Changing the ADHD Brain: Moving Beyond Medication
Walk away with practical, non-medication ADHD tools your clients will actually use — neurodivergent-affirming strategies for adults and children.
Featuring David Nowell, PhD
Clinical neuropsychologist · 100,000+ clinicians trained
- Wed · March 11, 2027 — Parsippany, NJ
- Thu · March 12, 2027 — Edison, NJ
- Thu · March 12, 2027 — Live webcast
…or get instant access on-demand.
✓ Risk-Free Registration – 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Many of our clients diagnosed with ADHD prefer not to take medication. There are various reasons for this, including side effects and concerns with long-term use. In this training, you'll learn more about these concerns, as well as alternative interventions for ADHD.
Viewing ADHD from a developmental perspective, we will consider the apparent increase in ADHD diagnoses over the past two decades. By understanding the way brains with and without ADHD function, you'll be able to better identify a variety of neurodivergent-affirming strategies to significantly impact the nervous system and better manage ADHD symptoms in your clients.
Not only will you walk away with updates about evidence-based non-medication interventions for ADHD such as computerized cognitive training, mindfulness meditation, and neurofeedback, you'll also learn a variety of practical strategies that you and your clients can implement immediately and at low cost.
We'll navigate the vast research on exercise, movement, diet, sleep, disruptive technologies, supplements, and the impact of the environment on ADHD, summarizing the findings and applying the information to "real life". You will finish this training with the tools and knowledge to develop a holistic approach to working with adults and children with ADHD.
Reserve your seat for Changing the ADHD Brain
Use code to save $100 on any format
Copies when you click — just paste it at checkout.
Offer ends 8/20.
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The full agenda
What we'll cover
Why Not Medication?
- Useful as a short-term tool
- Concerns with long-term use
- Limitations and risks
ADHD and Brain Differences
- Brain imaging evidence of ADHD
- Research regarding ADHD brain development
- Frontal lobes mature more slowly in the ADHD brain
- Excess theta brainwaves
- Implications for treatment
Neurodiversity Revolution
- Bottom-up, top-down interventions
- Wake up an underaroused ADHD brain
- Hyperactivity as an adaptive mechanism
- The impact of play and exercise on the brain
- Role of rhythm and timing training
Frontal Lobe/Working Memory Strategic Tools
- Use it or lose it: Increase memory, attention, and focus
- Computerized cognitive training programs
- Meditation and mindfulness for ADHD
- Neurofeedback
Nutrition and Brain Health
- The impact of sugars, fats, proteins, and water
- Diet and dopamine
- Omega supplementation and ADHD symptoms
- Multivitamins/minerals: Do they make a difference?
- Gluten, food additives, and pesticides
ADHD and Anxiety
- "Overaroused" subtype of ADHD
- Stress, anxiety, and ADHD: the connection
- Breathwork and movement for nervous system calming
Environmental Influences
- Media plan
- Video games and social media
- Sleep deprivation
- ADHD look-alikes
- Environmental toxins
- The impact of time in nature on ADHD symptoms
"Best PESI presenter I have encountered so far."
— Social Worker, Community / Mental Health
You'll walk away ready to…
Every promise below is something a real attendee told us they did next — in their own words, on their own caseloads.
Hand the medication-resistant client a real plan, not a shrug
It's the conversation you quietly dread: the client who won't take medication, waiting to hear what's next. You'll walk out knowing exactly what to say — and what to put in the plan.
Get curious about what's working, not just what's broken
Attendees called this their #1 takeaway and quoted it back to us unprompted — a simple, repeatable way to inquire after a success that builds real self-awareness in your client. You'll practice the full method live.
Tell a top-down problem from a bottom-up one
Right now you're matching strategies by instinct. Leave able to read which problem you're actually facing — so you stop spending sessions on the fix that was never going to work.
Separate the disorder from the person
The reframe that lets a client stop hearing "lazy" and start hearing something they can finally work with. You'll get the exact words to make it land.
Build metacognition and a growth mindset into the plan
Not as a buzzword — as concrete moves you run in the room. You'll see them modeled and leave ready to use them with a client this week.
Put real-time regulation tools in a client's hands today
The work has to survive Wednesday at 4 pm, not just Tuesday's session. You'll leave with tools a client can actually reach for at the moment it falls apart.
Bring sleep, movement, and nutrition into the room as real interventions
You already know they matter. You'll leave knowing what the research actually backs — and how to make it a real part of the plan instead of a throwaway suggestion.
Make parents and teachers finally "get" the kid
Turn the feedback session that usually ends in frustration into the turning point — with a way to explain the brain that finally clicks for everyone around your client.
