Autism Therapy
in Farmingdale, NY and Greenwich Village, NYC
Is autism spectrum disorder (ASD) causing you or your child challenges as you navigate life in our neurotypical landscape? Does your child have trouble:
Adjusting to transitions, interacting with others, or coping with sensory sensitivities?
Understanding body language, tone of voice, or social cues (sarcasm, jokes, figures of speech)?
Regulating emotions or managing co-occurring mental health conditions?
Perhaps you’re a high-functioning adult with autism who’s looking into ASD therapy for help navigating work, managing relationships, or getting accommodations for classes.
Or maybe you’re caring for an adult child with ASD and you just want to better understand them so you can parent from a place of greater compassion and awareness.
Are You An Adult With ASD Or The Parent Of A Child On The Spectrum?
Autism Can Present Complex Challenges In Nearly Every Area Of Life
Children with ASD often have trouble making friends, engaging in play, and understanding others’ perspectives. They frequently avoid eye contact and experience delayed language development that complicates communication.
When expectations or social demands feel unclear, many children and adults on the spectrum can become easily frustrated, emotionally withdrawn, or completely overwhelmed. For parents of kids with sensory sensitivities, an insistence on sameness, or difficulties being in public places, just staying on schedule and taking care of daily tasks can feel impossible.
Whether at home, school, work, or in relationships, these challenges can become huge sources of stress, which is where ASD therapy can help. Our autism counselors at Zen + Zest Therapy want to help you understand what’s truly going on while providing you (and/or your child) with the skills, tools, and confidence needed to manage emotions and navigate life with greater ease and confidence.
Why Does Autism Present So Many Challenges For The Neurodiverse?
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that is often complicated by unavoidable socio-cultural forces:
Educational systems and classrooms ill-fitted for those with sensory sensitivities (bright lights, noise, constant stimulation) increase stress and impact learning.
Rigid structures in the workplace, misunderstandings, and communication differences can make work-life and career advancement more difficult.
Stigma around neurodiversity and mental health, including mislabeling autistic traits as problems (needing routine or having strong interests), can impact self-esteem.
Society’s expectation for conformity fuels constant comparisons and the pressure to appear “socially perfect” online, which can intensify feelings of being different.
Why Autism Treatment Can Make Such A Difference
Because ASD is a neurodevelopmental condition, it’s not something a person can overcome. Rather, it's something you learn to understand and navigate in the same way you do an anxiety disorder or learning differences.
In fact, many people with autism experience a range of co-occurring conditions—from ADHD and substance use disorders to anxiety, depression, and OCD, so it's often a complex issue. Combined with the myriad socio-cultural forces at play, these factors make it really hard for the neurodiverse to function, feel good about themselves, and navigate life successfully.
Working with an autism therapist changes all that. Rather than “fixing” autism, counseling seeks to improve quality of life and strengthen intrinsic skills. It’s about learning how to survive and thrive in a neurotypical society while celebrating the unique and beautiful aspects of life with autism.
Finding Compassionate Solutions And Support In Autism Therapy
Our autism counselors at Zen + Zest Therapy specialize in helping children (5+), teens, and adults—as well as their parents and families—navigate the complexities of life with ASD. If you’re an adult coming in for support, we offer collaborative sessions that are tailored to your situation, needs, and goals for therapy.
As a parent, autism treatment gives you and your child a chance to identify and find more effective ways of managing core challenges, such as sensory sensitivities, social difficulties, or emotional dysregulation. At the same time, therapy gives you the tools, logistical support, and awareness needed to support your child’s development and independence at any age.
What Can You Expect In Autism Counseling?
If you’re a parent, we’ll first meet with you to get a better understanding of your child’s symptoms—how certain traits or stressors show up in school, work, friendships, or family life. Afterward, we’ll begin meeting with your child individually. Once they feel comfortable, we can start developing coping strategies for managing sensory overwhelm, making transitions, or regulating emotions.
