety. Social anxiety is usually driven by fear of negative evaluation. Autism involves broader differences in sensory processing, communication style, predictability needs, and nervous system load. Therapy helps clarify what’s primary and what’s secondary.

Can autism lead to burnout?

Yes. Autistic burnout is commonly linked to sustained overload, masking, and insufficient recovery. Therapy supports recovery and helps you build a life that prevents repeated overload.

Will therapy try to change who I am?

No. The purpose is not to train you to be different. The purpose is to reduce suffering, support self-understanding, and help you build a life that fits you.

Do you work with autistic adults in London and online?

Yes. We work with autistic adults in London and online across the UK, including those who are diagnosed, self-identifying, or exploring the possibility.

Autism Support and Therapy

Autism is a neurodevelopmental difference. It shapes how you experience the world, how you process information, how you relate to people, and how your nervous system responds to stress and sensory input. For many autistic adults, the difficulty isn’t “who you are” — it’s the strain of living in environments that expect a non-autistic way of functioning.

Some people come already diagnosed. Others begin exploring autism later in life, often after years of feeling different, working hard to cope, or burning out repeatedly without a clear explanation. A common experience is appearing capable on the outside while privately feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or unsure how to make life more sustainable.

At Hampstead Psychology, we offer thoughtful, neuro-affirming therapy for autistic adults in London and online across the UK. We help you understand your profile, reduce burnout and self-criticism, and build a way of living that fits you.

This page is for information and does not replace a clinical assessment, diagnosis, or medical advice.

When autism-related difficulties start to take over

You might recognise some of these experiences:

You cope for a while, then hit a wall — shutdown, burnout, or feeling unable to function.
Socialising can feel draining, even when you care about people.
You replay conversations and worry you misread the situation or the “rules.”
Noise, light, crowds, touch, or busy environments can feel overwhelming.
Changes to routine or uncertainty can feel destabilising and hard to recover from.
You mask to fit in — forcing eye contact, copying cues, pushing through discomfort — and it’s exhausting.
You feel misunderstood in relationships, or conflict and ambiguity feel particularly hard.
You struggle with transitions, task switching, or holding multiple demands at once.
You notice intense emotions, delayed processing, or needing longer to settle after stress.
You’ve carried a long history of feeling “too much” or “not enough,” despite being capable.

If this fits, it doesn’t mean you’re broken. Often it means your nervous system has been carrying too much load for too long, and you’ve been using coping strategies that are costly. Therapy helps you reduce that load and build sustainability.

How autism can show up

Sensory and nervous system overload

Many autistic adults experience the world more intensely. Sensory input can be louder, brighter, busier, or more draining. When the nervous system is overloaded, it’s harder to think clearly, communicate, and regulate emotion. Therapy supports you to understand your overload signals early and build pacing and recovery that genuinely works.

Social effort and the cost of masking

Autistic social communication is not “wrong,” but it can be misunderstood in a world that expects certain cues. Many people learn to mask to stay safe, liked, or competent. Masking can help in the short term, but over time it often leads to exhaustion, anxiety, and a loss of connection with your own needs. Therapy helps reduce the cost of masking and build safer ways of relating.

Need for predictability and difficulty with change

A need for routine and predictability is often about nervous system regulation. When life is uncertain or rapidly changing, the load increases. Therapy helps you create structure that supports you, while also building flexibility in a way that is realistic and non-punishing.

Autistic burnout

Autistic burnout is often the result of sustained overload, masking, high demands, and not enough recovery. It can look like exhaustion, reduced tolerance, shutdown, increased sensitivity, and feeling unable to do things you used to do. Therapy supports recovery and helps you build a life that prevents repeated overload.

Related difficulties we often see alongside autism

Many autistic adults experience anxiety, low mood, sleep problems, stress and burnout, and intense self-criticism from years of trying to cope. Some notice relationship strain, rejection sensitivity, or social anxiety, particularly after repeated experiences of being misunderstood.

