Spills happen. But for some reason, spills, mistakes, blunders, mess-ups, do-overs and screw-ups happen more to adults with ADD and with greater consequences. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) can be a debilitating disorder if not carefully managed and supported. Because of this, we offer high quality adult ADD and ADHD treatment conveniently located in New York.
If not diagnosed and treated, an adult with ADD can accumulate years of failure, missed opportunities, damaged self-esteem and possible drug and alcohol abuse. Careers, work and home life, therefore, can suffer greatly. However, there are possible solutions. Subsequently, we provide a comprehensive holistic approach to managing ADD for adults.
The first step before starting adult ADD and ADHD treatment is to get accurately assessed and tested. We provide a comprehensive assessment for adult ADD at the Sachs Center. Learn more about our Adult ADD testing.
Adult ADD and ADHD Treatment
Once a comprehensive ADD evaluation has been completed, treatment can begin. If you choose to pursue treatment at the Sachs Center, you will meet with our ADD/ADHD specialist to begin formulating a plan to manage your challenges.
Dr. Sachs has developed a unique holistic protocol for managing ADD in adults. The model for Adult ADD and ADHD treatment we use in our New York offices involves psychoeducation, individual therapy and medication if warranted. Additionally, for those individuals who do not want to take medication, Neurofeedback can be explored.
You can also find many of the ideas in his book: The Adult ADD Solution. Sold on Amazon.com
The Adult ADD Solution
Highlights of the Program:
Externalize the Motivation
- Admitting you have a problem and understanding that external support is necessary to complete the 15 steps.
- Understanding that isolation or “doing it all by yourself” will not work.
Survival Mode
- Understanding that ADHD creates chaos that forces you to be in “survival mode” all the time.
- Moreover, understanding that survival mode leads to unintentional selfishness.
Taking Care of Oneself
- Learning that the behaviors that brought you to Adult ADD and ADHD treatment have not been based on self-love, but rather on survival.
- Developing an appreciation that you need to care for your body and not push its limits.
Proactive V. Reactive
- Realizing that if you have ADHD, you’re always behind the eight-ball of life. You’re always reacting, rather than being proactive.
- This step simply requires acceptance that putting out fires is less enjoyable than taking control of your life.
After increasing personal motivation for change, the next few steps teach the importance of the brain-body and brain-gut connection. Through these steps, we detail how important it is to properly fuel, clean and rest the engine. This is a vital part of adult ADD and ADHD management.
Hydration
- Hydrating more often helps improve cognitive functioning.
- Clients are therefore encouraged to buy a water filter or have water home-delivered.
Sleep
- Many clients with ADD have difficulty getting to bed on time and thus fail to get eight hours of sleep a night.
- We will coach clients on developing better sleep hygiene. Clients will learn to “take care of themselves” by getting to bed and shutting down electronics earlier.
Exercise
- Exercise has been proven effective at improving cognitive functioning.
- Clients will be encouraged to externalize the motivation (or lack of motivation) to exercise. This could mean joining a walking/running/exercise club. Additionally, clients could hire a trainer, or they could find a friend to work out with.
Diet
- Reducing or eliminating sugar and increasing fats and protein have also shown to be effective in improving cognitive functioning and “willpower”.
- Clients will be encouraged to read “Sugar Blues,” “Sugar Busters,” “The Zone Diet” and books on the Paleo approach.
After learning about how to properly fuel the body to support optimal brain functioning, clients will begin to focus on the hardest challenges for those with ADD. This is a key part of Adult ADD and ADHD treatment.
Time Management
- Clients will learn about “one-more-thing-itis,” because this may be preventing them from leaving home on time.
- Clients will learn that being late has an unspoken impact on the relationship with the individual waiting. We will explore loss of trust and lack of accountability.
Financial Organization
- Financial problems are common to those with ADHD.
- We will coach clients on developing a savings plan and improving their credit score. Once again, externalizing the process by hiring a financial coach or advisor will be encouraged.
Accountability
- Accountability is the hardest challenge for individuals with ADHD.
- Clients will learn what it means to be accountable in one’s life. Because of this, they can feel the benefits of being someone who others can count on.
Meditation
- Impulsivity is the hallmark of adult ADHD.
- Clients will learn about meditation. They can thus begin to develop a practice that serves to reduce impulsivity and create more groundedness.
Community
- Once the client learns about accountability and feels an elevation of self esteem, joining a community becomes more possible.
- With community support, continued spiritual, emotional and physical growth can occur.
Service
- Once the client gains self-awareness and develops personal accountability, they can start to give back to others.
- The joy in giving to others will help the client move from survival-mode to thriving-mode.
- The client will also learn that they are valued and cherished by others.
In conclusion, it is possible to live a happy, fulfilling life with adult ADD. Click on these links to learn more about our New York-based Adult ADD and ADHD treatment:
- Medication
- Adult ADD Support Group
- Neurofeedback Training for ADD/ADHD