Psychotherapy for ADHD

Stephen V. Faraone, PhD on December 3, 2015

Professor Larry Seidman is world renowned for his neuropsychology and neuroimaging research. In addition to all of his creative science, he has found the time to create what he calls “Neuropsychologically Informed Strategic Psychotherapy (NISP) in Teenagers and Adults with ADHD.” Let’s start with what NISP is not. NISP is not cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). CBT emphasizes teaching patients to identify thinking patterns that lead to problem behaviors. NISP describes how the interpersonal interaction we call psychotherapy can help patients increase self-regulation and self-control. NISP treatments vary in duration from brief psycho-educational interventions of one to five sessions to much longer term therapies of indefinite duration. The duration of therapy is tailored to the needs and goals of the individual. The methods of NISP can be adaptively applied into well-known therapy modalities such as CBT and family therapy. By creating a solid therapeutic alliance, NISP improves adherence to medications and addresses ADHD’s psychiatric comorbidities and functional disabilities. NISP is “neuropsychologically informed” because it follows a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment of strengths and weaknesses. This leaves the therapist with an understanding of the patient’s personal experience of ADHD, the meaning of the disorder, how it affects self-esteem, and how cognitive deficits limit the ability to self-regulate and adapt to changing circumstances. Attending to the patient’s strengths is a key feature of Prof. Seidman’s method. ADHD is a disorder and it usually has serious consequences. But ADHD people also have strong points in their character and their neuropsychological skills. These sometimes get lost in assessments of ADHD but, as Dr. Seidman indicates, by addressing strengths, patient outcomes can be improved. A NISP assessment also seeks to learn about the psychological themes that underlie each patient’s story. He gives the all too common example of the patients who view themselves as failed children who have not tried hard enough to succeed. A frank discussion of neuropsychological test results can be the first step to helping patients reconceptualize their past and move on to an adaptive path of self-understanding and self-regulation.

 

Prof. Seidman’s approach seems sensible and promising. As he recognizes, it has not yet, however, been subject to the rigorous tests of evidenced-based medicine (my blog on EBM: http://tinyurl.com/ne4t7op). So I would not recommend using it as a replacement for an evidenced-based treatment. That said, if you are a psychotherapist who treats ADHD people, read Prof. Seidman’s paper. It will give you useful insights that will help your patients.

 

 

REFERENCES

Seidman, L. J. (2014). Neuropsychologically Informed Strategic Psychotherapy in Teenagers and Adults with ADHD. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 23, 843-852. (In: Faraone, S. V. & Antshel, K. M. (2014). ADHD: Non-Pharmacologic Interventions. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 23, xiii-xiv.)

ADHD, Biofeedback, and Cognitive Training

Stephen V. Faraone, PhD on April 2, 0215

It sounds like science fiction, but scientists have been testing computerized methods to train the brains of ADHD people with the goal of reducing both ADHD symptoms and cognitive deficits such as difficulties with memory or attention.   Two main approaches have been used: cognitive training and neurofeedback.  This of course is in addition to, not a replacement for, ADHD medications.

 

Cognitive training methods ask patients to practice tasks aimed at teaching specific skills such as retaining information in memory or inhibiting impulsive responses.  Currently, results from ADHD brain studies suggests that the ADHD brain is not very different from the non-ADHD brain, but that ADHD leads to small differences in the structure, organization and functioning of the brain.  CBT_rubricThe idea behind cognitive training is that the brain can be reorganized to accomplish tasks through a structured learning process.  Cognitive retraining helps people who have suffered brain damage, so was logical to think it might help the types of brain differences seen in ADHD people.  Several software packages have been created  to deliver cognitive training sessions to ADHD people.  You can read more about these methods here: Sonuga-Barke, E., D. Brandeis, et al. (2014). “Computer-based cognitive training for ADHD: a review of current evidence.” Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 23(4): 807-824.

 

Neurofeedback was applied to ADHD after it had been observed, in many studies, that people with ADHD have unusual brain waves as measured by the electroencephalogram (EEG).We believe that these unusual brain waves are caused by the different way that the ADHD brain processes information. 

 

Because these differences lead to problems with memory, attention, inhibiting responses and other areas of cognition and behavior, it was believed that normalizing the brain waves might reduce ADHD symptoms.  In a neurofeedback session, patients sit with a computer that reads their brain waves via wires connected to their head.  The patient is asked to do a task on the computer that is known to produce a specific type of brain wave.   The computer gives feedback via sound or a visual on the computer screen that tells the patient how ‘normal’ their brain waves are.  By modifying their behavior, patients learn to change their brain waves.  The method is called neurofeedback because it gives patients direct feedback about how their brains are processing information.

 

Both cognitive training and neurofeedback have been extensively studied.  If you’ve been reading my blogs about ADHD, you know that I play by the rules of evidenced based medicine.  My view is that the only way to be sure that a treatment ‘works’ is to see what researchers have published in scientific journals.   The highest level of evidence is a meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials.   For my lay readers, that means that many rigorous studies have been conducted and summarized with a sophisticated mathematical method.   Although both cognitive training and neurofeedback are rational methods based on good science, meta-analyses suggest that they are not helpful for reducing ADHD symptoms.  They may be helpful for specific problems such as problems with memory, but more work is needed to be certain if that is true.

 

The future may bring better news about these methods if they are modified and become more effective.  You can learn more about non-pharmacologic treatments for ADHD from a book I recently edited: Faraone, S. V. & Antshel, K. M. (2014). ADHD: Non-Pharmacologic Interventions. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am 23, xiii-xiv.

 

As a reminder, adult ADHD tests can be administered easily and effectively to measure the effect of various approaches on ADHD symptoms in adults.