FYI - upcoming webinar some of you might be interested in: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for ADHD

[STEM_Dad]

I got an email notification about an upcoming webinar from Additude Magazine, which led me to check other upcoming webinars. There will be one on Nov. 19, 2024 on the topic of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) for ADHD.

A number of ADHDers here have been posting about problems with managing emotions. DBT is a form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which was developed to help with developing emotional regulation.

additudemag.com/webinar/dia...

DBT has been said to be helpful with anger issues, emotional reactivity, trauma response, and other emotional disregulation issues.

[MorningDanceTrece]

Thank you very much for sharing this very useful information which I greatly appreciate.

I receive emails from ADDitude for free and find them extremely helpful and useful.

I frequently share them with my therapist who also finds them informative, helpful, and useful.

I have been using DBT since 1998 and do find it extremely beneficial.

I have only known that I have ADHD since 2022.

You also reminded me that I have a workbook I have only barely started using called something like neurodivergent friendly DBT and a brand new packet of highlighters so I might track those down and start doing some more work to help myself.

I have definitely been dysregulated lately and it's not fun. (Or like we used to say when I was a teenager, "it's fun, and it's real, but it's not real fun"🙄)

[STEM_Dad in reply to MorningDanceTrece]

I learned that saying as, "it's real, it's fun, but it's not real fun."

I'm glad that you've been able to get some good from DBT. I only learned about it a few years ago, shortly after I got my ADHD diagnosis.

I've done CBT for therapy (which helped me get through a divorce that I didn't want to happen), but not DBT...not yet, anyway.

[MorningDanceTrece in reply to STEM_Dad]

I'm sorry to hear about your divorce.

The tool that I use the most from DBT is a pros and cons list thing.

[STEM_Dad in reply to MorningDanceTrece]

I didn't realize that's a DBT technique.

I've been using Pros vs Cons lists since my "Careers" class in junior high school.

So, I've been using DBT and just didn't know it!

[MorningDanceTrece in reply to STEM_Dad]

Yes. When Marsha Linehan formulated DBT she didn't just evolve CBT so to speak (which had evolved from REBT) she borrowed from all kinds of other disciplines that had helpful ideas.

I think that's cool that you've been practicing some DBT and you didn't even know it 🤪

[STEM_Dad in reply to MorningDanceTrece]

Well, the Pros vs Cons list strategy is applicable for so many things. It's an analysis and decision making tool.

Originally, I used it in school assignments. Later, I was taught that it can be used for making business decisions, family budget decisions, educational decisions (like to help choose between two electives, when they both seem equally appealing, or unappealing).

I've since come up with my own variation of adding "weighting" to the lists. A short list can "out weight" a longer list, based on importance or impact.

I can't remember what it was about, but I helped my 9 y.o. daughter come up with a Pro/Con list a couple of months ago, when she was undecided about something. Then, when she and I had written it all out, I asked her, "what here is most important to you right now." She made up her mind within seconds after that... maybe she decided before I even asked the question.

~~~~~

Split between two choices? Here's the simplest decision making "trick". Assign the two choices to both sides of a coin. Flip the coin (or better yet, have someone else flip it for you). You will probably feel yourself wishing it to land on a particular side. That's your preference.

I've been so indecisive for most of my life that I've picked up various decision making tips, tricks, and strategies. But they don't all work well for quality decisions to live by.

DBT and other forms of therapy can be much more effective. You can't trust your life, heart, mind, relationships and future to a coin toss.

[Mamamichl]

DBT has been amazing help for me! If you’re feeling in a rut or you’re curious about other therapies, I highly recommend this webinar.