Emotion precedes everything we do in life, this is why a couple of the proverbial questions from psychotherapists is “How did that make you feel” or “How do you feel about that?” When one understands, the primary issue concerning disordered behavior the absolute first step is clearly to measure emotion. This could not be more evident than with the diagnosis of ADHD and ADD with children. Skipping the process of Emotional Measurement enables the pharmaceutical companies to cast a wider and wider net in regard to all human behavior.

One must question the motivation behind behavioral assessment as it inevitability leads to medication. This in my opinion is especially disturbing in regard to children. Following is a partial list of symptoms from the DSM-5 for diagnosing ADHD. I am only presenting a partial list because nowhere on the CDC website does it mention anything about the emotional state of the child when diagnosing or treating ADHD.

DSM-5 Criteria for ADHD

People with ADHD show a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development:

  • Inattention: Six or more symptoms of inattention for children up to age 16, or five or more for adolescents 17 and older and adults; symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months, and they are inappropriate for developmental level:
  • Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, at work, or with other activities.
  • Often has trouble holding attention on tasks or play activities.
  • Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
  • Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (e.g., loses focus, side-tracked).
  • Often has trouble organizing tasks and activities.
  • Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to do tasks that require mental effort over a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).
  • Often loses things necessary for tasks and activities (e.g. school materials, pencils, books, tools, wallets, keys, paperwork, eyeglasses, mobile telephones).
  • Is often easily distracted
  • Is often forgetful in daily activities.

As stated earlier, there is no mention of emotion yet emotion is what drives human behavior. Instead, we jump directly to behavior and then medicate the child. Another significant flaw is there is no way to accurately measure the symptoms presented. It is at best a subjective assessment left up to whomever happens to be following these very ambiguous guidelines.

In contrast, if you begin with Emotional Measurement™ you are able to make an initial assessment from the source. In other words, find out how the child is feeling based on how they grade themselves. You then take the child through the process of how emotion works and how to take control of it. This in turn will change unwanted behavior.

I am not claiming there will never be a need for medication. It simply does not make sense to use a subjective assessment, which leads to dangerous medication, while skipping the root cause of the problem you are trying to solve.

You can see Burris Institute teen depression case and group studies here. http://www.burrisinstitute.com/emotional-measurement/evidence-based/abst...

About Kelly Burris, PhD, MBC

Kelly Burris has defined ‘Normal’ in an industry, that only defines broken or disordered. He is the developer of the empirically sound Subconscious Restructuring process and founder of Burris Institute. With over 150 medical references Subconscious Restructuring represents a scientific breakthrough in mental health, and it has done this without meds, labels or personal history.

As part of the Burris, ecosystem Subconscious Restructuring Practitioners can manage, track and interact with current and future clients after certification on BurrisConnect.com. This same ecosystem enables corporate, military, and educational entities to supervise and monitor the performance of their internal Subconscious Restructuring (mental health) infrastructure in the cloud.