What is ADHD?

 ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) is an "Executive Function Disorder".  Basically the CEO of the brain is on vacation. 

Children and Adults with ADHD have:
  • difficult to focusing,
  • staying on task,
  • managing their time,
  • getting started, 
  • managing their emotions appropriately,
  • saying or doing the right things at the right time

These issues are some of the most common reasons for seeking treatment in my office.  Adults with ADHD were often told as kids that they weren't trying hard enough, or that they were lazy.  If trying harder were the solution for ADHD, no one would EVER come to me.  I've yet to see anyone who wasn't already doing everything they knew to try.

If this is you, if you've ever felt like you were stupid or lazy or not good enough, check out this blog post "Adult ADHD: Am I Just Lazy? Um, No." Or if you're more visual, watch the video below where Dr. Brown talks about how everyone he knows with ADHD has things that interest them, that they CAN stay on task and accomplish perfectly, even though they have trouble in other areas.

So, do you see kids or adults?

Both. 

​We tend to think of this as a problem for children, and it is, but, unfortunately,  you don't usually "grow out of it." Instead, you grow up losing your keys, procrastinating, showing up late, forgetting birthdays, saying the wrong thing, etc. Sometimes this causes problems early in life (think: elementary or preschool), but in mild to moderate cases of ADHD, people learn tricks and coping skills.  And they do ok... until they don't.

Eventually, life throws enough at them, as teenagers or adults and they begin to fall behind, to lose friends, to lose jobs, fail college classes.  For many this is where anxiety and depression begin, when their ability to keep up in school or in life just isn't enough.
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In fact, anxiety is so common for people with ADHD, that sometimes this is what brings them to therapy.

So, what can you do?

So, first, we need to help your brain.  We have to help the CEO come back from Hawaii or wherever he ran off to ;). There are lots of ways to address this.  We can also try a whole host of other ideas, such as Neurofeedback, Mindfulness and Meditation, Martial Arts, and other forms of exercise, in addition to referring you to your physician to discuss medical options. 

Then, we find strategies that work for your life now.  I like to say, "Try everything and do what works."  So, we find ways to hack motivation.  We come up with novel ways to help you stay interested and on task.  We come up with a plan, that works for you and for your family.  We work together to rewrite the story and harness the potential. We try everything and then we do what works.

What if "talk Therapy" isn't for you?

So, here's what's really cool... we don't have to do just "talk therapy".  I offer so many alternatives to traditional "talk therapy", because I've found what works for some doesn't work for others...
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Some examples:
  • Walk and Talk therapy.  Instead of sitting in the office, many of my clients will choose to take a walk around our neighborhood instead.  Moving helps them think more clearly and easily.
  • Games and Fidgets.  Instead of feeling like your therapist is staring at you, sometimes, shifting the focus to a card game or board game, allows conversation to happen more naturally.
  • Neurofeedback (also known as Neurological Biofeedback). Allows your brain to see it's own activity while you watch a movie or play a special video game.  The incredible thing is... this "feedback" of the screen changing allows the brain to calm itself down, to help it focus better. More on that here.
  • Movie therapy. So, this is more "out of the office" movies you watch and then we talk about the movie and how it applies to you, your life, your family, etc.  Movies and art provide great metaphors for our lives.
  • Bibliotherapy.  Basically book therapy, similar to the last one, books can be great to give us information, help, content, perspective, metaphors, etc. And then we discuss in the office.
  • Pet Assisted therapy.  Our office is lucky enough to have a therapy-dog-in-training, named Mac.  He is a three-year old Border Collie and loves to help our clients feel safe and more comfortable.  He's been helping me work with clients since he was a puppy.
  • Hypnotherapy.  Hypnotherapy has a mountain of positive research behind it and I tend to have fantastic results with clients.  We usually use this as a way to get past hard things that block you from making progress.  This is very different from "stage hypnosis".  We're not exploring past lives or making anyone cluck like a chicken.
  • EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).  This fascinating therapy helps to break the intense and painful emotional connection that some memories hold for us.  Using eye movements or bilateral stimulation, to engage both sides of the brain, your therapist guides you so that you can remember without that emotional charge, without you having to talk about every aspect of the memory.
  • Sandtray therapy.  This is a particular passion of mine when working with adults.  In Sandtray Therapy is for anyone who doesn't like to talk about "feelings".  Using a large collection of miniatures, the client builds a representation of their world or experiences in the tray.  Sometimes adults feel silly "playing with toys", but usually end up finding that it can be one of the most powerful forms of therapy because of it's visual nature. Children gravitate towards this type of therapy naturally.