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    ADD & ADHD Treatment

    ADD/ADHD can effect both children and adults. There are some pretty awesome strengths to this particular neurodiversity. I’ll bet you ten bucks that some of the most creative people you know have ADD! But it can also wreak havoc in an individuals life and be a major barrier to achieving goals and maintaining relationships.

    Children with ADD/ADHD

    We all know kids who can’t sit still, who never seem to listen, who blurt out inappropriate comments, or don’t follow instructions no matter how clearly you present them.

    While it’s normal for kids to forget their homework, daydream during class, or act without thinking, inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity are also signs of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. ADHD makes it difficult for a person to inhibit their spontaneous responses, including everything from movement to speech to assertiveness.

    Some children with ADHD may be constantly in motion, bouncing off the walls and disrupting others around them. Other children with ADHD may sit quietly, with their attention miles away.

    There are three primary characteristics of ADHD: Inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, though all three aren’t always prominent in one child.

    Children with ADD/ADHD may:

    • Have trouble staying focused or get easily distracted
    • Appear not to be listening when spoken to
    • Constantly fidget and squirm
    • Talk excessively
    • Act without thinking
    • Interrupt often, or say the wrong thing at the wrong time
    • Have a quick temper or “short fuse”

    Whether or not your child’s symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity are due to ADHD, they can cause problems if left untreated. Children who can’t focus or control themselves or get into trouble at school often find it hard to make friends. These frustrations can later lead to low self-esteem as well as friction for the whole family.

    Treatment can make a dramatic difference in your child’s symptoms. With the right support, your child can get on track for success in all areas of life.

    Adults with ADD/ADHD

    Adults can go for years with untreated ADD/ADHD and not even realize that their struggles are due to their neurological structure and function. Many adults with ADD/ADHD have cleverly developed elaborate coping mechanisms to keep their lives in order (i.e. placing tracking devices on keys, wallet, and briefcase, elicit Siri to remember important dates, details and tasks, etc).

    ADD/ADHD looks differently in adults than it does children. Adults with ADD/ADHD may:

    • Constantly be running late
    • Engage in risky driving
    • Be easily distracted
    • Have trouble concentrating, especially on things like reading or during long meetings.
    • Impulsive behaviors and difficulty controlling anger or irritability
    • Have the ability to hyperfocus (but the inability to choose where to hyperfocus)
    • Frequently lose important items, like keys, wallet, or purse.
    • Frequently put off “adulting” tasks
    • Frequently seek novelty, new experiences or pursue new ideas

    Many adults with ADD utilize their strength of creativity and divergent problem solving to figure out how to cope and manage their lives. However, these elaborate coping schemes take up significant amounts of mental energy, redirecting energy away from goals, positive life experiences and relationships.

    Oftentimes adults with ADD struggle to maintain healthy relationships. Although they really desire intimacy and to show care to their partner, the impulsivity and forgetfulness that comes along with ADD can be frustrating to a romantic partner or family member.

    Treatment

    For both children and adults with ADD/ADHD, our gold standard of treatment is neurofeedback. Rather than spending your precious time and energy finding ways to cope, neurofeedback retrains the brain to sustain a relaxed attention while teaching the brain networks to work together in greater harmony.

    Neurofeedback has decades of research supporting its efficacy in treating both children and adults with ADD/ADHD. Unlike medications, there are virtually no negative side-effects to neurofeedback training for ADD/ADHD, except for mild brain fatigue after a training session (after all, your brain just did a heavy workout!)

    If you’re interested in learning more about ADD and ADHD therapy, contact me today for a free consultation. I would be happy to share how I can help you or your child achieve maximum success and growth!