Adult ADHD and ADD Treatment Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Not every adult with ADHD or ADD does well with prescribed medications. For those whom medications fail, or who would rather try a more natural method of dealing with ADHD, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be a helpful alternative. Rather than change the chemistry of the brain Cognitive Behavioral Therapy aims to help the adult with ADHD/ADD change the way they think about their symptoms and find new ways to cope with them.

Cognitive- Behavioral therapy is a combination of  two therapies; Cognitive Therapy, which deals with changing the thoughts, beliefs and attitudes that go along with adult ADHD; and Behavioral Therapy which helps you to change your ADHD and ADD behaviors. Its goal is to change the thought, beliefs and attitudes that lead to negative behaviors.

Right now I am writing this article. I was going to put it off until later. My 3 year old is awake and disrupts me frequently when I sit down to write. My first thought was, "There is no use starting this now. I'll only be interrupted and won't be able to get anything done anyway."

With that thought I felt a sense of inertia. My belief was that by starting I would be setting myself up to fail as I would be interrupted and wasn't sure I would be able to finish. This caused me to procrastinate. If I kept thinking along the same line of thought my attitude would become more negative. "I have too much to do. Maybe I should just give up on writing."  The action that would follow that negative attitude would be for me to not write at all.

With the cognitive behavioral therapy approach the adult with ADD/ADHD is trained to change the thought patterns and beliefs that cause many ADD behaviors. Procrastination being one of the big ones. So how did it help in my case? I found a better thought that improved my attitude and spurred me on to action.

"I will get as much writing done as I can right now. Every little bit gets it closer to complete."

The idea of the job being finished made me a lot happier than thinking I might as well not start, so I was more motivated to take action. This works with other behaviors as well, including the tendency to begin multiple projects without ever completing any of them and changing an attitude of overwhelm to one of competence.

Overwhelm is a common complaint of adult ADHD sufferers, and is one of the causes of procrastination. Moderately difficult tasks can seem almost impossible to a person in a state of overwhelm, causing a form of panic and desire to run away from problems and projects.  Cognitive behavioral therapy can help the adult ADD/ADHD change their thought pattern from one of overwhelm to one of hopefulness and being able to make a calm decision about what we want from a situation and what needs to be done. I have found it very helpful in being able to change my negative thoughts I about a situation. Rather than become angry and overwhelmed when noticing one of the household disasters my children have made or a work schedule that seems burdensome and unfair, I am able to change my thought to, “What do I want?”

What I want is for the room to be clean. What I want is for the work to be finished. These thoughts lift my attitude from darkness to one of possibility. They open up options. Rather than feeling out of control, I feel like I have a decision to make. I could make the kids clean their own mess, or I could clean it myself: knowing I want it clean.  In the work situation I could make the decision to delegate more tasks, create a more workable schedule for myself or make a conscious decision to find something better.

As you work with a cognitive-behavioral therapist or learn from reading books and following the exercises provided in them, you will find that you are able to catch yourself falling into the negative thought patterns that have left you feeling out of control.  Your life will become more manageable as you find yourself more able to control and change your thoughts and attitudes. You will learn to finish projects, be mindful of the work and home environment you want to create, and make firm decisions about your goals and what you need to do to achieve them. You will also learn to accept your attitudes and behaviours for what they are, which is the first step towards gaining control of your life.

If you are not ready to see a therapist to begin treatment for your adult ADHD, there are many books available to help you learn more about this approach to ADD. The three I have found to be most helpful in my own ADHD treatment are listed below.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy Workbook for Dummies is the one of the most helpful workbooks available.  It is filled with simple explanations and suggestions with worksheets to help you analyze your own thoughts and create meaningful changes.

Mastering Your Adult ADHD Workbook is ADHD specific. The exercises and suggestion within are geared specifically to helping the adult with ADD/ADD gain better understanding of and control over the thought patterns that lead to many ADD/ADHD behaviors.

Thoughts and Feelings: Taking Control of Your Moods and Your Life Workbook is one of the best resources available for learning the techniques used in cognitive-behavioral therapies. It is used by counselors in their practice with clients and is easily used alone. It can help with all areas of negative thought patterns including those that lead to depression.

If you have discovered other books that have helped you with adult ADD, you can leave a note in the comments section below.