These experiences don’t mean autism is the problem. Often they reflect the mismatch between your needs and your environment, alongside the emotional impact of carrying that mismatch alone. Therapy takes the whole picture into account while staying focused and practical.

Assessment vs therapy: what we offer

Some people come with an autism diagnosis. Others are exploring the possibility, waiting for assessment, or simply recognising the pattern in themselves.

Therapy can be helpful in any of these situations. If you’re diagnosed, we can work with the day-to-day and emotional impact of autism, including burnout, overwhelm, relationships, boundaries, and self-understanding. If you’re exploring autism without a diagnosis, therapy can still help you make sense of your experience and build support. If you are seeking a formal diagnosis, we can discuss appropriate routes and what information may be useful to bring to the relevant services.

Why life can feel hard even when you’re “coping”

Many autistic adults can look as though they’re managing, especially in structured roles or predictable settings. The difficulty is often the hidden load: constant self-monitoring, sensory strain, social decoding, transitions, and the effort of navigating ambiguity.

Over time, a secondary cycle can develop. You push through and mask to meet expectations, then you become depleted, then your tolerance drops, then you avoid or shut down, then you judge yourself for struggling. That self-criticism increases threat, which reduces recovery further.

Therapy helps you step out of this cycle, understand your needs accurately, and create a more sustainable way of living.

How therapy for autism helps

Therapy for autistic adults is not about trying to make you less autistic. It’s about reducing suffering, supporting self-understanding, and helping you build a life that fits your nervous system and values.

At Hampstead Psychology, we use approaches that are widely used in evidence-based psychological practice. Depending on your needs, this may include CBT, ACT, compassion-focused work, and schema-informed therapy.

In practice, therapy often involves understanding your profile, recognising overload signals, building pacing and recovery, strengthening boundaries, and creating routines and environments that reduce strain. We also work with the emotional impact of years of misunderstanding, shame, and self-attack, so confidence and self-compassion can grow.

The aim is not “more coping.” The aim is a life that feels more workable, more spacious, and more like yours.

What to expect from sessions

We start by understanding your experience in context: strengths, sensitivities, what drains you, what restores you, and what patterns show up in work, relationships, and daily life. From there, we build a shared map and a clear direction for therapy.

Sessions are collaborative and paced. You’ll leave with clearer understanding and practical experiments to try between sessions, reviewed and refined over time. We work carefully with nervous system pacing, because sustainable change usually comes from reducing overload, not increasing pressure.

How long does therapy take?

This varies. Some people want focused support around burnout recovery, anxiety, boundaries, or a specific transition. Others need longer, especially when autism has been missed for years and the work involves rebuilding identity, self-understanding, and relational confidence.

We review progress together so therapy stays purposeful and aligned with your goals.

Autism support in Hampstead and Marylebone, and online

We offer therapy for autistic adults in person in London and online across the UK. Many people prefer online sessions because they reduce travel and sensory load, and it can work extremely well for autism-focused therapy.

Take the next step

If you’ve been pushing through life feeling exhausted, misunderstood, or overwhelmed, you don’t have to keep carrying it alone. With the right support, you can understand your patterns more clearly, reduce the cost of coping, and build a life that feels steadier and more sustainable.

Contact Hampstead Psychology to enquire about autism support and therapy in London or online.

Useful links: ADHD Therapy, Anxiety Therapy, Stress and Burnout, Insomnia and Sleep Problems, Fees, Meet the Team, Contact.

Urgent Help

If you are worried about immediate risk to your safety, call 999 or go to A&E. If you need urgent support but it isn’t an emergency, contact NHS 111 or your GP. You can also contact Samaritans on 116 123 (24/7).

Meet The Team

At Hampstead Psychology, all of our psychologists have extensive training to doctoral level and decades of experience in their field of expertise. You will be matched with a psychologist that has the knowledge and skill to help you understand and overcome your problem - not just in the short term but for good.