DEBUNKING THE SCIENCE BEHIND ADHD as a "Brain Disorder" is an episode in which I decided to read a letter from Dr. Albert Galves, Ph.D. & Dr. David D. Walker, Ph.D. to Dr. Rubenstein of The [ADHD] Brochure Project at the APA in 2003. Their letter is a description of the flaws in the scientific evidence that is used to support the belief that ADHD is a neuro-chemical disorder that is present from birth and that has nothing to do with inadequate nurturance during childhood, difficult family environments or oppressive and inhumane educational and community environments. It also describes the harm that is done by these beliefs and the treatment approaches based on them. Their letter, which is signed by members of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology (ICSPP) and psychologist/members of the American Psychological Association, is a reply to a letter of March 17, 2002 which was sent by Dr. Alice Rubenstein to Dr. Albert Galves, a member of ICSPP. Dr. Rubenstein was the Director of The Brochure Project, a joint effort of Division 29 (Psychotherapy) of the APA and Celltech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to publish and distribute brochures on Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In a letter of February 16, 2002, Dr. Galves had expressed concerns about the following three statements that appear in the brochures: 1) “ADD/ADHD is generally considered a neuro-chemical disorder.” 2) “Most people with ADD/ADHD are born with the disorder, though it may not be recognized until adulthood.” 3) “ADHD is not caused by poor parenting, a difficult family environment, poor teaching or inadequate nutrition.” In her reply, Dr. Rubenstein included information and supporting references provided to her by Drs. Robert Resnick and Kallman Heller of Division 29. The letter that we link to below was drafted by Dr. Galves (agalves@saludclinic.org) and Dr. David Walker (dwalker@yak.Portland.ihs.gov) of the ICSPP. To read the letter, visit https://www.ablechild.org/2013/08/11/11-psychologists-refute-3-deceptive-statements-on-adhd/ Another source for the letter: https://academyanalyticarts.org/galves-debunking-science-behind-adhd A short blurb on Celltech Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: https://www.careersinpharmaceutical.com/celltech-pharmaceuticals-inc-listing-7586.htm For more information on our podcast, please visit www.adhdisover.com

LETTING THEM PLAY is a fun episode with Jai Lynn McPheron, an experienced mindfulness skills instructor, registered yoga teacher and Mindful Yoga Coach. Jai has over 1,500 hours of yoga teacher training. Besides yoga and mindfulness, Jai also has delved deeply into reiki, shamanic practices, trauma recovery studies, astrology and mindful music. Her mission is to hold space for others to heal through music, sound, perspectives, movements and meditation. I am excited to dive in and talk Trauma, Healing and ADHD with Jai. To find out more about Jai's work, please visit: https://www.imi.earth/sessions https://insighttimer.com/jaiandmonte https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSZAweG-FXw&list=PLpROojVtR-uSaCGMIe3AhGbKs5PLgifgq For more information on this podcast, please visit www.adhdisover.com

CONNECTION VS. CORRECTION is a powerful episode with fellow ADHDer Aaron Huey, the founder of the Fire Mountain Residential treatment Center. Aaron has been working with children, teens, and parents for over 18 years. After ten years directing camps and empowerment programs around the world, Aaron opened Fire Mountain because he wanted to work with kids and families on a deeper level. Over the first few years of running programs like Teen Rites of Passage The Warrior Phoenix Challenge, and numerous cries for help from parents, Aaron realized the need to turn his efforts towards teens struggling with drugs, alcohol and the behaviors and issues related to addiction. An addict in recovery since 2000, he felt a calling to put together an expert team and open Fire Mountain. His mission is to awaken confidence and leadership. “It‘s not about being better, it‘s about giving up the struggle to be different from who you are.” Aaron’s formal educational background is in acting. He graduated from the top acting school in the US, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1990. His skills in comedy and drama make him an influential speaker and presenter, and a favorite among the kids. His confidence, compassion, and humor set the tone for deep healing, and fun. Aaron is also trained as an EMT, a Wilderness Survival Instructor and Martial Arts teacher, all of which he weaves into the Fire Mountain RTC curriculum. We chatted about ADHD, trauma, family history, education and more. For more information on Aaron and his work, please visit https://firemountainprograms.com/about-us/founders/ To listen to Aaron's podcast 'Beyond Risk and Back, visit https://firemountainprograms.com/fire-mountain-programs-podcast-beyond-risk-back/ To join Aaron's Facebook group 'Parenting Teens that Struggle', visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentingteensthatstruggle/ To get Aaron's app, visit www.brabapp.com For more information about our podcast, please go to www.adhdisover.com

IS ADHD A COPING MECHANISM is an episode inspired by our 6 year of research into ADHD and the realization that stressors in the environment have the biggest impact on a person's nervous system, therefore also their brain and ultimately their behaviors. Often, ADHDers are said to more likely become 'addicts'... but why? Because they have ADHD? But ADHD is a label for a set of symptoms that are based on observed behavior? So, therefore an addict becomes and addict because of the way their brain is connected. What caused a brain to become an addict brain? I believe it is a coping mechanism that helps a person escape their emotional burdens, their traumas, stress etc. Here is the definition of a coping mechanism according to Dictionary.com: "An adaptation to environmental stress that is based on conscious or unconscious choice and that enhances control over behavior or gives psychological comfort. Listen in and hear for yourself why I decided to explore this claim. I think there is something here worth exploring for science, medicine and psychology... but are they willing to? For more information on our podcast, please visit www.adhdisover.com

