ADHD Treatment Options

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ADHD Treatment Options and Interventions

There are many good treatment options and interventions for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, teens, and adults. Here is a brief list:

Each of the interventions listed above will help those with problems with attention, impulsivity, hyperactivity, school or learning problems, and so on, to one degree or another. Each is fairly effectice.

Each individual will benefit greatly, a "day and night difference," from one or two of the listed interventions - but not from every listed intervention. Not everybody responds well to medication, or biofeedback, or diet, or Attend. But most respond well, and some see a "day and night" improvement.



When it comes to the treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder - ADD ADHD - or with problems of Attention, Impulse Control, Over-Activity, and/or Learning Problems in "the real world," there are a number of approaches to treatment that may work well.

The information provided has either been gleaned from research on Attention Deficit Disorder ( ADD ADHD ) treatment interventions, or it is from our experience in a clinical setting treating over 1,000 Attention Deficit Disorder patients.

Each intervention that is discussed will work for some, perhaps most, of those who try them. Any of these interventions might work for you, or not.

We believe that the interventions in this section are all effective improving problems with Attention, Impulse Control, Over-Activity, and/or Learning Problems.

However, we cannot say that the interventions can help individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - ADD ADHD. To say that might make the FDA upset. Please forgive the "game playing" that is required below.

Parents should try the treatment that might be most effective for their child. Every child is different and will respond as an individual to the treatment options that we discuss.

For unknown reasons, some children respond very well to diet, and some do not. Some respond very well to Attend, and some do not. Some respond very well to medicine, and some do not.

Every child is different.

Also, there are different types of ADHD, and each different type will respond better to a certain treatment strategy, or a particular medication.

As a result, we recommend that you look carefully at each intervention listed below, and then also take a hard look at

  • your child
  • your finances
  • your insurance coverage
  • your present eating habits
  • the amount of "spare time" that you have in your life to do what it will take to make some of these interventions work.

Another disclaimer: We are not medical doctors. All of the following information is from our observations of treatment interventions given to our patients over the past twenty years. Don't be afraid to talk with your physician, psychologist, etc., about our observations.

This information is for the sake of education and discussion. We are not prescribing treatment across the internet.

Read each of the articles below to get a good understanding of what your treatment options really are, and how best to plan and manage these options.


Douglas Cowan, Psy.D., M.S. is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Tehachapi, CA who has been a skillful counselor to children, teens, and adults helping them to overcome ADHD, find relief for depression or anxiety, and solve other problems in life since 1989. He served on the medical advisory board to the company that makes Attend and Extress from 1997 through 2011, and he is the Editor of the ADHD Information Library online resource. His weekly ADHD Newsletter goes out to 9,500 families. Visit his website at http://DouglasCowan.me for more information on achieving greater health, personal growth, Christ-centered spirituality, stress management, parenting skills, ADHD, working out the stresses of being a care-giver to elderly parents and also being a parent to teenagers, or finding greater meaning in retirement years, Dr. Cowan can be a valuable resource to you.

Douglas Cowan, Psy.D., MFT
27400 Oakflat Dr.
Tehachapi, CA 93561
(661) 972-5953

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