The purpose of the study has been to investigate whether therapists in primary care adapt the CBT method to the patient group with autism spectrum disorders, ASD or intellectual disability, ID. We have chosen to find out if there is clarity about the distribution of responsibilities in the care system about where the patient group should turn when the need for care in depression and anxiety syndrome arises. The survey was conducted through qualitative semi-structured interviews based on an inductive approach with six respondents with different professional roles. Four out of six respondents are therapists who are educated in CBT with at least “step 1 education”. The other two respondents are a doctor in the field of habilitation and an employee National Board of Health and Welfare working on developing national guidelines. 

Each respondent had an important part in answering the study's questions. All people interviewed are employed in Stockholm. 

The interviews have resulted in interesting information and multifaceted perspectives for the study. The results have further been analyzed based on previous research and theoretical views where Empowerment theory have been chosen as a central point of view.  

The majority of respondents claim that the CBT method can be applied to people with ASD aswell to people with ID if changes are made according to the person’s individual care need. Another important aspect for successful therapy is a functioning network of coordinated support outside the therapy room. 

The study led us across valuable information about who is responsible for our chosen patient group when it comes to treatment of depression and anxiety syndrome. 

The phenomenon refers to uncertainties in the distribution of responsibilities in the health care system, which resulted in different interpretations of guidelines. We decided on a deeper examination of that phenomenon and therefore contacted the National Board of Health and the Habilitation Physician who confirmed that knowledge gaps exist in this area.