Focusing on the “T” (Therapy) in CBT for Adult ADHD
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Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-supported, non-medical treatment for adult ADHD.
CBT often must be adapted to address co-existing psychiatric or medical diagnoses and various life stressors.
Basic familiarity with ADHD is necessary to adequately adapt CBT for adult ADHD.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-supported psychosocial treatment for adult ADHD. There are several available treatment manuals for clinicians, some with corresponding client workbooks. There is also a batch of other options tied to the credible, effective principles that guide treatments for adults with ADHD.
The most respected manuals have research support, chiefly via randomized controlled trials (RCTs), considered the ideal means to establish that a treatment works as promised.1 A necessary facet of these RCTs is identifying participants who have ADHD without co-existing diagnoses to ensure the treatments are, in fact, directly addressing and improving the symptoms of ADHD.
When ADHD Gets Complicated—Which Is Usually
Here is where the discussion of the “T,” the “therapy in CBT, arises2, and it's particularly relevant for adult ADHD. It’s well established that many things travel alongside ADHD, some of the most common being other psychiatric diagnoses, learning differences, and substance use issues.
However, these formal categories do not touch on the many life stressors that affect and are affected by ADHD, such as dealing with other health issues, such as diabetes, sensory or mobility ailments, reproductive health, caring for aging........