The differentiators
The tools you'll actually use
The outline covers the science. But what attendees actually carry out of the room is a handful of frameworks they can use in their very next session.
"How exactly did you do that?"
A repeatable, do-it-in-session method that builds metacognition by getting curious after a success instead of interrogating a failure. The single biggest top-down takeaway of the day.
The Five Keystone Practices
Sleep, protein, exercise, calendar, and team — the five non-negotiables for living well with ADHD. A memorable constellation clients can act on immediately and at low cost.
"Footprints in the butter"
A vivid approach to differential diagnosis — spotting ADHD versus PTSD, trauma, alcohol use, and the look-alikes by the pattern they leave, not the boxes they tick.
The four-quadrant fun/important grid
Sort any client task by fun to important and pinpoint the quadrant quietly wrecking their week. Attendees singled this out by name as the thing they'd merge into their own model.
"Where do you see it most? Where least?"
A two-question antecedent analysis that turns a vague complaint into a treatment plan — and tells you whether you're facing a skills deficit or a contingency problem.
The dopamine window — "create first, react later"
A simple daily timing rule for protecting a client's best cognitive hours instead of spending them on the big, dumb meetings.
Scaffolding, not enabling
The exact reframe for the parent, teacher, or spouse who pushes back on accommodations — plus a complete, client-ready executive-function scaffold.
"How will you know if it's working?"
Ask it about every recommendation — medication, mindfulness, an elimination diet — and get an answer your client can actually count.
Most ADHD trainings hand you more theory and leave you to figure out the "so what." This one is different. Come for the neuroscience. Stay for the scripts you'll use this week.
Choose how you want to attend
Every option earns up to 6.25 CE hours · CE certificate · 90-day replay access
Use code to save $100 on any format
Copies when you click — just paste it at checkout.
Offer ends 8/20.
Holiday Inn & Suites
707 US Route 46 East, Parsippany, NJ
- Live Q&A with David
- Network with peers in the room
- Hands-on practice with the tools
Hilton Garden Inn Edison/Raritan Center
50 Raritan Center Pkwy, Edison, NJ
- Live Q&A with David
- Network with peers in the room
- Hands-on practice with the tools
- Live Q&A with David
- Virtual networking with peers
- Join live or watch on-demand
✓ Risk-Free Registration – 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Questions about or group rates?
Credit & objectives
Earn 6.25 CE hours
CE hours are issued upon completion for live, webcast, and on-demand formats.
What you'll be able to do
- Evaluate the relationship between the frontal lobe of the brain and ADHD symptomology for the purpose of client psychoeducation.
- Determine the impact of movement and exercise on the reduction of ADHD symptoms as it relates to assessment and treatment planning.
- Employ treatment interventions for improving impulse control and working memory in clients.
- Analyze the influence of diet and nutrition on ADHD symptoms in relation to assessment and treatment planning.
- Develop clinical strategies to calm the nervous system of clients diagnosed with ADHD.
- Assess the clinical implications of environmental influences on ADHD symptoms in clients.
Who should attend
Psychologists · Counselors & Psychotherapists · Social Workers · Marriage & Family Therapists · Occupational Therapists & OT Assistants · Nurses & Nurse Practitioners · Speech-Language Pathologists · Case Managers · Addiction Counselors — and any clinician who works with ADHD in adults or children.
David Nowell, PhD
Clinical Neuropsychologist
David Nowell, PhD, is a clinical neuropsychologist in private practice in Northborough, Massachusetts. He offers consultations to patients on an inpatient rehabilitation unit and is an adjunct instructor in neuropsychology to graduate students in the Clark University psychology program. He serves as a physician advisor with the University of Massachusetts Medical School Disability Evaluation Service, where he was the former clinical director of the Learning Disability Assessment Program. Dr. Nowell writes a popular blog at Psychology Today on motivation and time management and speaks internationally to clinicians on such topics as executive functioning, non-medication management of ADHD, and applying findings from Positive Psychology.
In their own words
Thousands of evaluations. The same thing keeps coming up.
"I have several adults who suspect they have ADHD. They do not want to be on medication, and this course provides behavioral techniques."
— Seminar attendee, on what they're taking back to clients
"Dr. Nowell's presentation of the material was interesting, entertaining, relatable, understandable and humorous — all which made it much easier to attend to and remember. If he has a podcast, I would 100 subscribe!"
— Psychologist, General
"Haven't had a CEU I enjoyed getting in ages!! David was great at keeping us engaged. Excellent ideas and thoughtful discussion about ADHD."
— Social Worker, General
"He offered practical strategies to use with clients… an extremely knowledgeable and engaging presenter. We need more like him!"
