Our Sessions
How does ADHD Therapy for Children work?
During week one, we’ll have a 65-minute intake session consisting of parent coaching without child therapy. From there, we’ll move to 45-minute child/adolescent counseling sessions coupled with 20-minute coaching sessions for parent modeling.
If your child has a new ADHD diagnosis or more severe behavioral issues, you may want to consider more intensive parenting coaching services to give you a head start toward making progress.
I believe that it’s important to understand a problem before moving toward solutions. So, first, we’ll explore the specific obstacles your child is facing and how those challenges may be impacting their well-being. Once parents have an understanding of ADHD and its impact on children and the family, we can begin the collaborative problem-solving part of treatment.
Some of the tools I use for the treatment of ADHD in children and teenagers
I offer weekly individual psychotherapy for young children and adolescents paired with weekly 20 minute coaching services for parents.
In sessions, I use play therapy to help children work on sadness, frustration, and self-esteem issues. I provide them with age-appropriate psychoeducation about the effects of ADHD while teaching them coping skills for regulating their emotions. And I help them discover their internal strengths so they can voice their needs, advocate for themselves, and develop a positive view of themselves.
For teens, I often use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to address how their frustration, depression, anxiety, or negative self-concept may stem from faulty beliefs generated by ADHD symptoms. I also provide a solution-focused approach to ADHD counseling that utilizes coping tools, collaborative problem-solving, and coaching to overcome short and long-term challenges.
Additionally, ADHD treatment for children and teens can help identify specific accommodations and provide practical ways of overcoming executive function difficulties. That means your child or teen can learn strategies for getting started and staying on task, dealing with distractions, setting up their environment for success, and course-correcting on their own.
Whatever you think your child’s future looks like right now, you can help them feel more capable and secure in who they are. Therapy can help reduce tantrums, improve self-esteem, and enrich the relationship you have with your child.
At the same time, ADHD treatment offers you, as a parent, collaborative support from multiple caregivers who can teach you how to regulate your own emotions when you feel overwhelmed.
Through psychoeducation and a deepened awareness of how ADHD works, you can finally be the most empathetic and compassionate parent you can be for your child.
