Comprehensive Treatment for Children with Attention- 


| DIANNE PHILION, MSW, LICSW


clinicians should create a comprehensive and methodical framework for working with children diagnosed with ADHD. The present framework  centered personality theory.


A


Rogers’s theory focuses on three domains: the person, the phenomenal  all internal, external, sensory, and visceral experiences the child has  entirety or whole of all incidents or events experienced by the child and the perception that the child has of each encounter. Landreth (2012)   most widely used approach among play therapists (Ray, 2011), and it has  Bouron, & Asgari, 2010; Ray, Schottelkorb, & Tsai, 2007; Robinson, 


10 | PLAYTHERAPY March 2019 | www.a4pt.org


     neurological disorder


that has been diagnosed in 6.4


million children aged four to 17 years in the US; boys are three times more likely to be diagnosed, and the average age of diagnosis is seven years old (Holland & Riley, 2014). With the prevalence of this diagnosis in American society,


One of the most widespread childhood diagnoses (Ray et al. 2007; Robinson et al., 2017), ADHD is a neurological disorder that affects executive functioning skills (e.g., organization, planning, sequencing, emotion regulation, attention, initiating, and awareness). However, ADHD is often a co-morbid diagnosis, with more than two-thirds of children diagnosed with ADHD having at least one other co-occurring condition            and processing disabilities or weaknesses, language needs, sensory processing disorders, behavioral and emotional dysregulation, and Level 1 autistic spectrum disorders are common (Ray et al., 2007). The therapist must investigate these clinically important features to attend to the whole child. The child-centered approach is a framework from which play therapists can structure multi-layered work in an interdisciplinary team, which includes completing a comprehensive psychosocial assessment, networking with other school- and community-based professionals, and providing multi-layered care.


Comprehensive Psychosocial Assessment Therapists should complete a comprehensive psychosocial assessment with


caregivers at intake. Clinicians should employ careful


and


compassionate scrutiny during this process. Additionally, discussing different aspects of the child’s life helps clinicians to gather clues about


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