Family support for 2nd grader diagnosed with ADHD

My 7 year old daughter was diagnosed by Kaiser Permanente with ADHD last week. We’re reluctant to jump into drugs and are looking for a family counseling plus parent training approach to start. If you know of any local resources beyond CHADD, please let us know. My daughter will be starting 2nd grade at Jefferson in the fall. We can already see social and learning problems, but her self esteem is still high. We want to keep it there while we explore treatment options. Thanks!

Parent Replies

New responses are no longer being accepted.

Friendship club with Kaiser has been pretty good!

UC-Berkeley psychology department had a parent group that we participated in last year after our 4th grader was diagnosed. Research is that combined behavioral and medical has the best results. My husband was highly resistant to medication, but it has made a big difference. We only use it on school days.

I can wholeheartedly recommend Rebecca Freeling  from wits end  parenting.  We have an extremely spirited child about the same age, also in Berkeley schools, and we weren’t sure what to do or where to turn. We found Rebecca on  we have an extremely spirited child about the same age, also in Berkeley schools, and we weren’t sure what to do or where to turn. We found Rebecca on BPN  and were impressed with the favorable reviews. She acts more like a family coach and her approach is unique for each family. As parents , We learned more effective techniques for how to handle difficult situations and our daughter showed dramatic  improvements over the course of several months.  The whole family will go for appointments to Rebecca and we just told her kids that she is teaching us to treat each other better, which they love!