Northern Virginia Group Meeting (Virtual)

Registration is required prior to the Meeting, please contact Christine Hissong (chissong@reese.law) to register.

Guests are welcome at our meetings.

ADULT ADHD IN COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE:  A POWERFUL, UNDER-RECOGNIZED X FACTOR

Kate Scharff, Psychotherapist

 ADHD has been called “the most serious mental health disorder treated in out-patient settings.” Yet even most of us in the medical and mental health fields don’t know how to recognize or treat ADHD. As a society we don’t understand it. At all. Five percent of American adults have ADHD. 90% of them don’t know it.

Five percent might not seem like a lot. But if you have ADHD you are 40% more likely to get divorced than someone who doesn’t. That’s a lot of people with ADHD getting divorced.

As Collaborative professionals we are attuned to the impact of difficult dynamics within the couple (such as those related to parenting disagreements, infidelity, addiction, violence, impulsivity, mistrust, shame and guilt), as well as bafflingly self-defeating behaviors within the Collaborative process itself (such as procrastination, angry outbursts, withdrawal, unwillingness to generate or consider options, and positionality). And we have also experienced moments when we or a colleague seems to struggle in confusing ways. What if, sometimes, these difficult dynamics, issues and behaviors are related to ADHD? When a client or professional struggles with ADHD, our sensitivity to their symptoms and ways of coping become enormous X factors in the success or failure of our work.

In this presentation we’ll start to unpack this wildly complex disorder as it shows up in our work. We’ll use it as another lens through which to understand our clients and ourselves, and begin to brainstorm new and better ways to help those with ADHD (and their families) achieve their own best Collaborative outcomes.

Member Meetings are virtual until further notice.