Questions? Suffolk DBT Roslyn (516) 714-4707 | Babylon Suffolk DBT (631) 403-4719 | Mt. Sinai (631) 828-2264 | NYC (646) 939-5210
Questions? Suffolk DBT Roslyn (516) 714-4707 | Babylon Suffolk DBT (631) 403-4719 | Mt. Sinai (631) 828-2264 | NYC (646) 939-5210
Children with ADHD often experience the world more intensely than their peers. They may have bursts of energy, deep curiosity, and creativity yet struggle with daily tasks like getting ready, focusing on schoolwork, or shifting from one activity to another. These challenges are not about effort or motivation; they reflect differences in how your child’s brain processes attention, emotion, and impulse control.
For emotionally sensitive children, ADHD can also mean feeling things more strongly. Excitement can quickly turn into frustration, disappointment, or anger. Small setbacks may feel overwhelming, and perceived rejection from peers or adults can hit especially hard.
At Suffolk DBT, we understand ADHD through a Dialectical Behavior Therapy lens recognizing both your child’s strengths and the skills they need to manage intense emotions, impulsive reactions, and daily stressors more effectively.
DBT-C at Suffolk DBT is designed for younger children who experience big emotions, impulsivity, and challenges with attention or behavior. This program recognizes that children do best when the environment around them understands how to respond to their emotions skillfully. Parents are active participants in treatment, learning how to regulate themselves, respond with validation, and create a home environment that supports change. Caregivers attend a parent management training group alongside other parents, where they learn practical DBT-based strategies to reduce conflict, strengthen connection, and help their child use skills outside of sessions. At the same time, children learn age-appropriate DBT skills to manage feelings, tolerate frustration, and improve behavior, with parents guiding and reinforcing these skills at home.
ADHD can be incredibly stressful for both children and parents. Many ADHD behaviors are misunderstood, and kids are often seen as careless, oppositional, or “not trying,” when in reality they are struggling with attention, impulse control, and emotional regulation.
Even the most supportive parents can feel overwhelmed at times. Daily routines may feel like constant battles, and emotional reactions can escalate quickly. Children with ADHD may become easily frustrated, discouraged, or ashamed when they feel they can’t meet expectations at home or at school.
Without the right skills, ADHD can affect friendships, self-esteem, and a child’s ability to feel successful. The good news is that these are learnable skills — and families don’t have to navigate this alone.
As children with ADHD grow into teens, the challenges often shift but don’t disappear. Teens may struggle more with impulsivity, emotional ups and downs, low self-esteem, or difficulty keeping up with responsibilities and social expectations.
Some teens become more reactive, while others shut down or withdraw. You might notice more arguments, risk-taking, or your teen pulling away when they’re overwhelmed or embarrassed about their struggles. Underneath it all, many teens with ADHD feel frustrated and unsure how to do better, even when they want to.
This stage can be especially hard for parents, who may feel stuck between wanting to help and not knowing how to reach their teen in ways that actually work.
While medication can be one part of ADHD treatment, it does not teach the skills children and teens need to manage emotions, impulses, and daily stress. That’s where DBT comes in.
At Suffolk DBT, we focus on helping children and teens build real-life skills to manage frustration, regulate emotions, slow down impulsive reactions, and improve relationships. These skills are practiced consistently and supported at home so they become part of everyday life — not just something talked about in therapy.
Our goal is not just to reduce symptoms, but to help your child or teen feel more confident, capable, and understood as they grow.
One key aspect of DBT, regardless of age, is skill development. You and your child will learn theses skills in individual therapy and group work, and practice using them in day-to-day life.
Mindfulness helps children with ADHD strengthen attention and awareness in the present moment. Children practice noticing what they are doing, sensing their body, and gently bringing their focus back when their mind wanders. They also learn to notice their thoughts — including judgments — without getting pulled into them. Instead of trying to stop judging altogether, children learn to recognize, “I’m having a judging thought,” and then return their attention to what they’re doing. Over time, this helps children become more aware of when they’re distracted, frustrated, or overwhelmed, and gives them more control over how they respond. Rather than being told to “pay attention,” they learn how attention works for them and how to reset when they lose focus.
