Helpful Information and Resources

ADHD Across the Lifespan

I love working with adults with ADHD, as this group of people, although faced with unique challenges, is also known for having an obtuse sense of humor and a creative way of viewing the world. After traveling along my own journey of self-discovery, I was finally diagnosed later in life with ADHD, and discovered that I was not alone in my unique way of looking at life. After attending the CHADD.org International Conference for a few years, I began to develop a great fondness for this unique tribe that I connected with. For this reason, I have spent much time studying and keeping abreast of the latest research in this unique area. If you love research, check out the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders (APSARD.org), as well as ADHDinadults.com, for short modules created to update mental health providers about updated information in the field of ADHD. 

I love Dr. Russel Barkley's seminal research in providing the correlation of ADHD with trauma throughout the lifespan. Dr. Barkley provides the research and evidence that much of the field of ADHD is built on. His work explains why getting assessed and treated as early as possible is critical to prevent the tragic adverse outcomes that can occur due to lack of treatment along the life trajectory. However, I find that Ned Hallowell's unique spin brings hope and humor to the experience of ADHD for adults. Dr. Thomas Brown has provided much of the groundwork around the importance of training in Executive Functioning to manage ADHD, as well as his work on highly intelligent individuals with ADHD and how being highly intelligent can create even more difficulties for those with ADHD. For me, the scientific explanations of the importance of exercise, as described by Dr. John Ratey in his book, "Spark," have been highly motivating for understanding the importance of exercise for optimal management of ADHD. I  also love Dr. Russell Ramsey's work on ADHD and Anxiety, and use his workbook, for working with individuals not interested in using a planner.

I also use CBT  to challenge erroneous attributions and cognitions toward self and others to reduce shame and other unhelpful tendencies that those with a lack of treatment may exhibit.  Through working with ACT and DBT, I try to help individuals recognize the importance of being present at the moment and recognize the impact of negative thoughts in working on issues around anxiety and depression. Borrowing the skills of these modalities and many others, I seek to help individuals move forward positively toward future choices.

Lastly, through training in trauma and ADHD, I can help people understand intergenerational experiences that can contribute toward PTSD, developmental trauma, and ADHD. Through the understanding of ADHD as being a highly heritable issue, I seek to help individuals identify how ADHD traits may have resulted in intergenerational trauma, such as addictions, early deaths, divorce, and the tendency to immigrate in search of a new life. Additionally, to recognize the potential positive experiences of these types of families, people who were not satisfied with the status quo, people who were more curious, innovative, willing to fight for causes, willing to make risky choices in search of excitement, hopeful changes, all these traits too are a part of ADHD. This wider lens, helps individuals move more toward a central view of themselves, and recognize that their families failures and their own failures are not just failures but also part of a greater genetic lineage. that has led them to a different outcome had they not been a part of this group. 

 I seek to help individuals identify the strengths within these families such as curiosity, innovation, which may have led individuals to leave the safety of their families of origin to seek new and exciting changes, to look for a new land, fight for causes, and not settle for the mundane or accept what had previously been your fate. These positive traits are also part of a person's legend, not just the current individual which many people use as the only scale to measure who and what their identities are tied to.    The lens of seeing oneself not so individualisticly but through a historical understanding of the greater family, helps in releasing the current mental health issue of feeling helpless and victimized by current standards- leading to a more holistic view of oneself as a person. use of recognizing the historical generational issues recognizing that generationally, individuals are part of their unique tribe, not necessarily just the current family. My goal is to help individuals optimize their experience of life, including providing hope and forgiveness to heal the past and grow stronger for one's future generations. 

The best part of working with individuals with ADHD is helping people to identify their strengths and understand that they are not alone in their experience of feeling "different." One of which is the tendency to get hyperfocused in some areas, yet consistently having difficulty managing simple mundane tasks of daily living, which although appearing negative in the short term consequential view of life, can actually be a healthier  more holistic view that helps extend one's consciousness toward a greater expanse which is a more realistic view than just me myself and I.