1. “So I have ADHD. Now what?”
Presentation By
Jack L. Jensen, Ed.D
Ammon Cheney, M.A.

2. Stimulants: The gold standard
Medication
Stimulants: The gold standard

3. Exercise
John Ratey, M.D.
“Spark”

4. Healthy Life Style Habits
Good Food
Adequate Sleep
Exercise
Positive Relationships

5. “Attention Deficit Disorder”
Thomas Brown, Ph.D.
“Attention Deficit Disorder”
5 Clusters of Executive Functioning

6. Five Clusters of Executive Functions
Activation: Ability to organize, prioritize, and activate plans
Attention: Ability to maintain focus and shift attention when needed
Effort: Ability to sustain effort to successfully complete tasks
Affect: Ability to regulate emotional experience and expression
Memory: Ability to utilize working memory and activate recall

7. Tips

8. Activation: Ability to organize, prioritize, and activate plans
Place for everything and everything in its place
Make a to do list the night/week before
Break down large projects into small, doable steps
Visualize your end goals
Get rid of clutter

9. Attention: Ability to maintain focus and shift attention when necessary
Deal with it now
Use lists
Use reflective listening
Maintain eye contact when communicating
Use reflection when reading

10. Effort: Ability to sustain effort to successfully complete tasks
Reward yourself when a task is completed
Use timers
Use self-compassion when you make a mistake

11. Affect: Ability to regulate emotional experience and expression
Spend time maintaining positive relationships
Keep a personal journal and write down honest feelings
Practice mindfulness
Learn to say NO!

12. Memory: Ability to utilize working memory and activate recall
Text on CD
Read out loud
Mindfulness
Chess, card games, and memory games like Concentration

13. References
Attitude the magazine. Strategies and Support for ADHD and LD. AttitudeMag.com
Brown T., Attention Deficit Disorder. The unfocused mind in children and adults. New Haven: Yale University Press
Ratey, J.,Hagerman,E Spark: The revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain. New York: Little, Brown and Company
Ratey, N The Disorganized Mind. Coaching your ADHD brain to take control of your time, tasks and talents. New York: St. Martins Press

14. “So this is my ADHD”

15. Consider Intersections
Areas of privilege
White
Male
Educated parents
Physical health
Positive body image
Upper-middle class
Identify as Christian
Heterosexual
Cisgender presenting

16. The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
Creativity
Spontaneity
Humor
Extroversion
Nonconformist
Energetic

17. The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
Disorganized interests
Poor conception of passing time
Impulsivity

18. The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
Restaurant menus!!
Hurtful developmental messages
Academic
Occupational
Marital

19. My Diagnosis & Treatment
Clinically Distressing Symptoms
Skepticism about “ADHD”
Insight into symptoms and symptom management

20. My Clinical Experience
Group Therapy for Adults with ADHD
“Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adult ADHD: Targeting Executive Dysfunction” (Solanto, 2013)
Practicum at OHSU – Portland, OR
Longitudinal study of the course of ADHD.
Director/Primary investigator: Joel Nigg, Ph.D.
Clinical Field Work at Reed College – Portland, OR
Rewards of treating students newly diagnosed
Doctorial Intern at UVU – Orem, UT
Participating in assessment and treatment of ADHD

21. Trials & Strengths People with ADHD have… …to work harder.
…often faced stigma.
…often been invalidated.
…reduced motivation relative to long term rewards (Volkow et al., 2011).
…to work harder.
…already learned many ways of adapting.
…often endured despite trials and insults.

22. Strength Centered Treatment
Empower clients to become educated about their options.
Reinforce strengths which are experienced while off of medication.
Psychoeducation: Whether symptom or strength is context specific.
Validation of past emotional distress.

23. References
Longitudinal study of the course of ADHD. (n.d.). Retrieved October 19, 2017, from medicine/departments/clinical-departments/psychiatry/research/adhd- attention-disorders-study/current-research/longitudinal_study_adhd.cfm
Solanto, M. V. (2011). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for adult ADHD: targeting executive dysfunction. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Volkow, N. D., Wang, G.-J., Newcorn, J. H., Kollins, S. H., Wigal, T. L., Telang, F., … Swanson, J. M. (2011). Motivation Deficit in ADHD is Associated with Dysfunction of the Dopamine Reward Pathway. Molecular Psychiatry, 16(11), 1147–1154. doi: /mp