Behavioral therapy may help children and adults with ADHD manage and change behaviors that are causing them difficulties and stress. In adults, it may also help manage co-occurring conditions like anxiety or depression.
Symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can lead to various behaviors that may make everyday tasks feel challenging or even impossible.
Behavioral therapy can help people with ADHD develop new, more positive behaviors and help them manage their symptoms more effectively. Behavioral therapy may work alongside medication and is often a part of an ADHD treatment plan.
People with ADHD have symptoms that can make it difficult for them to succeed at school, work, or everyday tasks.
Behavioral therapy can help people with ADHD learn skills that control their symptoms and help them manage tasks. The goal of behavioral therapy is to replace negative behaviors with positive ones. Behavioral therapy does this by teaching strategies to improve problem areas like organization, focus, and impulse control.
Some people find that behavioral therapy helps them effectively manage their ADHD symptoms without medication. Other people use behavioral therapy alongside medication.
Behavioral therapy doesn’t affect the actual symptoms of ADHD. It won’t change how a child or adult with ADHD’s brain works. However, it can teach people with ADHD skills that make it easier to succeed at school, work, home, and in relationships.
When children have behavioral therapy for ADHD, their parents or guardians are involved in the process. Families will work with a therapist to set goals, and therapists will help families use behavioral therapy techniques at home and school.
All behavioral therapy focuses on changing a person’s actions. Behavioral therapy for children with ADHD also looks at how negative actions are responded to in a child’s home. In many cases, parents of children with ADHD are unintentionally reinforcing negative behaviors.
That’s why a therapist will sit down with a family to help create a plan. The plan will help the entire family set goals and work on changing behaviors. Therapy sessions will give children and their parents the tools they need to make changes successfully.
Children will learn new skills and new ways to manage tasks that might be challenging for them, such as:
- completing homework
- paying attention in class
- keeping their rooms clean
- completing any daily chores
Parents will learn new methods of helping their child with ADHD succeed, and they’ll learn about why certain strategies aren’t effective. The therapist will introduce new strategies for rewarding positive behaviors and managing negative ones.
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Finding a professional for behavioral therapy for ADHD
It’s important to find the right therapist if you think behavioral therapy could benefit you or your child. If you’re not sure how to get started, check out the tips below:
- Ask your child’s pediatrician for recommendations.
- Ask your child’s school for recommendations.
- If your child is receiving in-school accommodations to help their ADHD through an IEP or other plan, you can ask the counselors or social workers involved for recommendations.
- Ask your primary care provider for recommendations.
- Use the internet to search for CBT specialists in your area who see adults with ADHD.
- Use Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder’s (CHADD’s) professional directory to find therapy near you.
At your child’s first appointment, you’ll discuss goals with the therapist. You’ll talk about which behaviors are most challenging. The therapist will help you come up with a plan to work on those behaviors.
The plan will involve setting up a system of rewards and consequences in your home. You’ll create a chart listing the actions your child needs to take to meet goals and earn rewards. The therapist will help your child select rewards that will motivate them. This chart will help your child see exactly what they need to do to meet expectations every day.
Children should receive praise and encouragement when they complete tasks and earn rewards. When they don’t complete tasks, they won’t earn those points. It’s important that they’re not punished or shamed for not completing tasks. Not earning a point is the consequence.
The goal is to encourage positive behaviors. You’ll meet with the therapist weekly to discuss how the chart is going and work out any issues you’ve encountered.
Your child will also have sessions with the therapist, typically once a month. They’ll learn:
The chart you and your child’s therapist make is a great way to monitor how well behavior therapy is working. If your child is demonstrating positive behaviors and earning rewards, it’s a sign that behavior therapy is helping them.
You’ll also notice that your child is doing better in school and having fewer challenges with things that have typically caused problems. Your child might seem less frustrated and might have more confidence.
If your child isn’t making progress, you might need to change the system. If they’re not completing tasks and earning rewards on the chart, bring it up with the therapist. You might need to introduce negative consequences. That means that instead of simply not earning a point when not completing a task, they lose points for negative behavior.
The therapist will help you navigate this and will continue to work with your child on skills to help them manage their ADHD.
Keep in mind that behavioral therapy is not a “cure” or “fix” for ADHD. Your child will still have ADHD when behavioral therapy is complete. However, they’ll also have the tools they need to manage their ADHD and succeed in previously challenging areas.
Children can carry the skills they learn in behavioral therapy with them for the rest of their lives. That can have a significant effect on their success and independence as adults.
It’s important to involve your child’s teacher in their therapy and plan, especially if they have school-related goals. That way, teachers can see that tasks are being completed and report back to parents. This can give children daily feedback on their school performance and help them improve.
Some children benefit from a specific at-school chart system. Your child’s teacher can work with you to set this up.
Generally, teachers will fill out a daily report. The report will list in-school tasks or positive behaviors your child needs to accomplish. Every day, their teacher will mark whether your child completed each task or behavior. Your child can then earn a small reward if they come home with enough marks on their daily report.
Adults with ADHD have different challenges and need different strategies. Many adults with ADHD have difficulties with time management, disorganization, lack of motivation, and regulating their emotions.
This often causes low self-esteem, high stress, constant feelings of defeat, and other negative thought processes. Adults with ADHD might think their challenges are their fault and might have trouble believing that things will ever go well or that they will ever succeed.
When adults have behavioral therapy for ADHD, it’s usually cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT may help adults with ADHD recognize how their thoughts affect their behaviors. Rather than teaching new strategies for organization or task completion, CBT may help adults reframe their thoughts so they have more positive behaviors and more control over their ADHD symptoms.
During CBT sessions, you can examine what role your ADHD symptoms had in previous challenging situations. You’ll work with the therapist to break down the situation. You’ll examine the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors you had during the situation. You’ll then start to consider other ways you could have managed the situation and build coping techniques to avoid the situation in the future.
Other ways CBT can help adults with ADHD include help with:
- managing negative emotions
- resetting negative expectations
- figuring out any behavioral patterns
- coping with stress
- navigation transitions throughout the day
- managing stressful obligations
- making time for self-care and self-fulfillment
- changing self-defeating behaviors
It’s also not uncommon for people with ADHD to have mood disorders like anxiety or depression, face challenges with addiction, or have difficulty maintaining a healthy lifestyle. CBT can also help you manage other conditions you might have along with ADHD.
Behavioral therapy can help people with ADHD manage their condition. Therapy can teach skills and coping mechanisms that can help make overwhelming tasks feel easier to accomplish.
For children with ADHD, behavioral therapy works with the whole family to create strategies that reward positive behaviors. Adults with ADHD often benefit from learning to reframe their thoughts and analyze their behaviors with CBT.