Finding Your Focus: Practical Strategies for the Everyday Challenges Facing Adults with Add

by Judith Greenbaum, Geraldine Markel, Geraldine Markel

Book Overview

"Filled with tools, strategies, and checklistsand written with a fine understanding ofthe problems adults with ADD face daily.This book is a gift to all who read it."--Edward Hollowell, M.D., bestselling author of Driven to Distraction

Written by two expert ADD coaches with morethan 30 years experience, this practical handbookoffers adults with ADD practical techniques forcoping with common everyday challenges. These simpleproven...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071453962
• ISBN13: 9780071453967
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great!

"Finding Your Focus", by Judith Greenbaum and Geraldine Markel, offers practical advice for common difficulties faced by adults with ADD. In this book, we learn techniques for utilising our visual, verbal and/or kinesthetic strengths - to prevent hurdles from popping up (and to help us when they do). "If your home works for you (and your family), it is, by definition, not cluttered and disorganised, no matter what it looks like."... Though if you tend to lose your bills under piles of debris, it probably does deserve the label "cluttered"... and that's when the "tool box" comes in. The tool box consists of: 1. verbalisation (e.g., internally describing what you see around you; self-talk) 2 visualisation 3. information from the other senses (e.g. consciously feeling the keys in your hand) 4. routine (NB. They advise building up routines, but only slowly, one at a time) 5. checklists 6. STOP! (A way to assess your thoughts and actions and bring your mind back on track when it wanders away from something important) The authors suggest (in very clear and detailed, step-by-step fashion) some ways these tools can be used - for quite a few specific situations. (Addressed are issues such as, losing keys, losing your car [in a car park you go to frequently, in an unfamiliar car park], etc.) But the ideas can be adapted to many different situations. I really appreciate the user-friendly layout of this book and the non-judgmental tone - it isn't at all overwhelming or preachy. Highly recommended.

Beyond Just Meds thinking, Take Charge of your Life!!!!

In this book authors Judith Greenbaum Ph.D. and Geraldine Markle Ph.D. string together a phenomenal amount of information in a concise and straight to the point fashion. This is definitely what I would call a life skills book focused on strategies for overcoming many of the daily problems associated with adult ADHD. The authors have wisely decided to stay away from spending too much time on biological root causes, instead focusing on practical tips and strategies for maximizing success in daily life. The book seems to blend elements of cognitive therapy with a well defined process task analysis system. This book is both honest and positive in its approach to managing ADHD, and is structured in an easy to access fashion allowing readers to easily jump around and focus on what their own particular interests are. Part one of the book focuses on helping readers better understand what ADHD is. It then moves on to helping them identify what their strengths and weaknesses are, and ends by providing readers with a series of six tools they can use in order to better manage their ADHD. Part two of the book provides practical tips and strategies for problems often faced on a daily basis by those who live with ADHD. This part of the book covers topics that will help readers learn how to stop losing keys, wallets and even provides a strategy to help one from losing their car in a parking lot. The second part of the book also provides strategies for helping with household organization, time management, and how to actually break down complex tasks using a well developed and thought out to do list system. This section of the book closes by providing some interesting and helpful tips around improving ones social skills. Unfortunately, part three of the book spends what I consider to be too much time on medication, and I think could have been avoided completely as there are already tons of books dealing with the issue of medication and its management. Having said that the last part of this section entitled Making Decisions and Setting Goals is definitely a gold mine of information, again using a well-designed checklist system approach that will help readers better set, plan out goals and move into the future successfully. Overall, this book is excellent, and one that I highly recommend as an essential addition to any adult ADHD resource library be it a personal or professional one. This book is filled for the most part with the type of information you are not going to get from your psychiatrist or doctor. It's what I would call a nuts and bolts book, which can help an adult with ADHD build a better life for him/herself one day at a time, it's the type of book readers can keep going back to whenever new problems arise or old ones crop back up.