Child, Teen and Young Adult Therapy / Counselling

Dr. Jim Roche provides paediatric psychological services working with all age groups. This includes children, teens and young adults with problems of emotional regulation, anger management, learning disabilities, social deficits (Asperger's Disorder) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

This includes parent education, behavioural therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy and testing and assessment.

His offices are located in Burnaby and Vancouver. For more information on child, teen/adolescent and young adult therapy and testing please visit his web page at www.relatedminds.com

Couples, Marraige Therapy and Parent Training

Dr. Jim Roche, Registered Psychologist

I provide couples therapy / marriage therapy and parent education for individuals dealing with family issues relating to autism, Aspergers, ADHD and other related disorders. Please visit my web page at: www.relatedminds.com  for full information.

A new book for Couples with ADHD | Adult ADHD

Much of my practice is working with teens, young adults and adults with ADHD in the Vancouver and Burnaby area. Almost all of my patients have seen one or more other therapists for relationship or couples therapy due to the problems associated with adult ADHD. Seldom do they seem satisfied. A recent post addressed some of the issues and research published by the American Psychological Association about adult ADHD and couples therapy and how traditional couples therapy fails to take into account the elephant in the room - ADHD. This is very apparent when I ask these couples about what they have done in previous therapy. "Talked." is the usual answer. "Talked about communication." I then ask for any specific skills or tools they have been taught, and the vast majority of the time I get a none answer. None. Thy can't remember or were not taught any tools, either about communications or specifically how to deal with adult ADHD. This is disturbing as couples seem to spend lots of money, time and effort not learning some basic skills. Seldom do couples even recognize the major names in the field, names of individuals who have published the major books that EVERYONE with adult ADHD should have. For example, Dr. Russell Barkley.

I often send couples to Dr. Barkley;'s website and youtube channel where quickly they get up to speed on the facts about adult ADHD. Treatment for mental health disorders should almost always start with psycho-education - learning about your disorder. Dr. Barkley's site helps that happen quickly. Often times is starts a dramatic shift in the relationship because couples learn that what seemed hopeless is indeed hopeful. ADHD is more readily treatable than anxiety, depression, OCD or about any other outpatient disorder. And treatments, both medical and psychological, have a long long history of decades of success. Research is bountiful. And adult ADHD is no where near as unusual as they may have thought.

Thats why I am always surprised, and confounded, when patients who have had years of couple and individual treatment because of behaviours relating to ADHD cannot tell me a skill, tool or even recognize a name in the field!

Therapy is costly, and while MSP doesn't cover psychological services in BC (in the vast majority of North America psychological services ARE covered by insurance) most extended halt care plans do cover some of the costs. Still, there are limits, so I often focus treatment so that it works in tandem with self-help -do-it-yourself - workbooks or books. I often suggest getting a copy of 1  or 2 of Dr. Barkley's books, but these are big. More like a good reference book you SHOULD have, maybe something by Dr. Hallowell, and finally something directly about couples with adult ADHD. While I haven't found a perfect adult couple ADHD book I have found several that are good enough. (A perfect one would be much, much shorter than those available. Couples with adult ADHD simply do not have the time to read 3-400 pages! But, remember, all these books are available on Kindle, Kobo and usually audible.com to listen to!)

One recent book I've reviewed I would suggest you look at is ADHD and Marriage by Meissa Orlov and Dr. Ned Hallowell. "The Effects of ADHD on Marriage" addresses how to change your interactions - and behaviours- not by trying harder but by trying different! It tells you what effective treatment should look like (VERY HELPFUL for the consumer), dealing with emotions, setting boundaries and has several really useful tools and skills. It's a great place to start, and you can use it with your therapist or on your own. Take a look and then find yourself a therapist. But, maybe think about that research I mentioned on therapy that works or doesn't work - you need a therapist who is both an expert in marriage/relationship counselling, and someone who REALLY understands ADHD.

A relationship therapist - I would look for someone who is a registered marriage and family therapist, a member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy or the British Columbia Association for Marriage and Family Therapy rather  than just any "counsellor." Members of AAMFT have two years of full time supersede clinical experience doing nothing but couple and family therapy, compared to a course or two others might take. And ADHD. Find someone who is also a psychologist and had some clinical training in ADHD or neuropsychology. You can find a dual trained person on the BCAMFT website.

For information  about me and my practice with children, teens and adults with ADHD please visit my website at www.relatedminds.com or www.relatedminds.com/adhd or at the British Columbia Psychological Association site at http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/70682 or http://www.psychologists.bc.ca/users/jimroche

I have offices in Vancouver near Broadway, and in Burnaby near Lougheed Mall. My services are covered by most extended health care plans.

