Hello, I am a marital therapist, communications trainer and author. I have thirty-five years helping couples and individuals make better relationships. I have written twenty-plus self-help books which include the international best-sellers ‘I love you but I’m not in love with you’ and ‘How can I ever trust you again?’ My books have been translated into twenty languages. I trained with RELATE the UK’s largest counselling charity. Perhaps it has been turning sixty but I have become interested in spiritual as well as psychological questions. Who am I? What are my values – as opposed to my parents, my teachers and the wider society? What makes my life meaningful? What do I believe about life, the universe and everything? Although my clients might come to me because of destructive arguments, falling out of love and infidelity, they are also interested in having more meaningful relationships and a more meaningful life. So what is the meaningful life? Why do we so easily lose our way and get lost in depression, anxiety, doubt, addictions and obsessions: the swamplands of the soul? One thing I know for sure is that there is not one answer...
https://andrewgmarshall.com/podcasts/
episode 137: Sarah Swenson: Are You in a Neurodiverse Relationship?
If you’re in relationship with a partner who is on the autism spectrum, the following may feel familiar:
- My partner seems to lack empathy and doesn’t care how I feel
- My partner misjudges me all the time - I can’t do anything right
- I can’t seem to find a way to communicate with my partner
- My partner feels attacked and criticised if I disagree
- We argue all the time and never resolve anything
- My partner just walks away when things get emotional
- We've been together for a long time and I am lonelier than I have ever been in my life
This week Sarah Swenson, a counselor specialising in working with neurodiverse couples, highlights some of challenges these couples face, and shares her ideas on how to build a happy relationship that can work for both partners.
Andrew and Sarah also discuss several listener letters on challenges faced by neurodiverse couples.
Sarah Swenson is a licensed mental health counselor based in Seattle, Washington. Her practice is focused on supporting the needs of neurodiverse couples in which one partner is or may be autistic.
If You’re Looking for More….
You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.
This week supporters will hear:
⭐️The problems with being highly intelligent.
⭐️Three things Sarah Swenson knows to be true.
⭐️AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.
Follow Up
Read Andrew’s new Substack newsletter The Meaningful Life, and join the community there.
Visit Sarah Swenson’s website
Find out about Sarah Swenson’s online courses for neurodiverse couples.
Read Sarah Swenson’s Substack newsletter for neurotypical individuals whose partners are or may be autistic.
Find out about Sarah Swenson’s work counselling highly intelligent individuals.
Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall