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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etsu-works-15934 |
| Date | 01 January 2000 |
| Creators | Cantor, David |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | ETSU Faculty Works |
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