Reframing ADHD: What Clients with ADHD Really Need from Therapy

CPD

Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationships

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.

Handouts

Speaker

David Nowell, PhD Related seminars and products

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David Nowell, PhD, is a clinical neuropsychologist in private practice in Northborough, Massachusetts. He offers consultations to patients on an inpatient rehabilitation unit and is an adjunct instructor in neuropsychology to graduate students in the Clark University psychology program. He serves as a physician advisor with the University of Massachusetts Medical School Disability Evaluation Service where he was the former clinical director of the Learning Disability Assessment Program. Dr. Nowell writes a popular blog at Psychology Today on motivation and time management and speaks internationally to clinicians on such topics as executive functioning, non-medication management of ADHD, and applying findings from Positive Psychology.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. David Nowell maintains a private practice and has employment relationships with Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, and Clark University. He is a presenter with TATRA Training and receives compensation. Dr. Nowell is an IME provider and receives compensation. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. David Nowell is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Massachusetts Neuropsychological Association, and the International Neuropsychological Society.

Objectives

1. Distinguish pathologizing from neutral language for discussing and documenting ADHD features.
2. Develop both individual and environmental supports for individuals with ADD/ADHD.
3. Integrate an appreciation and affirmation of neurodivergence in your work with the ADD/ADHD client.
4. Theorize on the value of the term “neurodiversity” and “neurodivergence” in clinical practice.

Outline

• Using caution with clinical and diagnostic language around ADHD
• How we talk about ADHD – a gift or a disorder?
• Collaborating rather than teaching
• Clarifying client-focused treatment goals around behavior change
• Over-looked ways to support an ADHD client that don’t involve behavior change
• Exploring our clients’ lived experience of brain differences
• Support and interventions for task avoidance, procrastination, and distractibility

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Marriage & Family Therapists
• Addiction Counselors
• Physicians
• Physician Assistants
• Nurses
• Nurse Practitioners 
• Other Mental Health Professionals

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