Behavioral therapy

[Boy_Mama2018]

Hi everyone, I have a 6 year old who has adhd, and I would like to know how behavioral therapy works and did it help?

[LisethHIS]

Hi, Boy_Mama2018,

Thank you for contacting CHADD National Resource Center on ADHD. Therapy can be really helpful, but it's important to be open to it and find a therapist that you and your child feel comfortable with. Below are some links that might be useful for you: chadd.org/for-parents/behav... and cdc.gov/adhd/treatment/beha...

If there is anything else you need, please let me know.

Best,

Liseth

Health Information Specialist

CHADD's National Resource Center on ADHD chadd.org

[Alt49]

we have done PCIT (parent child interaction therapy). It definitely helped getting him to listen and helped us interact with him better. We also put my son in a social group which helped a little. He still struggles with social skills. My son is now 7. We did these things when he was 6. We also started meds which were the biggest impact we saw. He also has a severe case (has just about every symptom of adhd that one can have)

[Adhdquestion]

Based on our experience and the opinion of the many professionals we have worked with, behavior therapy and medication together provides the best outcome. We did behavior therapy alone for a number of months and then when our son turned 6, we started medication as well. I am so glad we did because the impact was immediate. It can be extremely difficult for a child with ADHD to be able to access and utilize the skills they learn in behavior therapy without the aid of the medication to give them the pause they need to make the choice they intend. The behavior therapy training for parents has been a game changer for me and my husband as we now understand the many differences in our son’s brain and we have a number of tools to use in the moment. We are much more patient now because we understand what/why something is happening and we have some options to take as next steps. I feel like the behavior therapy training helped me and my husband the most and the medication made the biggest impact for our son but behavior therapy is still very important for him as well.

[Pema20]

behavioral therapy has been very helpful. I also recommend parent coaching.

[redseahorse11]

I would absolutely agree with everything @Adhdquestion said in their reply. We started medicine and behavioral therapy at the same time (6.5) because our therapist told us it would allow him to slow down enough to be able to use what he was learning in therapy. In our case, it began with behavioral daily report cards at school which REALLY worked! Unfortunately, his private school was only willing to do them for 3 weeks. They also did not implement our therapist's suggested accommodations either so it will likely depend on your child's situation. Overall I'd say it's still working, but medicine made the biggest difference and then the parent coaching we're still doing with the behavioral therapist. Finding the right kind of behavioral therapy took me over a year! 🙄 but I'm so glad we did...

[Mamamichl]

dialectical behavior therapy is working well for me. I was quite depressed, and it’s changed my outlook. I will start group sessions with it soon, so I could tell you more… but I hear they can work with my ptsd after I do a round of group.

[Danni246]

I apologize if this is a silly question! But what exactly is behavior therapy? What kind of professional conducts this? Are parents involved or strictly a child/professional session? My 7 yea old son is currently in "play therapy", it's been almost 2 years with the same provider but we currently do a type of family session with myself, dad, and him along with the counselor. We also meet with her, without our son present, at last 1-2x a month to go over how things are going and get tips/suggestions on different strategies to use with what we've been dealing with.

I'm interested in other types of therapy if it would help. He struggles with some major ADHD symptoms.