Is there a process to finally find the "right" therapist?

[Cohort_User]

HI everyone,

I was recently diagnosed with ADHD inattentive and I've started on my long journey of trial and error with medication. I wanted to see about starting with psychotherapy with a therapist, but I have trouble finding a therapist that "gets" me. What are some places I can look to find a therapist that specializes in ADHD treatment or even has ADHD himself/herself?

I've looked on psychology today, but when I filter it by those that specialize in "ADHD", there are more often than not therapists that specialize 15+ conditions! I'm unsure if they truly have expertise in what I'm struggling with, or if they want to attract as many clients as possible.

[wtfadhd]

As a social worker i will share something with you. if we specialized in ONE diagnosis only, we would go broke. That may seem like a sad reality of the mental health profession, but there is another way to look at it. Look for a mental health provider who specializes in the type of treatment and ideology that you want. Some do psychotherapy and their ideology is that one must go al the way back into childhood n analyze the root of all a persons problems as a way to promote healing. Some providers believe that its better to start where a person is today n define goals n subsequent skills ( CBT, DBT, etc). There are soo many different theories about what helps support people who are having mental health struggles. In school, we learn a bit about all the general DSM diagnosis- but that is only to provide a framework and shared “ language”.

Not every person with depression or schizophrenia or bipolar will respond the same to any given mental health intervention.

and thats good because can help prevents clients from being put in a box or getting cookie cutter treatment.

ADHD is a neurological disorder not mental health diagnosis. As such, there are agencies that will “ treat” ADHD n autism n other spectrum disorders… its skill training- they use ABA… its not therapy per say but very therapeutic for some- especially children so they dont go thru life feeling isolated n different.

After my late ADHD diagnosis at 38., i was ANGRY, rage, mourning the “ what i could have done with my life had someone had taken the time “ etc etc.

i went to therapy for a year-not to learn skills, hell i was 38yr old professional by then snd had naturally found life hacks. My therapist knew very little about ADHD… she understood my universal feelings though- left out, ignored, unimportant, worthless, fake, exhausted, fear, rage….. she understood human emotions, not the neurology of ADHD. so it was a tremendous support for me personally. I absolutely had errors in my thinking due to the trauma of having undiagnosed ADHD n we did all our sessions theu the lens of DBT… as we worked thru my trauma n helped me rewrite my lifes narrative.

If u want emotional support, Look for a mental health provider who specializes in the type of treatment you desire… find someone who specializes in that( CBT, DBT), vs specialize in your diagnosis . if you want ADHD skill training only then find a professional who is trained to deliver ABA, etc.

my therapist training was 25 yrs in social work who specialized in “ trauma informed” care. ❤️

people tend to not “ click” with their therapist because there is a salient disconnect between the type of “ help” clients are looking for and what that therapist actual ideology n treatment methods are

[LittleOl-Lady in reply to wtfadhd]

What is ABA?

[wtfadhd in reply to LittleOl-Lady]

Applied Behavior Analysis

[Mamamichl]

it took me a while, but I found the right one. I was given a list of therapists that were covered by my insurance. Then I googled each of them. All medical professionals have to have a page on what they specialize in. I found one that covered all of my conditions and sounded like someone I would get along with. It was a godsend to look them up and read up about each of them. Took about 4 hours, but well worth it to not bounce between them over months.

[Tigger4me]

I thought that both CHADD and ADD.org had some information about seeking therapy for people with ADHD. You might want to check on those web sites for overall guidance and maybe even specific advice.