Needed are both a desire to accept the self and the courage to look honestly. Beyond that, the ADD adult also has to acquire the skills of self-understanding, the first of which is the capacity to notice each time she makes a critical, judgmental comment against herself, to notice whenever she is seized by anxiety, to notice when her behavior does not jibe with her long-term goal. She notices, and asks—as parents need to ask regarding their child—what the meanings are, what is being acted out, what messages the Morse code of her behavior is trying to convey.
