Welcome to Weaver Center's Blog!

Check in often… you will find news and information about services, groups and presentations offered at Weaver Center’s offices and at other locations. Information of interest to our community and links to helpful resources will also be posted.



And please feel free to leave comments of your own if you have questions, concerns, recommendations, or wish to share your own insight!



Monday, October 24, 2011

WHAT PARENTS ARE ASKING

Dr. Weaver provided information to parents who submitted questions prior to the Parent Support Group session held last Thursday evening. Some of the topics covered were:
* the difference between Neuropsychological Testing and Psychological Testing
* how to prepare yourself for hearing the results of testing
* how to deal with screen time addiction.

Parents also expressed interest in how to write executive function goals/objectives into IEP plans which go beyond organizational strategies, such as promoting initiation, shifting focus, emotional regulation and cognitive flexibility. And how to access coping and calming skills in the moment.

These and other topics will be discussed at the next FREE Parents Meeting. Please join us on Thursday, Novemeber 17th at 7:00 pm!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

FREE PARENT SUPPORT SESSIONS

Third Thursday of each month, 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Walk-ins are welcome, but RSVP is helpful: 508-358-1112 ext. 210

Format is Q&A with Dr. Robert A. (Buck) Weaver, III, Ph.D., Neuropsychologist and Director of The Weaver Center LLC

Please join us October 20th, November 17th and December 15th, 2011

30 Boston Post Road, 2nd Floor, Wayland, MA 01778

Thursday, October 6, 2011

A Non-Medicinal ADHD Treatment

One method Dr. Weaver uses to treat his clients with ADHD is Cognitive Dissonance Therapy. This is a simple and elegant therapy that creates a dualism in the client's mind between the disability and the person. Through creating a persona for their disability, people with ADHD are able to view the disability as the antagonist in their life undermining their efforts to be more attentive, organized and productive. Likewise, they create a protagonist to represent their selves fighting to overcome the effects of this disability. For example, people have created antagonists such as Cruella deVille, Darth Vader or Dr. Doom, and protagonists such as Ariel, Yoda or "Eggplant" -- they can be whatever one wants as long as it keeps him or her focused and motivated. The dissonance between the two different identities detaches the problem from the person.

Next, the person begins to recognize the characteristics of their antagonist -- what makes this character so powerful and what negative influences need to be fought with new and effective strategies to change and better control their own behavior -- such as: Darth Vader makes the person sit on the couch when he should be doing homework, and that the antagonist is most powerful when the client is bored. The person with ADHD then develops strategies that the protagonist can use to stop the antagonist, such as to break down a task into tiny tasks and then put all of one's energy into completing each one of those tiny tasks, one at a time. Through the internal conversations that are created because of these two characters, the person with ADHD has an easier time changing and controlling the effects of his disability.

Dr. Weaver teaches Cognitive Dissonance Therapy through one-hour weekly therapy sessions. He says that usually after 4-6 sessions, the client sees improvement in their ability to address and overcome the symptoms of ADHD.