Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can be a great tool for various mental health struggles. After all, our thoughts are the one thing we can never escape from and rerouting those well-used trains can go a long way to help us from getting stuck in unhealthy loops.
Unfortunately, many ADHDers don’t believe in CBT or have had poor experiences. Why? Because ADHD brains work differently, therefore a ‘regular’ approach might not be effective.
If you’ve been looking for mental health support from the NHS, it’s likely that you will be referred to a group setting first where you’re educated about Anxiety or Depression along with a cohort of people who are not necessarily ADHDers.
While this is a cost-effective way of passing on easy access mental health support and free to access, it is not specifically aimed at how you operate.
If you then get offered some individual therapy after completing group-work, you do not get to choose your practitioner. So if they are not a good fit for you, you either suck it up and persevere with them or go back on the waiting list!
While your practitioner should have some understanding of ADHD, there is no guarantee about how up to date their knowledge is on the subject (they’re usually generalists) and even less chance they’ll have lived experience of ADHD.
As a qualified and experienced CBT counsellor, and someone who is an ADHDer, I’m confident that the answer lies in the approach, not the tool. With the right therapist, CBT is a valid form of therapy, especially for women with ADHD who most likely have been misunderstood (or even misdiagnosed) for most of their life.
How do we work around the obstacles of getting good quality CBT from a practitioner who is qualified and aware of what ADHDers need?
· Most therapists do not work for the NHS! Book one who is in private practice.
· Look out for a therapist who is an ADHDer themselves.
· Recognise that you will not be working to get rid of ADHD, but on swapping coping mechanisms you have built over your lifetime for new ones that serve your ADHD self better.
· In many cases there is no waiting list to see a private therapist.
· But what if I can’t afford private therapy?
Working or self-employed adults who recognise themselves as ADHDers (no official diagnosis needed) can apply for an Access to Work fund from the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions).
You can use this fund to finance your mental health support and many other kinds of support that might help you to stay in work or improve your working life.
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