Understanding and Managing ADHD

This is an introduction to the course, what you can expect and who is teaching the course – that’ll be me! Stephen King MBACP, ADHD-CCSP, an integrative therapist and ADHD coach. I work with people who have ADHD live more fulfilled lives by coaching them with the model I’ve created called the “modifications/accommodations” model, which is a strength based approach to managing this neuro-developmental disorder.

In this session we will look at what ADHD is, and what it isn’t.
ADHD is not trauma. In beginning to understand how this neuro-developmental disorder presents itself, we must first look at what it is. ADHD is classified as a disorder. Why? Because it impedes societal function, particularly when it comes to executive function.

In this session, we explore how we get ADHD and how it can be officially diagnosed. I am all for a self diagnosis, however if you are self diagnosed, you cannot be eligible for medication. A psychiatrist or an ADHD nurse can diagnose ADHD and prescribe medication. Medication may need to be reviewed at different intervals.

In this session we examine the different types of ADHD. We begin to explore the symptoms of an ADHD presentation as per the DSM-V (Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition).This session also briefly covers the differences between the diagnostic labels of: Inattentive, Hyperactive, Combined (mild, moderate, severe)

This session is all about looking at the main symptoms of a hyperactive based ADHD presentation. In adults, hyperactivity can look like an “inner restlessness” rather than hyperactivity, with a ‘motor’ always running.

Here we begin to look at the symptoms of inattention, and how these can effect daily living. We begin to dive into ‘Executive function’ which is how we are able to process basic demands on our time, and resources such as getting in the car to go to the shop to buy the food we need to eat.

In this video, we look at the typical diagnostic session, exploring briefly who can diagnose you and when.

Comorbidities can be seen as a horrible word as it’s meaning is around the other disabilities that come adjunct to the disorder. In this session, we explore what else might be prevalent in a diagnosis of ADHD that isn’t ADHD but might come as part of the package.

This session is all about a brief overview of what it might look like sociologically when someone has ADHD. These social impairments can include presentations such as difficulties concentrating whilst driving or other motor tasks, as well as difficulties learning and playing.

This video is a bit of a wildcard video, suggesting pursuing an assessment even if you don’t meet all of the criteria as something else might be going on. There are other diagnostic entities surrounding ADHD, present in the gene modifications such as VAST, varying attention stimulus trait.

It’s in this session that we briefly look at the modifications/accommodations model, which at it’s very centre is a strength based approach based on unconditional positive regard.

Time blindness is real, and it can cause a lot of stress for people trying to live socially acceptable lives with ADHD. We explore some of the supposed mechanisms of time blindness, looking at what might be done about this debilitating part of an ADHD presentation.

This is a brief overview of some of the medications. NOTE: I am not a pharmacist, medically trained or have any formal training in psychopharmacology. This is advice based on the literature that currently exists in journals.

This session takes a look at some of the things we can do to accommodate those living with ADHD, and also looks at how we might be able to modify our own behaviours with some basic interventions, centred around kindness and alleviating shame.

If you have made it this far, congratulations! You’re at the end of this level 1 introduction to understanding ADHD! This is a final summary and encourages you to seek a formal diagnosis so that you might be able to live a more fulfilled life.

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