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Anachronistic

Anachronistic

New Member
Apr 15, 2023
1
Hey.
What kind of therapy would you recommend for someone with pathological demand avoidance (PDA)?
I have it and I'm currently on CBT. However, CBT is very "activity" based, the therapist needs you to do certain activites and I personally NEVER do it and have rarely done them since I've started CBT (4 years ago).
What would be a better alternative for someone like me?
Thanks in advance :)
 
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Izzythebelle

Izzythebelle

Member
Mar 8, 2025
61
The therapy that's worked best in my experience is IFS therapy. The best way I can put it is like this: you know when you're making a decision, and you're like "a part of me wants this and a part of me wants that"? IFS therapy takes those parts, turns them into characters that you can then talk to and figure out underlying stuff going on with you. I don't know how it would help with PDA, but for me it's helped me get in touch with parts of myself that would cause issues.
 
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grapevoid

grapevoid

Mage
Jan 30, 2025
528
Hey.
What kind of therapy would you recommend for someone with pathological demand avoidance (PDA)?
I have it and I'm currently on CBT. However, CBT is very "activity" based, the therapist needs you to do certain activites and I personally NEVER do it and have rarely done them since I've started CBT (4 years ago).
What would be a better alternative for someone like me?
Thanks in advance :)
Are you on the spectrum?
Giving assignments and tasks to someone with PDA seems almost obviously counterproductive?
 
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56842

56842

Member
Mar 3, 2025
30
sounds a lot like the mental blocks people with executive functioning disorder have, but worse. saw this has some good resources linked at the bottom: https ://psychcentral.com /adhd/pathological-demand-avoidance-adhd#recap

I like DBT because it's protocol base, I just do what Marsha tells me to do. A lot of my family members have issues w executive functioning and sometimes if they make a list of things they are having trouble doing with someone else and talk through which is the "easiest" comparatively, it helps them start (on the "easiest") and that can help them move through the list. also the concept of something is better than nothing, like if I can't shower fully I'll just stand under the water (doesn't have to be 0 or 100). I'm probably not saying anything you already don't know, sorry.
 

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