ADHD Beyond the Basics: Practical Treatments for ADHD in Adults and Children

Skilful application of attentional/executive functioning is a required skill in the 21^st century. The result of our “Attention Industrial Complex” is that these skills – now more than ever – are crucial for clients with ADD/ADHD, mood and anxiety disorders, head injury, and other medical conditions which impact cognitive efficiency. The ability to rapidly identify processing disorders and provide targeted treatment recommendations is one of the professional skills which separate the good form the great.

Attend this workshop presented by Dr David Nowell, an internationally known ADHD coach and neuropsychologist, and learn how to apply leading edge research to your own clinical practice with clients who struggle with these attentional skills. Gain a wide range of concrete skills including assessment of processing and organizational deficits from multiple perspectives and managing symptom overlap among related disorders.

Some of the topics covered will include:

• What are the basics we need to grasp about the pros and cons of stimulant medication for ADHD?
• What evidence-based non-medical options can be offered to clients who encounter problems with focus and concentration?
• What real-life and immediately applicable strategies can be introduced to clients who may not be diagnosed with ADD/ADHD but who struggle with procrastination and self-motivation?
• How can clients and their families realistically manage the impact of screens and other technology on sleep quality, relationship goals, and time management?
• Is the recent increase in ADHD diagnosis a real thing or a consequence of lifestyle?
• What constitutes “normal” capacity – across the lifespan – for managing distractions and directing our limited attentional resources?

The workshop we will provide answers to these questions on the basis of the peer reviewed scientific literature, firmly grounded in our clinical practice and lived experience.

Dr Nowell will provide recommendations on the lifestyle practices to support and improve cognitive functioning for both young and adult clients. He will also present a curious and compassionate technique for developing keen metacognition – the capacity to “think about thinking.”

• Identify executive and organizational deficits across a wide range of childhood and adult disorders.
• Differentiate and describe the processing disorders.
• Implement specific skills for managing school, work, and relationship challenges for clients with executive dysfunction.
• Apply techniques for involvement of teachers, family, and spouses in your evaluation and treatment.
• Implement a set of strategies clients will use long after treatment is over.
• Acquire a set of tools you can adapt to children and adults with executive dysfunction or “everyday” time management challenges and mood instability.
• Contrast diagnostic approaches to making the distinction between normal from abnormal attentional challenges at work, in the home, and at school
• Identify the risks and benefits of medication for ADHD
• Assess the current state of scientific support for nutritional supplementation and other dietary recommendations for clients with attentional deficits
• Outline the unique frustrations and challenges of the non-ADHD partner in with strategies for supporting those partners
• Distinguish what advantages and disadvantages are associated with clients who are not “neurotypical”
• Illustrate a very specific purpose for mindfulness practice for ADHD clients
• Take away 5 keystone practice recommendations for clients with attentional dysfunction, whether or not they choose to use medication
• Offer a practical application of “neuroplasticity + growth mindset” for clients – real evidence-based reason to be optimistic about the capacity for our brains to change