Group Therapy Techniques with Children, Adolescents, and Adults on the Autism Spectrum

Kevin Hull's latest book is a gift by a gifted writer and clinician for mental health professionals working with children and adults on the autism spectrum. In this book, Hull persuasively makes the case for the value of group therapy with the colorful and unique individuals making up the high functioning ASD population. He then provides practical and creative group therapy strategies and tailors them for different age groups from young children to adults. This book is highly readable, compassionate, and deeply moving and beautifully illustrates the strengths-based approach and resilience mind-set in work with these intriguing individuals. -- David Crenshaw, PhD, Children's Home of Poughkeepsie
It has long been recognized that social interactions are among the most troubling difficulties for those with Asperger’s syndrome and many programs have addressed them in multiple ways. One approach that has not been tried very often is group therapy, even though it is helpful for people with many other conditions. The reason for this is that people with Asperger’s do very poorly in group settings and group therapy is often too insight oriented and language based to meet the interests and needs of those with Asperger’s. Now all of this might change thanks to this splendid contribution by Kevin Hull. His thorough understanding of Asperger’s disorder plus many years of experience with group therapy have enabled him to combine them in this thoughtful, sensitive, and easy to read book. He is able to capture the richness that group therapy encourages with the structure, predictability and encouragement of individual narrow interests that are so important to those with Asperger’s. His clear writing, penetrating theoretical insights, and wonderful case examples combine for a comprehensive presentation. These exhaustive discussions and descriptions help capture the idiosyncrasies of this population that have fascinated researchers and clinicians for the past half century and offer helpful suggestions for providing assistance to them and meeting their social needs. The book also shows with meaningful examples how group therapy for this population can build self-esteem and coping skills as well as help them to deal with anxiety and depression. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to the author for finally giving this field the kind of thorough review and synthesis that it has badly needed. -- Gary B. Mesibov, PhD, University of North Carolina