ADHD Treatment
ADHD: A Path to Success
Chapter 1 of
first 6 Chapters
ADHD is Adaptive, Not Defective
ADHD
Chris, a Six-Year-Old Boy with Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder
Chris* was a cute, freckle-faced, six-year-old boy who
embodied my image of Tom Sawyer. Only in the first grade, Chris was already
falling behind in his schoolwork. His teacher described him as constantly
disrupting the class by speaking out of turn, touching other children, being out
of his seat, and playing with toys rather than doing his work.
Occasionally Chris would get into fistfights with other children. He did not
start such conflicts, but when provoked, Chris spared no effort or tactic to
win. And he always did win.
Chris' mother brought this young "Tom Sawyer" to me for an evaluation for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This was at the school's insistence. The teacher was resolute in her belief that Chris had ADHD and must be put on stimulant medication.
Since Chris' mother strongly objected to this recommendation, she instead brought Chris to me, a psychologist with a new, drug-free, alternative treatment.
After only three sessions using Computer Aided Emotional Restructuring (CAER), Chris' behavior at school and home improved markedly. Yet at age six, Chris was at the lower limit developmentally to benefit from CAER.
Three years after his initial visit, follow-up evaluations have revealed no further academic or behavior problems. Chris is still doing well at home and school.
If you know anything about traditional psychotherapy or theories of ADHD, the best thing you can do is forget it for now. Goethe said it well: "It is impossible to learn something you think you already know." So for now, getting dumb is the most brilliant thing you can do.
Computer Aided Emotional Restructuring is a treatment technology that extinguishes ineffective emotional patterns quickly, effectively, and without drugs.
As the title implies, "emotional restructuring" demands cooperation from the patient in order to dredge up unpleasant memories. These unpleasant memories are often the root of physiological and psychological problems.
First Sentence: With terror in my heart, I can still remember sitting in emotional and almost physical pain at Palm Elementary School in Beaumont, California.
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