The Role of Group Therapy in Promoting Identity Development in ADHD Adolescents
Document Type
Review
Publication Date
1-1-2000
Description
This paper examines the role that group psychotherapy plays in promoting the development of identity in adolescents who are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADHD). Negotiating identity issues is the central task of adolescence (Erikson, 1950). It is also one of the most difficult periods for ADHD adolescents because of their innate and learned sensitivities to the experience of shame. Shame is the feeling we have when we evaluate ourselves using the standards of valued others and of society and determine that we do not meet those standards (Lewis, 1992). Group psychotherapy thus becomes the treatment of choice for adolescents diagnosed with ADHD because the process of group psychotherapy addresses the issues of identity and shame in a way that individual therapy is unable.
Citation Information
Cantor, David. 2000. The Role of Group Therapy in Promoting Identity Development in ADHD Adolescents. Journal of Psychotherapy in Independent Practice. Vol.1(2). 53-62. https://doi.org/10.1300/J288v01n02_07 ISSN: 1522-9580