There is no obligation to speak about your earlier life, and I do not direct clients to do this. I respect your autonomy and my job is to ensure that we are equal partners in the work we do. Some clients have been harmed by their family of origin, and part of our work may be to try to repair this damage and help the client develop a sense of self that is truly their own. I commonly work with neurodivergent people who have experienced various types of trauma. In these cases, we will often work towards integrating these experiences into the client’s past history so that the effects of trauma no longer dominate their present lives in harmful ways.