A Grounded Theory of Ineffective Counseling Processes with ADHD Children’s Parents

The purpose of this study is to explore ineffective counseling processes with ADHD children’s parents and related barriers. Thirteen counselors who had counseling experience with ADHD children and their parents were recruited. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. As a result, nine categories and 20 subcategories were identified. Parents’ cognitive or emotional difficulties, family conditions that cause poor parenting, and insufficient social support were found as causal or contextual conditions. Low motivation for changes was identified as a central phenomenon which, in turn, generated negative responses to counseling and poor counseling alliance. Counselors’ competence, counter-transference management, and counseling facility were identified as intervening conditions. Based on these findings, implications to prevent potentially harmful counseling were discussed.