Adult ADHD, Social Anxiety & Depression
ADHD is best understood in a phenomenological manner - that is, if you know what it feels like to have it. Unfortunately, most clinicians do not have a firm understanding of what the symptoms feel like. With her extensive education in mental health and as someone who was misdiagnosed as anxious and depressed for years, Karissa has the ability to distinguish the guilt, depression, social anxiety, and motivational issues of ADHD from other mental health diagnoses. Rather than using cognitive therapy to adjust these thoughts, people with ADHD benefit from acceptance of symptoms and skill-building to manage them.
To illustrate this, let's look at someone who comes to therapy with control issues and a diagnosis of ADHD. Typically, this person has been labeled a "Control Freak" by their family members or peers and is punished somehow when they act this way. This can have a negative effect on personal identity, as the person may start to believe they are a Control Freak and that's bad. A therapist may try to change his cognition to be healthier, helping him change what he thinks in certain situations, though this ignores the ADHD component. Someone with ADHD may experience racing thoughts and/or act impulsively when overwhelmed, so cognitive therapy will not work and may lower self-esteem further. Through Dialectical Behavior Therapy, we can separate behavior from identity, and increase awareness of certain behaviors, strengths, and barriers. Instead of punishing themselves for wanting to control a situation, the person can now learn skills to react appropriately to the behavior of others and build healthy, realistic, and high self-esteem.
To illustrate this, let's look at someone who comes to therapy with control issues and a diagnosis of ADHD. Typically, this person has been labeled a "Control Freak" by their family members or peers and is punished somehow when they act this way. This can have a negative effect on personal identity, as the person may start to believe they are a Control Freak and that's bad. A therapist may try to change his cognition to be healthier, helping him change what he thinks in certain situations, though this ignores the ADHD component. Someone with ADHD may experience racing thoughts and/or act impulsively when overwhelmed, so cognitive therapy will not work and may lower self-esteem further. Through Dialectical Behavior Therapy, we can separate behavior from identity, and increase awareness of certain behaviors, strengths, and barriers. Instead of punishing themselves for wanting to control a situation, the person can now learn skills to react appropriately to the behavior of others and build healthy, realistic, and high self-esteem.
Wondering if you have Adult ADHD? Take this Questionnaire..
Specialties
- Motivation and Self-Esteem
- Enhance Athletic Abilities
- Handling Anxiety & Social Anxiety
- Overcoming Trauma & Abuse
- Managing Adult ADHD
- Help to Quit Smoking
- Balancing Work & Personal Stress
- Staying out of Prison & Managing Alcohol & Drug Use
- Exploring Gender & Sexuality Issues
- Caregiver Support
- Career Counseling