Why Parent Training Should Come Before Therapy or Social Groups
Many children with ADHD are offered social skills groups or talk therapy as a first step. These can feel supportive and encouraging, but the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends beginning with parent training and behavior support. Parent training teaches caregivers practical tools that help ADHD brains feel calm, organized, and successful in daily life.
What Parent Training Teaches
Parent training focuses on real-life strategies such as predictable routines, breaking tasks into small steps, staying calm and consistent, helping with transitions, and using simple visual supports at home. Kids with ADHD learn best through routines and structure rather than long conversations about behavior.
Why Therapy Alone Often Falls Short
Social groups and talk therapy can be helpful when emotional needs are present, but they often do not create meaningful change if they are used as the only support for ADHD. Most ADHD challenges show up at home, during daily routines, at school, and in transitions. Talking about feelings or problem solving does not automatically build the executive function skills ADHD brains need in real time.
Children may also feel like they need to try harder without knowing how. When adults do not receive tools to support behavior at home, kids can become frustrated or discouraged. Research shows that behavior support involving parents leads to more consistent improvements than therapy alone.
How Therapy Alone Can Lead to Indirect Harm
Therapy and social groups are not harmful by themselves. The risk is that families may rely on them and miss more effective, evidence-based supports during the years when skills are developing quickly.
Without parent tools and clear routines, kids stay stuck in patterns that cause stress for everyone. Parents may feel like their child should be improving and may blame themselves or their child when nothing changes. Children can also internalize stress or shame if they feel they should be able to behave differently without the structure their brain actually needs.
This is not because therapy is bad. It is because therapy alone does not address the real environments where ADHD struggles occur.
How Parent Training Helps
Behavior improves when expectations are clear, adults stay calm and predictable, children receive positive support, and skills are practiced in everyday routines. Parent training helps create structure at home, which builds confidence and supports self regulation.
The Bottom Line
Social groups and talk therapy can be helpful additions, especially when emotional concerns or anxiety are present. However, for ADHD itself, parent training should come first. ADHD is about building skills through structure, routines, visual supports, and calm guidance in real environments.
You do not need perfection. You only need simple tools that are used consistently at home. That is where meaningful progress begins.