— Psychologist, General
"The most important skills I learned were how to inquire about behaviors in a non-judgmental, purely fact-finding way."
— Counselor / Psychotherapist, General
"This was a fantastic course — thank you for also giving us updated technology we can utilize to help ADHD students, including apps."
— Counselor / Psychotherapist, General
"Best PESI course I've taken in a long time!"
— Social Worker, Child / Adolescent
Group registration
Bringing your team? Save more.
Train the whole department together and apply the discount at checkout.
Code ADHD2703 stacks with your group code. The $100 comes off each registration first, then your group discount applies.
Questions about a group? Call PESI at 800-844-8260.
Questions
Good to know before you register
Do I have to attend live to earn CE?
No. You can earn up to the same 6.25 CE hours whether you attend live in New Jersey, join the live webcast, or watch on-demand. Pick whichever fits your schedule.
Is this an intro to ADHD?
No -- this is a graduate-level day. Dr. Nowell assumes you know the basics and spends the time on the practical, neurodivergent-affirming tools you can use with clients right away.
Is this anti-medication?
No. The focus is on evidence-based non-medication interventions for clients who prefer not to take medication -- and on giving you a way to ask "How will you know if it's working?" about every intervention, medication included.
Can I register my whole team?
Yes -- group discounts start at 2 attendees and scale up to 20% off for 10 or more. See the group registration section above for codes and a step-by-step.
What if I can't make the live dates?
Choose the on-demand format, and you'll get instant access the moment you register — watch, pause, and take notes on your own schedule, and still earn CE.
Where are the in-person events held, and what's the daily schedule?
Both live dates run in New Jersey:
- Parsippany · Wed, March 11: Holiday Inn & Suites, 707 US Route 46 East, Parsippany, NJ 07054
- Edison · Thu, March 12: Hilton Garden Inn Edison/Raritan Center, 50 Raritan Center Pkwy, Edison, NJ 08837
Each day runs 8 am-4 pm ET on this schedule:
- 7:30 am -- Check-in
- 8:00 am -- Program begins
- 11:50 am-1:00 pm -- Lunch (on your own)
- 4:00 pm -- Program ends
There's a 15-minute break in both the morning and the afternoon.
Please note: For live CE credit, you must watch the live presentation in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. Please note that this requirement may vary by credit type. Please see detailed credit information for specific requirements for each credit type.
Before you decide
Is this the right day for your practice?
We'd rather you know now than wish you had later. Here's the honest read.
This day is for you if…
- You treat ADHD in adults or children and want non-medication tools that hold up outside your office
- You have clients who can't, won't, or shouldn't rely on medication — and you want a real plan for them
- You know the basics cold and want graduate-level techniques you can use in your next session
Come for the neuroscience. Stay for the scripts you'll use this week.
Join Dr. David Nowell — and the 100,000+ clinicians who have already taken Changing the ADHD Brain. Live in New Jersey, March 11–12, 2027, by live webcast, or on-demand.
Includes up to 6.25 CE hours
Use code to save $100 on any format
Copies when you click — just paste it at checkout.
Offer ends 8/20.
✓ Risk-Free Registration – 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
100% Satisfaction Guarantee
Register for this intensive training course without risk. If you're not completely satisfied, give us a call at 800-844-8260.
We're that confident you'll find this learning experience to be all that's promised and more than you expected.
Group registration
Choose your format
-
Live In-Person — Parsippany, NJ
Wed, March 11, 2027 · 8 am–4 pm ET
Holiday Inn & Suites, 707 US Route 46 East, Parsippany, NJ Register -
Live In-Person — Edison, NJ
Thu, March 12, 2027 · 8 am–4 pm ET
Hilton Garden Inn Edison/Raritan Center, 50 Raritan Center Pkwy, Edison, NJ Register -
Live Webcast
Thu, March 12, 2027 · 8 am–4 pm ET · stream from anywhere Register -
On-Demand
Instant access when you register Register
Register
Choose how you'll attend
Use code to save $100 on any format
Copies when you click — just paste it at checkout.
Offer ends 8/20.
-
Live In-Person — Parsippany, NJ
Wed, March 11, 2027
8 am–4 pm ET
Holiday Inn & Suites, 707 US Route 46 East, Parsippany, NJ$269.99$269.99 Register -
Live In-Person — Edison, NJ
Thu, March 12, 2027
8 am–4 pm ET
Hilton Garden Inn Edison/Raritan Center, 50 Raritan Center Pkwy, Edison, NJ$269.99$269.99 Register -
Live Webcast
Thu, March 12, 2027
8 am–4 pm ET · stream from anywhere$249.99$249.99 Register -
On-Demand
Instant access when you register$249.99$249.99 Register