ADHD Treatment: How to Help Your Child or Teenager

If you’re the parent of a child or teen who is newly diagnosed with ADHD, you may feel confused and frustrated as you consider how you can be supportive. Figuring out the best ADHD treatment plan can feel daunting. Counseling can play an important role in helping any individual who is struggling with ADHD. It can also be helpful for family members who are filling supportive roles.

Self-Exploration and Skill Building

Counseling can be used alongside medication to help your child work through the challenges he or she is facing. Meeting with a counselor becomes a “safe place” to develop coping strategies and explore each individual’s identity and potential. The child actively participates with the counselor in a collaborative effort to improve confidence and self-esteem.

Difficulty with emotional self-regulation is often correlated with ADHD. Your child may experience a wide range of emotions that they find difficult to control, whether it be shame, anger, frustration, or low self-esteem. Counseling can provide a healthy outlet for those emotions, releasing the sense of frustration that comes with having them built up inside. A counselor can also be an accountability partner for both your child and you as you work to achieve a new way of coping.

Reinforcing Healthy Activities

Everyone needs to make sure they are getting exercise, good nutrition, and adequate sleep, but this is particularly important for individuals with ADHD. Exercise facilitates the release of the brain chemicals dopamine and norepinephrine. These contribute to alertness and clear decision-making. Exercise also improves mood and the ability to focus, which is especially beneficial for individuals with ADHD.

Both our bodies and brains need fuel for optimal functioning. It’s so important to eat healthy foods and get a good night’s sleep as often as possible.

These goals can be achieved through stability and routine, which is very important when working with ADHD individuals. Having the added reinforcement of a counselor can prove invaluable for reinforcing healthy behaviors and encouraging change for less healthy habits.

Counseling Support for Parents with ADHD Children or Teens

It’s not only the child with ADHD who is struggling; parents and other family members may have a hard time knowing how to help and cope. Counselors are able to come alongside parents and families to support the child or teen in collaborative goal-setting and achieving success.

Counseling meetings provide a forum for discussing struggles, victories, and learning to communicate effectively. Your counselor can help spark conversations that lead to growth in the parent/child relationship and a greater understanding of each individual’s needs and struggles. This encourages family bonding and helps everyone support each other.

Therapeutic Approaches for ADHD Treatment

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a helpful technique for individuals with ADHD. It assists the client in identifying and transforming negative thoughts and behavior patterns, allowing them to solve personal problems. Unfortunately, many ADHD individuals struggle with frequent or constant discouragement because they can’t focus on work or meet the expectations of those around them. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps them overcome this discouragement by changing their negative thought patterns into more hopeful ones.

Each client needs to be treated holistically. ADHD individuals may have trouble seeing their value as a person and in relationships. Talking about negative thought patterns and each individual’s true identity is a crucial part of the therapy process.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy also addresses practical, everyday issues relevant to ADHD, such as disorganization, work performance problems, and poor time management.

Christian Counseling for ADHD Treatment

Let us help your child or teen with ADHD feel a sense of hope, set goals, and learn new coping mechanisms to help them thrive in everyday life. When your child learns practical skills and overcomes negative self-talk, they may start to grow and thrive in new and exciting ways. We are happy to help and support children and teens with ADHD as well as their parents.