DOPAMINE, OXYTOCIN & MOTIVATION is an in-depth review of a 2014 NCBI/NLM/NIH online paper published by Dr. Tiffany M. Love, a researcher at the Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan. This article explored the connection between Oxytocin, Dopamine and Motivation. What if people with ADHD do not have low dopamine levels because they 'have ADHD'... but rather because the relationship between their Oxytocin and Dopamine is not in balance. What if ADHD is not due to having a 'chemical imbalance' in the brain? But rather due to an imbalance of certain chemicals, due to a lack of other chemicals? For more information on Dr. Tiffany M. Love's article, visit https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3877159/#R86 For more information on the 2010 Newsweek article on Oxytocin & Autism, visit https://www.newsweek.com/how-oxytocin-might-help-cure-autism-75325 For more information on the 'Refrigerator Parent' theory and Leo Kanner, check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator_mother_theory For more information on this podcast, please visit www.adhdisover.com

EMOTIONAL FREEDOM TECHNIQUE is a wonderful episode with author Ann Hince. At age 19, Ann woke up one morning to find her mother dead in her bathroom.  Twenty years later the tears from that trauma were still just under the surface. Over the years, Ann found a simple technique that helped her release these emotions - but she went further and can now put her awareness inside her body - what she calls Insight, or inward-sight. Ann has found that seeking out our truth, what we truly feel, and accepting those feelings, is the key to inner peace. Ann is the author of the book ‘A Pathway to Insight’, which details her journey and breaks down the steps she took to attain what she calls Insight, or the ability to see within the body. She also has a YouTube channel where she shares her journey, explains the connection between the physical and the spiritual, and posts videos of how to change the pressing issues of our time. For more information on Ann's work, please visit: www.https://annhince.com For more information on this podcast, go to www.adhdisover.com

DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER is an intimate conversation with an inspiring, young mental health advocate! The host of the Dissociative Identity Disorder Podcast “The Bag System”, Melissa C. Water has been an advocate for mental health and Tourette syndrome since 2007. She creates related content on her YouTube channel, has appeared on documentary television, national radio, and as a speaker at national conferences. On her podcast ‘The Bag System”, Melissa speaks of her experience with Dissociative Identity Disorder, or what was once known as multiple or split personality disorder. Her journey is in getting to know as well as finding a fondness for her multiple identities, also known as “Headmates”, or alternate personalities. In her early twenties before being diagnosed with DID, she was misdiagnosed with ADHD and put on medication. For more information on Melissa: The Bag System Podcast Https://thebagsystem.com/ Multiplied By One: App for DID Https://multipliedbyone.com/ The Bag System YouTube Https://youTube.com/c/cominginsideout/ For more information on our podcast, please visit www.adhdisover.com

THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE is an intimate conversation with NYT bestselling author Dr. Bessel Van der Kolk about the connection between ADHD & Trauma and about the importance of helping our children co-regulate within their environment. A psychiatrist by training, Dr. Van Der Kolk has been a pioneer in trauma research for decades now and leads the Trauma Research Foundation. His 2014 book “The Body Keeps the Score,” quickly became a bestseller. And although the book was first released seven years ago, it currently sits at No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list. Bessel van der Kolk MD spends his career studying how children and adults adapt to traumatic experiences, and he has translated emerging findings from neuroscience and attachment research to develop & study a range of treatments for traumatic stress in children and adults. He has focused on studying treatments that stabilize physiology, increase executive functioning and help traumatized individuals to feel fully alert to the present. This has included an National Institute of Mental Health funded study on EMDR and a National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine funded study of yoga, and, in recent years, the study of neurofeedback to investigate whether attentional and perceptual systems - and the neural tracks responsible for them - can be altered by changing EEG patterns. For more information on Dr. Van der Kolk's work, visit https://www.besselvanderkolk.com For more information on this podcast, please visit www.adhdisover.com

WHY FULL SURRENDER IS KEY is an episode in which I share a recent breakthrough with surrendering to life. What is 'surrender', according to Merriam Webster: "To yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand." During our 7 years of research, I had never fully surrendered to life. Therefore, the results me and my family had achieved were really good... but not great and definitely short of amazing! Yet since I've had this breakthrough, my own happiness and that of my wife and my children has increased noticeably. Why did I not see it? What was I waiting for? What was I thinking? But more importantly... Why is surrender so important when it comes to having children with ADHD? What can you do to surrender to this so-called disorder, the diagnosis and even your child's most despised behaviors? Listen in and hear for yourself why surrender is so important on your family's journey to uncover what ADHD is for you. For more information on this podcast, please visit www.adhdisover.com

WOMEN & ADHD is an episode with Katy Weber. Katy is a holistic health coach, an ADHD advocate and an author. She is also the host of the "Women & ADHD" podcast and she wrote the book "Worth It: A Journey to Food & Body Freedom. " Katy and I talked about ADHD & Women, getting diagnosed, meds vs. no meds, strategies for living a fulfilled life and more... For more information on Katy's work and her podcast, please visit https://www.womenandadhd.com and https://www.worthitwithkaty.com For more information on this podcast, please visit www.adhdisover.com