ABSTRACT
The psychotherapist listening to a person might initially try to follow and explore the nature and origins of the particular state of distress the client is presenting. This will often prove to be a fruitless exercise, although this will not immediately be apparent. There is also commonly a relentless tone of negativity running through the discourse of the person with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This can have a significantly adverse effect on the psychotherapist. It is as though all of life becomes absorbed and homogenised into a stream of bland yet negative mood and emotion, ground into a dull dust of beta elements that covers everything. While exploration of emotion and meaning, and psychodynamic conflict, can of course be useful, there are often times during work with people with ADHD when the problems of brain state need to take priority.