Couples Therapy for Adult ADHD | A Review

On my ADHD blog I've written a new entry on ADHD and Couples Therapy. New research has shown that it far better to work with a therapist who has specific training in adult ADHD than to see a regular marriage or family counsellor as they may not have an understanding of the complexity of ADHD and how it interferes with the couple's progress in couples therapy.

For a look at this blog please click here: http://adhdvancouver.blogspot.ca/2014/07/adult-adhd-testing-and-treatment-focus.html

For more information about adult ADHD, including testing, assessment, diagnosis and treatment, please visit my website at www.relatedminds.com/adhd or at http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/70682

Dr. Roche is a registered psychologist and registered marriage and family therapist working in Vancouver and Burnaby, British Columbia.

Dr. Edward Hallowell on adult Attention Deficit Disorder

I often suggest Dr. Hallowell's book(s) on ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). I don't agree with everything he says, and differ somewhat in how I approach treatment, but still find Dr. Hallowell's writings to be useful, informative and more likely than not to set you down the right path.

This is a 25 min video. It will leave you with a lot of good information, and you'll have a good idea about where treatment of ADHD should be focused. Take a look, and enjoy.

For information on my services for children, adolescents and adults (families!) with ADHD check out my web page at http://www.relatedminds.com or contact me at jimroche@gmail.com or by phone at 778.998-7975

Information on my practice can also be found at: http://www.bcpsychologist.org/users/jimroche

or at http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/name/Jim_Roche_JD,PhD,CAGS,RPsych,RMFT_Burnaby_British+Columbia_70682

Children, Behaviour Problems and Couples Therapy: Which First?

Often couples come in to see me who are having problems both with their relationship and with their children's behaviour. "Which should we work on first?" is often the question. Well, it's hard to say, but I do know you can't get anywhere working on your children's behaviour issues while your fighting. So, generally I think it's relationship, then kids.

That doesn't mean that you should wait for your relationship to be fixed before you begin working on the kids. There are some simple techniques that will help improve things quickly, and working on these issues will be a good place for you and your spouse to try out your new couples and communications skills.

For those who are not familiar with my programs for children I do a considerable amount of child and adolescent therapy. This usually includes seeing the children briefly, so that I have a fairly good idea of how they are doing, and then training the parents. This is what works best, because parents spend the most time with their children and will have the greatest chance of effecting change.

Often initial child therapy involves developing some interactions skills that will come in useful. I often recommend Dr. Ross Greens book "The Explosive Child" in order to understand how to soften and reduce the frequency of temper tantrums. Yes, these are also good skills to use with each other, and even for couples without children I sometimes recommend this book! Next we try to develop a comprehensive behaviour plan that includes ignoring, as much as humanly possible, inappropriate behaviours, and reinforcing new appropriate behaviours. That means understanding why your child does something, and knowing what the "function" of the behaviour is. We then try to teach the child a new functionally equivalent replacement behaviour which still gets the child what he or she needs or wants, but to do it in an appropriate way. You may be thinking, well, maybe that's what we should be doing with each other as well. You right if that's what your thinking.

Often marriage or couple therapy is about developing a deeper understanding of the needs of the other, and together developing new appropriate ways to meet those needs. That goes for you, your spouse or your child.

If you would like to know more about family or marriage counselling please go to my web page at www.relatedminds.com If your having particular trouble with your child, especially one who has ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism or other problems, you could go directly to my attention deficit hyperactivity disorder website at www.adhdhelp.ca Finally, you can find out more about me at my Psychology Today web site by clicking here.

You can set up an appointment for my Burnaby office by calling 778.9980-7975 My Burnaby office serves Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Moody, New West Minster and Maple Ridge. I also have offices in Vancouver. You will find a map to my office on my website.

ADHD and Marriage

Almost 1/3 of my marriage and couple referrals involve issues in a relationship that are related to possible ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Often "You don't listen to me!" "You forget everything!" and "You just can't be relied on..." problems are related to issues of Executive Dysfunction in one or maybe both partners. And inability to follow-through, plan, initiate and even more important, control your emotions is often a signal that there may be an issue of executive deficit or dysfunction, similar too ADHD, that needs to be looked at.

Often I ask couples to complete some short self report forms that help me in a diagnostic process called "differential diagnosis." That means not immediately focusing on what everyone thinks is the problem but also looking at other possible causes.

This investigation can often lead us to teaching specific skills to compensate for deficits, and providing education to the other spouse about what may be at the heart of their problem. An inability to change behaviour can also be a frontal lobe or executive problem, and there are skills and interventions we can implement to work on those. What's most important is to understand that procrastination, messiness, disorder and inability to make changes can be signs of more than a relationship issue. They may be something that causes the relationship issue but also something that needs an intervention separate from our usual family systems intervention.

Be open minded, and be willing to look at all possible causes of your problems. Sometimes fixing these issues first makes fixing your relationship easier.

You can visit my web site at www.RelatedMinds.com by clicking here. Or you can look at my Psychology Today website.