Any Tips for Adult ADD?

I've read previous threads on HT, but they mainly address ADHD in children. I'm still need to figure out if my potential client has a formal diagnosis, and I'm aware that I'll be working with the client's concentration, focus, and relaxation and not the diagnoses in and of itself. What methods have you used? What seems to work best in your opinion? Have you found that concentration, focus, etc. creates different results in an ADD diagnosed person than with a neuro-typical person, or is it about the same? I have an idea of what I'm going to do, but I'd like to get your take on it, especially if you have worked with adult ADD clients in the past. Thanks!

Favorite

0 members favorited this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Stephanie Conkle on January 11, 2013 at 6:27pm

Forgive the typos! It's not letting me edit it tonight. lol!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dan Cleary on January 12, 2013 at 8:06am

FUGGETTABOUTIT!

ADD and ADHD people often are really good at something... find out what "IT" is and go from there.

In my experience, they are TRYING to process across representational awareness: visual or kinesthetic people with auditory input often drift off into thinking about something else.

Many of the people I have worked with are kinesthetic and very good at physical awareness (eye-hand coordination, video games, sports, etc.) yet don't recognize their sorting for other perceptions and how they store the information.

I once worked a young man who was having difficulty in school, particularly English and Math. He was into martial arts so I asked him to go through his warm-up routine in the office. As he did so, I asked questions about how he knew where to move and what amount of force to use etc. We went through this several times and I had him do the routine slower than usual and faster, while dropping questions and observations. It turned out he knew geometry in relation to what angles to move and was fluent in languages as he knew the names of all the positions without hesitation and when I would mispronounce a word or phrase (sometimes intentionally) he would correct me, just like his teachers would correct him. He could 'parse' a series of movements, as one would a sentence.

What I was doing was getting him into something he knew and associating that to the areas he thought that he didn't know: perhaps a form of building and collapsing anchors.

Again, in my experience, these people are usually very intelligent and yet they have been taught to learn by rote, which forces them to use their skills in a way that is unfamiliar to them. When they engage in what they like and get input, they begin to associate differently and usually it opens all the years of lost data.

In peace,

Dan

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Barry Neale on January 12, 2013 at 9:43am

I agree with Dan....

AND I would add two things.

Check for food intolerances and stimulants. Much of what is labelled ADD is often a reaction to food (Good grief I am beginning to sound like Donna!)

Also I would teach them to go into peripheral vision. Often those labelled with ADD are in foveal vision and as a result they are also in sympathetic arousal.

If you teach them how to go into peripheral vision and to practice walking around in this state them this will work wonders.

regards

barry

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stephanie Conkle on January 12, 2013 at 7:40pm

Thank you both so much for sharing your wisdom. :)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Hypno Guru on January 12, 2013 at 7:55pm

You may want to check out the book, 'You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?!: The Classic Self-Help Book for Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder' (ISBN-10: 0743264487 or ISBN-13: 978-0743264488).

It doesn't discuss hypnosis but is possibly the best book on adult ADD I've ever seen covering the actual scope of the condition as well as providing many mechanisms and behavioural adjustments that can help. May be a good starting point.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bill Kennedy on January 12, 2013 at 7:59pm

Hi Stephanie,

I attended a lecture on ADHD which I summarized here: http://www.hypnothoughts.com/group/kidsworks/forum/topics/coping-wi...

I put it in the kidsworks section, but it was actually addressed to an adult audience. I hope it helps.

Bill

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Donna Carter on January 12, 2013 at 7:59pm

Ahhh. ....Barry, I'm getting all verklempt! ~ haha

I, too...agree with Dan and now you!

It is sooo true. Artificial yucka in a diet plays HUGE havoc with people who are sensitive to it! Just to name a few: Artificial color & flavors, sulfer dioxide, sodium benzoate... these all really need to be explored (caughstay OUT of the bodycaugh).

P.S. When talking about brain function... I don't know why everyone doesn't sing this same 'food' tune.

Barry Neale said:

Check for food intolerances and stimulants. Much of what is labelled ADD is often a reaction to food (Good grief I am beginning to sound like Donna!)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on January 12, 2013 at 10:15pm

Dr. Mark Hyman has a 7 key approach for helping brain function. He explains it in his book, The UltraMind Solution, and components include cleaning up diet, detoxification of heavy metals and de-stressing through approaches such as meditation and hypnosis. This article talks a bit about the connection between digestive enzymes and brain health (although he's refering to children, it's just as pertinent to adults).