A Psychoanalytic Approach to the Complexity of Understanding and Treating Patients with ADHD Beyond Childhood: The Experiences of Two Psychoanalytic Candidates

ABSTRACT

At the core of this section are two clinical papers written by analytic candidates that provide us with a close look at how patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) present unique challenges and opportunities within the consulting room. Dr. Laura Whitman offers us an inspiring analysis of a 19-year-old college student with a complicated diagnostic picture that includes inattentive ADHD. Her patient is a late adolescent, on the cusp of entering emerging adulthood. Dr. Kristin Whiteside provides us with a candid look at the complications and pitfalls of working with a 35-year-old patient with ADHD. Detailed discussions of each paper offer an expanded understanding of the treatment of ADHD from a psychoanalytic perspective. Every contribution in this section continues the important exploration of how analysts think about and treat emerging adults and adult patients who present with the cluster of symptoms of ADHD.

KEYWORDS:

• ADHD
• treatment
• candidates
• emerging adulthood
• psychoanalytic

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah L. Lusk

Sarah L. Lusk, PhD is a Psychoanalyst Member, Advanced Candidate in Child and Adolescent Training, and faculty member in the Explorations in Mind Program at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.