How do you make therapy productive?
Home › Welcome to the ADDitude Forums › For Adults › Treating Your ADHD › How do you make therapy productive?
- This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 3 months ago by jackh25.
-
AuthorPosts
-
-
November 9, 2018 at 3:02 pm #103550jackh25Participant
In the past, I haven’t had as much luck with therapy as I’d like. I think I was doing CBT in the past, and lately I’ve been seeing the counselor at my college. Basically, I tend to spill out all my problems and feelings in the hope that the therapist will help me sweep it all up and problem-solve. The thing is, I often spend the entire hour talking about my problems and rarely feel like I get to any kind of solution. I would like to have more structure, and I’ve tried to tell various people that, but it never seems to happen. I’m not entirely sure what kind of structure would help.
One thing that has been making a difference is I have been trying to practice being “mindful” and “in the moment”, and I’m trying to be more aware of when I’m getting anxious or zoning out or whatever, and that has been helpful in a lot of ways. I have made a lot of progress in that. But in many ways I think I need more than just that.
I would love it if I could sit down, lay out a problem, figure out any underlying problems, and work toward solutions in a logical way without my mind going off in a million directions, but so far therapists don’t seem to have helped much with that. Am I doing something wrong here? Should I be seeking a different type of therapy? Or do I need to shift my attitude in some way? I would really appreciate input, if you have any advice.
-
November 10, 2018 at 12:48 am #103562Cmsmith374Participant
I don’t know but I’m tryin to post a thread in forum cause IDK what I’m gonna do .. yea sorry wheewww!! Yes want to post ASAP please help
-
November 12, 2018 at 4:11 pm #103667Penny WilliamsKeymaster
It sounds like an ADHD coach might be more of the help you’re looking for.
Penny
ADDitude Community Moderator, Parenting ADHD Trainer & Author, Mom to teen w/ ADHD, LDs, and autism -
November 13, 2018 at 4:49 pm #103734Janice Della BadiaParticipant
Hi JackH — as a therapist/coach and an adult with ADHD (wow, now there’s a triple play) I found what I needed, and what my own client’s need is a solution-focused style. someone to help me figure out the best skills and methods that worked for me. Some people love an electronic calendar — I can’t figure the darn things out! I use a planner, and I can see my entire week, figure out the amount of time I’ll need for each entry, and prioritize so people and things don’t get lost in the shuffle.
Coaching is great, but you must be motivated and pretty much a self-starter. Mindfulness, meditation, are wonderful skills to use to calm yourself, find direction, and so on. You may want help with relationships, dating, friendships, co-workers, etc., and may wan to process certain events to help you gain insight into your own thoughts and behaviors. Now if you can find a therapist/coach who can “do it all” with you, you may be a little happier in the end. I especially enjoy my adult ADHD clients, in fact, they teach me plenty, too.
Anyway, that’s the way I see it! Hope it all works out!
Janice D.
-
-
AuthorPosts
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login