Excellent group!

[Bryan Hutchinson]

Thanks for creating this group! I think this will be of serious interest for many of our members. I am discovering how difficult it must be to receive the right type of therapy from a qualified professional with concern to ADHD. I was very lucky, in that my therapist was insightful and accepting of the ADHD diagnosis. Nothing has helped me more than cognitive behavior therapy! Nothing! If I were to suggest any kind of treatment, especially for anyone who cannot take medication for whatever reason, cognitive behavior therapy by the right professional is the absolute epicenter of the treatment realm. Even if you do take medication, I recommend therapy.

Steve and I recently had a conversation about this; feel free to read about it here, if you want to know how much this type of treatment concerns me, as someone who has come from the depths of nowhere: http://adderworld.ning.com/profiles/blogs/beyond-medication

~Bryan

[DistractedByShinyThings]

My therapist is a CBT therapist, and it was pure luck (and gut instinct, which I have learned over the years to follow) that I wound up with her. I'd been to various counselors in the past but never made the kind of progress I have been making this time. When I was looking for a therapist two years ago, to attempt to deal with increased depression, I had no idea there were so many types of therapy out there, or how different they could be from one another.

I personally tend to be anti-medication myself, unless it can't be avoided. I have had a lot of problems due to medications in the past and I try to find natural ways to deal with things as much as possible, in conjunction with therapy. My therapist respects this about me, which is really helpful.

I had actually read that blog entry that you linked to, the other day, and shared it (by email) with my therapist, to ask her opinion. I think we'll be talking about it the next time I see her. In a way, without stating that was what we had been doing, I think we've been more-or-less doing what The Attention Doctor suggests, as far as working toward integrating the judging/planners and the feeling/doers. (Or at least beginning by trying to tame the "judge", which I'm still doing the steps-forward-and-steps-back with.)

My biggest problem right now is trying something new that seems like a good idea, and then saying, "Oh, never mind," because I suddenly feel foolish for having hope. That's part of what we're working on currently.

[Bryan Hutchinson]

Too many of us with ADHD feel foolish for having hope. And, unfortunately, with good reason. CBT and the right therapist can work wonders for ADHD. ADDers are impulsive, both inattentive and hyperactives, we look for quick fixes for lifelong problems. The reality is, that CBT can take months to years; however, will be far longer lasting and life changing that medication. Medications are usually quick when they work, but, that's only when they work and the side effects are basically excepted as a way of life that must be contended with, which is preferred over ADD or ADHD any day of the week. However, medication doesn't last forever and it becomes a dance of finding the right medication... when all the while, with the right therapist, life changing results can be accomplished. I am also growing more concerned by non-ADDers trying to push us to medication first. I am not sure if CBT can work as well while we are under the influence of medication? That's an important question because medication influences our judgments, considerations and even our emotions.