Succeeding With Adult ADHD

Stop feeling frustrated by what you are not accomplishing, and start making practical steps toward achieving your goals.
 
This expansion and update of psychologist Abigail Levrini's bestselling book offers realistic, proven strategies to help adults with ADHD lead more fulfilling and productive lives.

With her extensive experience researching and treating adults with ADHD, Levrini provides user‑friendly strategies for setting meaningful and realistic goals, developing a plan to achieve the goals, and staying on track while following the plan. Slip‑ups are normal and expected, so Levrini invites readers to keep a positive, growth‑oriented outlook that focuses on progress, rather than perfection.
 
Each chapter is full of examples and self‑help activities, such as quizzes and worksheets, enabling readers to apply strategies to multiple areas of life.

Special attention is given to the areas of executive function that most adults with ADHD seek help for, and to typical challenges in living a healthy and productive life, including time management, relationships, organization, job performance, and recognizing common coexisting conditions such as depression and anxiety. 
 

Introduction: Understanding Adult ADHD

Part I. Getting Started: Achieving Your Goals and Objectives

1. Fostering a Helpful Perspective
2. Ready, Set, Plan!
3. Increasing Motivation and Accountability
4. Evaluating What Works and Managing Frustration With What Doesn’t

Part II. Specific Strategies

5. Improving Time Management
6. Enhancing Social Relationships
7. Organizing Your Space
8. Practicing Effective Learning and Study Skills
9. Finding Job Satisfaction

Part III. Getting Additional Help

10. Understanding and Treating Conditions That Can Coexist With ADHD
11. Medication Pros and Cons
12. Getting the Most Out of Treatment

Summary

References

Appendix: Example Tools for Your ADHD Toolkit

Further Reading

About the Author

Abigail Levrini, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and owner of the widely successful practice, Psych Ed Connections, an ADHD specialist, renowned speaker, and bestselling author. She earned her doctorate in counseling and school psychology at Florida State University in 2008, where she was part of a team that spearheaded a now nationally recognized ADHD coaching intervention.

Dr. Levrini has published numerous scientific articles on ADHD and presents in professional settings throughout the country. She can be found throughout the media on WebMD, The Washington Post, NAMI, APA, PsychCentral, and many other popular press outlets.

The first edition of Succeeding with Adult ADHD was an APA bestseller. Levrini is also the author of ADHD Coaching: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals, and she stars in APA's Therapy Video Series on Adult ADHD Treatment.

It was difficult to imagine how the original Succeeding With Adult ADHD could be improved upon, but Levrini pulled it off with flying colors. This magnificent updated edition is a treasure trove of helpful skills and strategies designed for adults with ADHD and, more important, methods for personalizing the skills and strategies to put them to use in your daily life to achieve positive results. It will continue to be one of the go-to recommended readings in our program.
—J. Russell Ramsay, PhD, ABPP, clinical director, University of Pennsylvania Adult ADHD Treatment and Research Program, Philadelphia, and author of The Adult ADHD Tool Kit: Using CBT to Facilitate Coping Inside and Out and Rethinking Adult ADHD: Helping Clients Turn Intentions Into Actions

There is so much wisdom under the surface of Succeeding With Adult ADHD. Dr. Levrini won’t bore you with the details, but her advice and strategies have what it takes to actually work. She knows her stuff, and you will be better off for it!
—Ari Tuckman, PsyD, CST, author of ADHD After Dark: Better Sex Life, Better Relationship

Abigail Levrini “gets” ADHD. She understands its upsides, but she also knows its downsides intimately, in the same way she knows her own closets and other mess piles. Best of all, through years of experience in the trenches, she’s come up with practical solutions on how to right the ship, worded so they don’t sound like psycho-nagging but rather like what a good and trusted friend who knows you well would recommend.
—Edward Hallowell, MD, author of Driven to Distraction and ADHD 2.0

Welcome to the resource library for Succeeding With Adult ADHD: Daily Strategies to Help You Achieve Your Goals and Manage Your Life, Second Edition. All the worksheets in this book are also available in 8.5 x 11 PDFs, which you can download for free in the links below.

These documents are offered for your personal use. If you reprint or adapt them for publication, permission is required from the publisher. All material is ©2023 American Psychological Association.

• Exhibit 1.1. Try It! Identifying Thinking Errors (PDF, 23KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 1.2. Try it! Reframing Cognitive Distortions (PDF, 397KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 2.2. Try It! Develop Your Long-Term Goals (PDF, 21KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 2.5. Try It! Develop Your Week 1 Objectives (PDF, 17KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 2.6. Try It! Develop Your Week 2 Objectives (PDF, 18KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 3.1. Try It! Reward Ideas (PDF, 19KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 3.2. Try It! Penalty Ideas (PDF, 19KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 3.4. Try It! Rewards and Penalties for Your Week 1 Objectives (PDF, 37KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 3.5. Try It! Rewards and Penalties for Your Week 2 Objectives (PDF, 18KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 4.2. Try It! Evaluate Your Week 1 Objectives (PDF, 18KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 4.3. Try It! Daily Log of Goal-Related Activities (PDF, 17KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 5.1. Try It! Your Procrastination Profile (PDF, 23KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 5.3. Try It! Ongoing Weekly Activities and How Long Each Activity Takes (PDF, 22KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 5.4. Try It! Quarter-Hour Calendar (PDF, 41KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 5.5. Try It! Time Required for Extra Activities (PDF, 23KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 6.1. Try It! Intended Accomplishments (PDF, 19KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 7.1. Try It! Challenge Your Fears (PDF, 22KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 7.2. Try It! Organize Your Space (PDF, 27KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 7.3. Try It! Organization Worksheet (PDF, 16KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 8.4. Try It! Weekly Self-Evaluation for Studying (PDF, 25KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 9.1. Try It! Things I Do Well at Work (PDF, 24KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 9.2. Try It! Things I Have Difficulty With at Work (PDF, 24KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 9.3. Try It! Your Work Profile (PDF, K28B)opens in new window
• Exhibit 10.1. Try It! Top Five Things You Worry About (PDF, 19KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 10.2. Try It! Ways You Spend Your Time (PDF, 29KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 10.3. Try It! Blues-Busting Ideas (PDF, 21KB)opens in new window
• Exhibit 12.2. Try It! Fear and Insecurities Checklist (PDF, 41KB)opens in new window