Can DBT therapy help ADHD?
- April Griffin
- Jun 24
- 4 min read
DBT therapy is known for providing a robust set of coping skills to help with emotion regulation issues, including those with ADHD. Emotion Wise Counselling in Vancouver provides therapy aimed to help people using DBT including our virtual Trauma-Informed DBT groups.
Many people coming to our Vancouver DBT groups have been diagnosed with ADHD and have found the DBT skills extremely beneficial for navigating daily life, emotional ups and downs and struggles in interpersonal connections.
What is ADHD?
ADHD stands for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. It’s a mental health condition that affects how people pay attention, control their impulses, and regulate activity levels (hyperactivity is one type of ADHD).
ADHD is most often diagnosed in childhood, but more recently many adults (especially women) are diagnosed with ADHD as they have come to recognize the symptoms in their own life.
ADHD has three types:
Inattentive Type (formerly called ADD):
Trouble focusing or paying attention
Easily distracted
Disorganized
Frequently forgets things or loses items
Difficulty following instructions
Hyperactive-Impulsive Type:
Fidgeting or squirming
Talking excessively
Interrupting others
Impatience
Difficulty sitting still
Combined Type:
A mix of inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms
What is the impact of ADHD on someone’s life?
ADHD can severely impact someone’s life and career, and relationships. The effect of having ADHD in a neurotypical world and education sustain can negatively affect one’s self-esteem, sense of belonging, and professional success.
Many people with ADHD are very bright, but struggle with attention and staying on task which makes it difficult to advance in careers, study or complete what they started.
Some people with ADHD may experience “hyperfocus” where they are focused on one thing very intensely- which can be advantageous in some tasks but difficult in others when more frequent switching of tasks is required it can be then difficult to regain focus.
Many people develop negative beliefs about themselves based on their struggles navigating school and the workplace, and social relationships in an environment that was not supportive including: “I’m lazy”, “I’m stupid”, “I’m not good enough”, “I’m a failure”, and “I’m broken” and “I’m too much”. These beliefs can cause low mood and further difficulties in navigating life’s challenges.
An often under-looked but common struggle for folks with ADHD is emotion regulation. People with ADHD may experience emotions much more strongly that neurotypical people. As these emotions are more intense they can feel incredibly difficult to control and can result in challenges in regulating them. The intensity of their emotions increase quickly and as a result people with ADHD may react more impulsively than other people.
Another often overlooked symptom of ADHD is Rejection Sensitivity, where a person is incredibly sensitive to criticism that is real or perceived. People with ADHD may learn predict ahead of time when they will be rejected by others. To cope, over time people with ADHD may avoid people or tasks that may involve the experience of rejections and relationships or they become people pleasers in an effort to avoid criticism. In addition this rejection sensitivity fuels an internal negative self-talk that can feel never-ending.
What is Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)?
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) was developed by Marsha Linehan in the 1980’s to help with people experiencing suicidal ideation and emotion regulation issues.
This therapy combines two elements: acceptance and change. Acceptance can be a helpful strategy for improving self-understanding and coming to terms with difficult life circumstances. Change strategies involve learning practical tools to deal with emotion regulation issues as well as changing thought patterns to fit the facts.
DBT is one of the first psychotherapies to incorporate mindfulness and weaves it into the therapy at every point. DBT includes four modules: mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation and distress tolerance.
How Effective is DBT for ADHD?
DBT has an emerging evidence base (Zhang et al, 2025 ) for helping to reduce ADHD symptoms and improving quality of life.
DBT strategies primarily target the issue of emotion regulation, but may not help with other issues such as difficulty with executive functioning. DBT can complement medication, exercise, and executive functioning strategies to improve emotional well-being.
One strategy that can be extremely helpful for those with ADHD is the STOP skill, a distress tolerance skill. The STOP skill is like a pause button to press when you experience extreme emotion regulation to help take time out and connect with what’s happening inside and outside of you and can help to reduce impulsivity.
Mindfulness strategies such as Wise Mind can help by tuning into the Wise Mind- the intuitive gut feeling that lives in each person - the wise elder self-state within us that knows the next best step to navigate stormy situations of life. We may ask the wise mind a question in a crisis such as : Will acting on this urge make things better or worse?
In our Trauma-Informed DBT group we spend a lot of time understanding and recognizing when emotion regulation is beginning to become more challenging and moving into using skills that work to help regulate, including the STOP skill and the Wise Mind.
How to Find DBT therapy for ADHD in Vancouver
At Emotion Wise Counselling we have a team of therapists who are experienced in helping people with ADHD experiencing emotion regulation issues using DBT therapy. Our therapists can meet you individually virtually in-person in Downtown Vancouver or virtually in our Trauma-Informed DBT Group (for BC Residents).
Reach out today to get started to begin your DBT therapy journey today by connecting with one of our therapists or joining an Upcoming Trauma-Informed DBT group.
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