Our commitment to top quality services through staff development
Weekly case conferences
The Chesapeake staff meets together in case conferences to discuss client treatment, to coordinate treatment efforts when more than one staff member is involved with a particular individual or family, and to gain information about resources that may benefit our clients.
Continuing education seminars
The Chesapeake Center has been approved by the American Psychological Association to offer Continuing Education (CE) credits nationwide in recognition of our expertise in ADHD. We offer seminars providing APA approved CE credits to our staff on a monthly basis as part of our efforts to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD (ADD), learning disorders, and related conditions.
Clinical supervision
Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D., meets in regular ongoing case supervision with many members of our staff in order to help them further develop their already extensive clinical skills. Even those members of the Chesapeake staff that have many years of experience prior to coming to the Chesapeake Center work closely with Center Director Kathleen Nadeau to incorporate the active, solution-focused approach of neurocognitive psychotherapy into their work with Chesapeake clients.
Development of new services
We make every effort to stay current about new issues, concerns and treatment approaches related to ADHD (ADD) and will continue to add information about new services at our clinic as they are developed.
Our treatment approach — psychotherapy tailored for the ADHD brain
ADHD is a brain-based syndrome that leads to numerous challenges in daily life, in school, in the workplace and in relationships with others. We have found that standard, less-structured insight-oriented psychotherapy is rarely helpful in learning to deal with the challenges of ADHD. Countless clients seek help from our center, telling us that the psychotherapy they have received elsewhere did not effectively address their ADHD symptoms.
Our treatment approach, Neuro-cognitive Psychotherapy, developed by Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D. through her many years of clinical practice, directly addresses the symptoms of ADHD, while also treating coexisting issues such as anxiety, depression, learning disabilities, bipolar disorder, addiction, marital difficulties and parenting challenges. Although we specialize in ADHD, we treat individuals, developing a treatment plan for each client that is custom-designed to address their particular concerns.
Neuro-cognitive psychotherapy incorporates aspects of cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive remediation, and ADHD coaching that uses a practical solution focused approach that addresses a wide range of issues that can improve daily functioning, help the individual to create an ADHD-friendly environment, build brain-friendly habits, and learn to function better at home, at work and at school.
Our approach is strengths-based. We work with clients to focus on their talents and interests and to move away from patterns of self-blame and low self-esteem. We work to educate the individual client and his or her family about ADHD so that the family can also move from frustration and blame to understanding, acceptance and problem-solving.
Individual therapy sessions are more directive and structured than more traditional psychotherapy sessions, addressing a broad range of issues in each session, and typically sending the client home with “homework” — helping them build brain-healthy daily habits, build more support in their daily lives for their most challenging tasks, and developing a problem-solving approach to the many challenges that they face. We focus on helping clients focus on their strengths, accept and find ways to compensate for areas of weakness, and build more positive and productive lives.
To learn more about neuro-cognitive psychotherapy, review and order books by center director Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D.