Interpersonal effectiveness skills help children slow down, listen, and communicate more effectively with others. Children practice respectful communication, turn-taking, and expressing needs without escalation. These skills support healthier friendships, improved self-esteem, and stronger relationships with parents, teachers, and peers.
Your child will learn how to notice their emotions and put words to what they’re feeling. They’ll practice paying attention to their emotions in a calm, non-judgmental way, so feelings don’t seem so confusing or overwhelming. They’ll also learn practical tools they can use in the moment to help shift how they’re feeling, such as trying a different response than what a strong emotion might be pushing them to do. By giving themselves permission to feel their feelings without acting on them right away, many children find that emotions have less control over their behavior and that they feel more confident and in charge during emotionally intense moments.
When your child has ADHD, big emotions and impulsive reactions can cause stressful moments to escalate very quickly. Distress tolerance skills are designed to help your child get through those intense moments without making the situation harder for themselves or others. Rather than reacting impulsively or feeling embarrassed afterward, your child learns simple, practical ways to pause, calm their body, and ride out strong emotions until they settle. Over time, these skills can reduce emotional blowups, build confidence, and help your child feel more capable and in control when emotions run high.
Dialectical thinking helps children learn that two things can be true at the same time. For example, your child can feel upset and still make a good choice, or feel frustrated and be doing their best. Instead of seeing situations as all-or-nothing, this skill teaches flexibility and balance. Over time, dialectical thinking can reduce emotional extremes, lower conflict, and help children feel less stuck in their feelings. It supports your child in finding a middle ground where emotions are acknowledged without taking over their behavior.
DBT-C at Suffolk DBT is designed for younger children who experience big emotions, impulsivity, and challenges with attention or behavior. This program recognizes that children do best when the environment around them understands how to respond to their emotions skillfully. Parents are active participants in treatment, learning how to regulate themselves, respond with validation, and create a home environment that supports change. Caregivers attend a parent management training group alongside other parents, where they learn practical DBT-based strategies to reduce conflict, strengthen connection, and help their child use skills outside of sessions. At the same time, children learn age-appropriate DBT skills to manage feelings, tolerate frustration, and improve behavior, with parents guiding and reinforcing these skills at home.
In our DBT-A program, teens with ADHD participate in individual DBT therapy and a multifamily DBT skills group. Teens learn practical tools to manage emotional intensity, impulsive reactions, school stress, and relationship challenges that often come with ADHD during adolescence.
A central part of DBT-A is recognizing how strongly a teen’s environment impacts their emotional regulation. Many teens with ADHD feel misunderstood or judged — even in caring families. Parents or caregivers may be well-regulated themselves or unsure how to respond to their teen’s emotional reactions, which can leave everyone feeling frustrated and disconnected.
In DBT-A, families learn how to respond in ways that are validating while still guiding their teen toward effective behavior. Validation does not mean agreeing with a teen’s actions; it means communicating understanding of the emotion underneath them. For example, instead of saying, “You’re overreacting,” a caregiver might say, “I see how upset you are, and I care about what you’re feeling. Let’s figure out how to handle this together.”
When teens feel emotionally understood and accepted for who they are, they are more able to use the skills they are learning. DBT-A helps teens build regulation skills while also helping families learn how to meet their teen where they are, creating an environment that supports growth, connection, and real change.
In time, you’ll be able to measure your family’s success in DBT through more consistency from your child. They’ll be able to self-regulate more with practice, increasing their capacity for routine and focused time. They’ll also better know themselves, and be better able to communicate their needs if they’re overwhelmed, hyperactive, or exhausted from their ADHD. You two will have a better understanding of how to be with them in a way that makes better sense for all of you.
You and your child will find ways to work together to help them succeed. You’ll also develop a strong, deep connection you all share, as you work through DBT with your child. That closeness will foster trust and communication, allowing you all to flourish.
When emotions feel too big and life feels overwhelming, it can seem like nothing will ever change.
Whether you’re worried about yourself, your teen, or your child, you’re not alone.
We teach real skills that help families feel more stable, connected, and hopeful.
Completely confidential. Only takes 10-15 minutes.