While you won’t necessarily have the same therapist as your child, we also offer parental guidance and educational support that will help you advocate for them and see their behaviors from a different, more compassionate perspective.
If you’re an adult with ASD, therapy works in a similar way. Like our younger clients, you’ll get to practice self-advocacy and communication skills so you feel more understood in relationships, classrooms, and/or workspaces.
We’ll talk through what you want for yourself—greater independence, stronger friendships, less anxiety—then, we’ll break those goals down into realistic, measurable steps. We even offer support for things like getting accommodations in the classroom or working with a psychologist to help with the testing process.
What Kinds Of Tools Do We Use In ASD Treatment?
Our autism therapists recognize that progress looks different for everyone on the spectrum, so we always customize and adjust treatment as we go. Oftentimes, we’ll use a blend of strategies:
Mindfulness + Grounding Skills
Emotional + Sensory Regulation Tools
Social Skills + Communication Training
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques
Solution-Focused Therapy approaches
Some of the goals we’ll work toward are:
Learning ways to calm the nervous system when feeling overstimulated or overwhelmed
Understanding the connection between thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and behaviors
Identifying triggers, using coping tools, developing new ways to respond to challenges
Practicing skills for self-advocacy, conversation, and navigating social situations (role play)
Setting clear, realistic goals and identifying small, manageable steps toward success
Although we don’t use Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) explicitly in therapy, we do utilize techniques from ABA. We even have counselors on staff who can meet with clients at home where they feel safer, less stimulated, and more open to therapy. Our goal is to make sure every client leaves our sessions with insight into their experiences and concrete skills they can use right away to make life easier.
Living With Autism Brings Challenges But Also Unique Strengths
If you’re living with ASD, it is possible to feel more confident, less overwhelmed, and more understood in your daily life. You, in turn, get to enjoy stronger relationships, less anxiety, and more balance in your everyday life.
If you’re a parent, your child can become more independent, learn new self-advocacy skills, and feel more confident in who they are as a person. You’ll grow to understand, communicate, and connect with your child on a deeper level—and find reassurance in knowing that support and progress are possible.
Still Have Questions Or Concerns About Autism Therapy?
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It’s common to fear being misunderstood. However, our autism therapists at Zen + Zest Therapy are trained to provide treatment for ASD at all stages of life—from children and teens with higher support needs to adults navigating complex challenges, as well as those who identify as high-functioning.
Our therapists have extensive backgrounds working in areas involving forensics, residential settings, inpatient psychiatry, crisis intervention, schools, as well as foster care and adoption to just name a few. With that experience, we’re confident we can help regardless of your situation.
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At Zen + Zest Therapy, we respect each client’s comfort level and unique sensitivities. We’ll always move at a gentle pace, break down goals into manageable steps, and create a safe, predictable space where clients feel supported rather than pressured.
If you’re a concerned parent, our therapists are specially trained to work with children, ensuring they feel as safe and comfortable as possible. Plus, we can meet online, in the office, or even at your home, wherever your child prefers.
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People often worry that therapy will try to “fix” them or make them act more neurotypical. At Zen + Zest Therapy, we provide neurodiversity-affirming care, which means we respect and support the way your brain works.
We’ll never pathologize you with a label or push you to change core aspects of who you are. Rather, our goal is to honor your strengths, support your needs, and help you feel more comfortable and confident in daily life, being the unique, resilient, and amazing person you are.
With A Little Support, Life With ASD Can Get Easier
Whether you’re looking to parent from a place of greater understanding—or you want to ensure you have the tools needed to thrive as a high-functioning adult, autism therapy can help. For your free, 20-minute consultation—or to set up your first session—we invite you to call (518) 227-0449 or use the contact button below.
Zen + Zest Therapy offers online, in-office, and at-home autism counseling services in Greenwich Village, NYC, and Farmingdale, NY, with convenient virtual therapy sessions across New York State.
Our Autism Therapy Clinicians
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208 NY-109 Suite 201, Farmingdale, NY 11735
80 University PL #4F, New York, NY 10003