Cbt experience with adhd/odd/anxiety

[Lolmama]

I have some very specific questions on CBT as it relates to behavioral issues including adhd, ODD, "I can't attitude", tantrums, anxiety, inability to make decisions when prompted with choices to avoid certain situations, negative outlook, etc.

1) if you have tried on 6 year old, was it successful? He will be 7 in may.

2) what type of CBT did you use? Are there different types such as play therapy vs individual feelings based sessions?

3) how long did it take to notice an impact and was it worthwhile?

4) does anyone know anyone in north jersey or even nyc area that is exceptionally good?

5) is there a way to get insurance to cover cbt when majority of the providers are out of network? Coverage for out of network is only 50% and this gets pricy if the bills are 225 per session?

[Klmamma]

We started CBT at 6. It has dramatically improved our son. Most days we only deal with the ADHD symptoms and he can at least try to self manage utilizing the skills he has learned. We are actually having a sudden flare up of the ODD the last two days, but this only happens about every 3 months now instead of daily.

The ADHD won't go away, even with CBT but it will become more manageable for him depending the severity. Feelings talk just pisses my son off. He prefers the concrete this is my problem, this is my solution approach. We don't do play therapy. They do games etc that are specifically targeting issues. Play therapy was a waste of time for us. It skirted around the issues and seemed utterly pointless. That therapist actually made my sons behavior 10 times worse.

In conclusion, the ADHD may still require medication but with CBT the symptoms are less severe bc the child is working on executive function skills etc. The amount of skills they can learn is still dependent upon the ADHD brain issue if that makes sense. While it is effective, it is not a simple cure all is my point. The impulsivity doesn't really go away, but they may begin to immediately apologize afterwards etc.

Keep looking around. We found a therapist who is covered and I only pay $6 a session after meeting out deductible.

[Lolmama in reply to Klmamma]

Thank you. This is super helpful. I called a bunch of places that are in network. I think it will still be about $50 / session, but it's better than the $150-$225 per session that some people are quoting us. How old is your son now? And how long did it take to notice a difference?

[Klmamma in reply to Lolmama]

He is about to be 7. Actually we started at age 5. We are down to every two weeks now and I think alot of what we deal with now is COVID related. I pulled him in August and we homeschool. I will say that even though he is better, I don't see how he could function in public school without meds. I'm against meds in general, but I do see how imperative they are now. His quality of life is overall better though as is ours. We were all miserable every single day of our lives.

[Klmamma in reply to Lolmama]

Has now graduated from CBT. We rarely have issues with his behavior. Every now and then he will be impulsive but is able to accept a correction and realize what he has done and apologize and clearly understands how to fix the issue going forward.

He scored in the 96th percentile on his end of grade tests. He still has the focus issues of course, but he can use self talk to bring himself back to the task at hand on his own 95% of the time now. Still not medicated. Gets hyper still when we don't get enough activity or outdoor time but he is more self aware about this now and figures out how to calm himself down or tells us, "I can't get calm down and need some help."

Overall he is able to manage his ADHD symptoms on his own or ask for help when he cannot. We don't see the ODD anymore. He is correctable and doesn't get down on himself when he is corrected, it's just a conversation we have together.

[Redpanda5]

Hello. CBT did not work at all for our daughter when she was 12. We kept at it because everyone said how great it was. All it did was make her hate therapy and increase negativity. Someone later in said DBT would be better for her (sh has adhd & anxiety) but now she is so turned off to therapy that she won’t try it. It can really help with the anxiety and high emotions that some children have in addition to the adhd.

Insurance? Ugh. We never found a place that takes in network insurance. It’s an investment. Out of network benefits never kicked in even though we filed because our deductible was so high. I empathize with your frustration but unfortunately found no cheaper way.

I strongly recommend looking into DBT for your son before he sours to therapy. Good luck!