Diagnostic Evaluation:

The diagnosis of ADD can often be very complicated. The first issues that need to be considered involve the degree of deficit and the functional problems the attention problem creates for the child or adult. In addition to history taking, objective testing is best done to clarify the type and extent of the attention problem. Testing can provide objective information to help guide treatment.

Individual Counseling:

The child or adult needs to consider that medication alone is usually not sufficient to correct the many problems that exist. The child or adult needs to learn to take ownership of their problem and recognize areas of strength and weakness. They need to develop better self monitoring and self management skills.

Parent Counseling:

Parents need to learn to abandon ineffective reward and punishment strategies. They need to learn to see the attention problem as the core issue and the various emotion and behavior problems that develop from that. They need to not personalize the problems that the child presents. These problems are actually the child's attempt to cope with their problems. They need to become a coach and advocate for their child.

Couple Counseling

It´s not easy living with ADD. The ADD adult needs to recognize and appreciate the difficulties they present in relationships. Their partner needs to avoid taking the various problems of organization, follow through, impulsiveness, etc. as a personal affront. ADD adults need to seek the advice and support of their spouse who can provide coaching and positive reinforcement.

Academic and Vocational Counseling:

ADD children and adults typically underachieve for their level of intelligence. They tend to start and stop school, change majors and generally not complete a course of training. They tend to make a lot of lateral job changes often impulsively. Much of this uneven educational and vocational history is caused by a faulty understanding of their strengths and limitations. They tend to plan on things that sound good, may be appropriate for many adults, or may please others.

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ADD is a neurochemical disorder. How a child or adult learns to cope with it, however, is determined primarily by psychological and social factors. With or without medication coping strategies must be developed. These strategies can help improve the quality of life or they can reduce options and produce profound functional problems, i.e. failure in school, work and family.

The ADD individual must learn to self-monitor and self-manage ADD to a great extent. It is their responsibility to take an active role from the assessment stage through treatment, even for young children. Parents and teachers, for example, often direct, control and manage the child and his environment. The child can accept the often needed and helpful interventions, but he may come to depend on this, reducing self-reliance. Or he can resist these interventions and learn better avoidance and oppositional behavior, becoming punished and marginalized.

Having active participation of the ADD child or adult in all stages of assessment and treatment helps the individual to be more resilient and resourceful in a wide range of settings and situations. The child or adult also often has hidden resources they can use to enhance the chances of success. Even negative behaviors can be redirected to produce a positive outcome. The prognosis for success can be excellent.