Name
Co-Designing an ADHD-Friendly CBT with Adults with ADHD and Practice Experts
Date & Time
Thursday, February 26, 2026, 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Margaret Sibley
Description

This presentation provides results of an Innovation Tournament in partnership with adults with ADHD and psychology practitioners specializing in adult ADHD. We elicited from 16 adults their wish list for ADHD-friendly CBT, generating 42 suggestions, which were combined with 20 common elements of adult ADHD CBT and 21 ADHD-specific engagement strategies from an existing CBT for adolescent ADHD (Sibley et al., 2016). These 83 strategies were submitted to 53 new adults with ADHD and 16 experts who rated their importance and feasibility on a 1-5 scale. Top therapy topics rated by clients and experts were: (1) task management, (2) organization, planning, and prioritization, (3) emotion regulation, (4) responding to negative/maladaptive thoughts, (5) anti-procrastination/self-motivation strategies, and (6) long-term goal setting. Elements of Motivational Interviewing were also highly rated as was ensuring therapists are knowledgeable about ADHD. Several features of traditional CBT were rated poorly suggesting a need for de-implementation: (1) prescriptive, standardized session agendas and sequences, (2) weekly tracking of symptoms, (3) direct instruction and advice on skills, and (4) prescriptive feedback on failures. We will compare results to existing adult ADHD CBTs, generate audience feedback on prevailing ideas, and offer best practices in CBT delivery for adult ADHD.