Therapy for adhd

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, shortened to ADHD, is considered to be a developmental disorder. This disorder affects about 3 to 5% of all children and most kids with this problem are diagnosed before seven years of age.

ADHD and Medications

There are some medications used for this developmental disorder and they could be helpful for everyday life and control of behavior problems. However, the drugs will not immediately solve all other problems associated with the disorder such as anger, blame or frustration. For these reasons behavior treatments are considered to be very beneficial for patients with ADHD and their families.

ADHD and Counseling

Children and their parents need to learn to manage patterns of behavior specific for ADHD and counseling is here very helpful. In some cases the child is the only one who needs counseling, but more often, this is a problem of a whole family, so everyone should be involved and learn about the disorder and the ways to cope with it. Mental help counselors could teach children and help them to develop some new skills, ways of relating and adopt certain attitudes in order to efficiently cope with the condition. Individual counseling is great for kids with ADHD, learning them to identify and build their strength, control attention and aggression and deal with problems they encounter every day.

There are several behavior therapies available for families dealing with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder including behavioral therapy and behavioral interventions, parenting skill training, psychotherapy, social skills training and support groups.

Behavioral Therapy and Interventions

Behavioral therapy or just BT is helpful for immediate problems, helping people to find some effective ways to deal with them. It usually works to change the way of thinking and dealing with an ADHD. Some simple behavioral interventions may be very helpful, so try to schedule a consistent routine for your child, organize everyday items and use notebook and homework organizers. Creating and enforcing the rules is also considered to be good for ADHD kids, as well as some praise for good behavior instead of criticism.

Parenting and Social Skills Trainings

Parenting skills training is offered in special classes and it provides with techniques and methods that manage child’s behavior. Parents could use point systems to reward good behavior or some good work and “time out” method (isolation) when situation gets out of control.

Social skills training will help the ADHD kids to learn some new behaviors, such as sharing toys, asking for some help, waiting for a turn etc.

Psychotherapy

This treatment improves the picture patients have about themselves because of the disorder. Psychotherapy does not work on ADHD causes or symptoms, but instead helps the patients to learn how to handle their emotions and cope with the disorder.

Support Groups

Parents might find help in groups of people with similar problems, meeting on a regular basis and hearing lectures about ADHD. They usually exchange success and frustration regarding their kids and such support groups help them realize that they are not alone.