What Behavioural Therapies Help Young People with ADHD Manage Emotions? 

Emotional ups and downs; frustration, impulsive reactions, and mood swings, are common for young people with ADHD. Recent UK clinical guidance and research show that behavioural and psychological therapies can make a real difference, especially when delivered early through family, school, and community support. 

What Do UK Guidelines Recommend? 

NICE Guideline NG87 (reviewed 2025) sets the foundation for ADHD care across the NHS. 
It recommends access to age-appropriate psychological services, including parent-training and behavioural programmes. 
While NICE doesn’t yet specify emotion-regulation-focused CBT or DBT, it recognises the need for more research on short, group-based interventions for children aged 5–18. NICE NG87 

In practice, many NHS CAMHS teams combine behavioural and emotional-skills support within ADHD services. Education guidance from Welsh Government (2023) also encourages emotional-skills coaching and self-regulation training in schools.  

Evidence-Based Therapies 

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) 

CBT helps children and teens recognise triggers, reframe negative thoughts, and use coping tools when emotions escalate. A 2024 review (Brain Sciences) found CBT effective for adolescent emotional dysregulation, though ADHD-specific trials are still emerging. 

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) 

DBT teaches mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotional balance, skills highly relevant to ADHD. Pilot work and UK clinical use (e.g., Derbyshire Healthcare NHS) suggest DBT-skills groups can reduce impulsive outbursts, but robust child-ADHD RCTs are still limited. Derbyshire Healthcare NHS – Emotion Regulation Pathway 

Parent-Led Behavioural Training (BPT) 

Parent programmes remain the best-supported behavioural option. 
A 2023 meta-analysis (SAGE Journals) confirmed strong evidence that BPT improves child behaviour and family stress. 
A 2025 randomised trial (SpringerLink) found BPT also reduced emotional dysregulation more effectively than emotion-focused therapy. 

Mindfulness & School-Based Approaches 

Mindfulness-based interventions help young people notice emotional “surges” earlier and apply grounding strategies. 
UK education frameworks increasingly embed social and emotional learning (SEL) and self-management coaching for ADHD students, though large-scale trials remain sparse. Mind – ADHD and Mental Health 

What Families and Charities Say 

Organisations such as ADHD UK, Mind, and ADDISS emphasise that emotional regulation is one of the hardest ADHD challenges. 
Families report greatest benefit from combining parent training, consistent routines, and emotion-coaching language with school-based support. ADHD UK 

Key Takeaway 

Across UK evidence, behavioural parent training is the most proven first-line therapy for emotional regulation in young people with ADHD, while CBT and DBT-skills programmes show emerging promise. Integrating these approaches with mindfulness and school emotional-skills coaching offers the best route to help children manage strong feelings, improve focus, and build lifelong resilience.