--- title: "Therapy and Medication for ADHD | Ubuntu Counseling, Eugene" description: "How ADHD therapy and medication do different jobs. I am not a prescriber and give no medical advice. Medication questions belong with a physician or prescribing provider." lang: en json-ld: | { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "MedicalWebPage", "name": "Therapy and Medication for ADHD", "description": "How ADHD therapy and medication do different jobs. I am not a prescriber and give no medical advice. Medication questions belong with a physician or prescribing provider.", "url": "https://ubuntucounselingeugene.com/therapy-and-medication-for-adhd", "about": "Two Different Jobs", "provider": { "@type": "MedicalBusiness", "name": "Ubuntu Counseling", "telephone": "+1-458-215-1465" }, "areaServed": { "@type": "State", "name": "Oregon" }, "inLanguage": "en-US" } --- [![Ubuntu Counseling butterfly logo](/__l5e/assets-v1/01187caf-6a1d-4921-b206-5538892f6bb3/ubuntu-counseling-logo.png)Ubuntu Counseling Heather Swaney, MA, LPC ](/) - [About](/about) - Services - [Autism](/services/autism) - [ADHD](/services/adhd) - [Trauma and PTSD](/services/trauma-and-ptsd) - [Anxiety](/services/anxiety) - [Grief and Loss](/services/grief-and-loss) - [Life Transitions](/services/life-transitions) - [LGBTQIA+ Affirming](/services/lgbtqia-affirming) - [Couples and Family](/services/couples-and-family) - [Consultation and Letters](/services/consultation-and-letters) - [Reunification and Co-Parenting](/services/reunification-and-co-parenting) - [Foster Parent Support](/services/foster-parent-support) - [All services](/services) - Who I Help - [Children and Teens](/who-i-help/children-and-teens) - [Young Adults](/who-i-help/young-adults) - [Adults](/who-i-help/adults) - [Seniors](/who-i-help/seniors) - [Couples](/who-i-help/couples) - [Families and Parents](/who-i-help/families-and-parents) - [LGBTQIA+ Affirming](/services/lgbtqia-affirming) - [Everyone I see](/who-i-help) - Locations - [Eugene, Oregon](/eugene-therapist) - [Springfield, Oregon](/springfield-therapist) - [Lane County](/lane-county-therapist) - [Telehealth in Oregon](/oregon-telehealth) - [The Office](/office) - [Rates](/rates) - [FAQ](/faq) - [Contact](/contact) [Free 30-minute call](/contact)Menu [About](/about) Services - [Autism](/services/autism) - [ADHD](/services/adhd) - [Trauma and PTSD](/services/trauma-and-ptsd) - [Anxiety](/services/anxiety) - [Grief and Loss](/services/grief-and-loss) - [Life Transitions](/services/life-transitions) - [LGBTQIA+ Affirming](/services/lgbtqia-affirming) - [Couples and Family](/services/couples-and-family) - [Consultation and Letters](/services/consultation-and-letters) - [Reunification and Co-Parenting](/services/reunification-and-co-parenting) - [Foster Parent Support](/services/foster-parent-support) - [All services](/services) Who I Help - [Children and Teens](/who-i-help/children-and-teens) - [Young Adults](/who-i-help/young-adults) - [Adults](/who-i-help/adults) - [Seniors](/who-i-help/seniors) - [Couples](/who-i-help/couples) - [Families and Parents](/who-i-help/families-and-parents) - [LGBTQIA+ Affirming](/services/lgbtqia-affirming) - [Everyone I see](/who-i-help) Locations - [Eugene, Oregon](/eugene-therapist) - [Springfield, Oregon](/springfield-therapist) - [Lane County](/lane-county-therapist) - [Telehealth in Oregon](/oregon-telehealth) - [The Office](/office) [Rates](/rates)[FAQ](/faq)[Contact](/contact) [Call (458) 215-1465](tel:+14582151465) [ADHD Therapy](/services/adhd) # Therapy and Medication for ADHD I am not a prescriber. I do not give medical advice, recommend medications or comment on what anyone should take. This page is about how the two kinds of help differ. ## Where My Role Ends I am a Licensed Professional Counselor. I cannot prescribe, adjust or advise on medication, and I will not tell you whether you should try it, stay on it or stop. Those decisions belong with a physician, psychiatric provider, nurse practitioner or pediatrician who can evaluate you medically and follow you over time. That is a hard line, not a technicality. Medication decisions depend on medical history, other conditions and other prescriptions, and none of that is within my scope to weigh. If you are already working with a prescriber, I am glad to work alongside them, with your written permission for us to communicate. ## Different Jobs The plainest way I can describe it: medication is a medical intervention that some people find changes the underlying experience of attention and regulation. Therapy is a working relationship that addresses what the pattern has cost you and what to do differently going forward. They are aimed at different things. Therapy does not raise or lower anything chemically, and medication does not teach a system for remembering things, undo years of being called lazy, repair a marriage strained by unfinished tasks, or tell you which parts of your job are actually the problem. Because they do different jobs, they are not competitors, and neither one is the responsible choice with the other being a shortcut. ## What Therapy Contributes Practical scaffolding, first. Externalizing memory so it does not live in your head. Systems that survive a bad week rather than only working when you are already doing well. Understanding what your attention actually responds to instead of what it is supposed to respond to. Then the part that gets skipped: the accumulated shame. Adults recognized late usually arrive with decades of evidence, gathered honestly, that they are careless or unreliable. That belief does not dissolve because a pattern got a name, and it shapes how much they will even attempt. And the relational layer: partners who feel like managers, parents who have become the person who nags, teenagers who have concluded they are the problem. That work happens in a room with people in it. ## Questions for Your Prescriber, Not for Me If you are considering medication, these are the kinds of questions worth bringing to a medical provider: what are the options and how do they differ, what would we be watching for, how long before we would know, what side effects should I report, how does this interact with what I already take, and how often would we review it. Also fair to ask: what happens if the first thing tried does not suit me, and what would make you recommend stopping. I can help you prepare for that appointment: get your observations in order, write down what you actually want to ask, and think through what you are hoping will change. That is within my scope. The answers are not. ## For Parents Weighing This Parents are often handed a great deal of loud opinion from every direction, and a lot of it arrives with more confidence than knowledge. This is your family's medical decision, made with your child's physician, and it is genuinely not other people's business. What I can do is help you read what your child is showing you, work with them directly, support the conversation with their school, and be a place where you can think out loud without being judged in either direction. I also do not diagnose or test for ADHD. If an evaluation is what you are after, a prescribing provider can often both evaluate and treat, which makes that route more direct. In Short - I am not a prescriber - No medical advice, no drug recommendations - Medication questions go to a physician - Therapy covers skills, shame and relationships - I can work alongside your prescriber - I do not diagnose or test for ADHD Next Step ## Start With a Free 30-Minute Call A short conversation so I can hear what is going on and we can decide together whether this is the right room for it. [Get in touch](/contact)[(458) 215-1465](tel:+14582151465) Related Reading [ ### ADHD Therapy The main page for this work, across every age. ](/services/adhd) [ ### ADHD Testing: What I Do and Don't Provide Where to go if you need an evaluation. ](/adhd-testing-eugene-oregon) [ ### ADHD Therapy for Adults Executive function, shame and work. ](/services/adhd-adults) [ ### ADHD Therapy for Children When behavior at school is being misread. ](/services/adhd-children) ![Ubuntu Counseling butterfly logo](/__l5e/assets-v1/01187caf-6a1d-4921-b206-5538892f6bb3/ubuntu-counseling-logo.png)Ubuntu Counseling Heather Swaney, MA, LPC Office 132 E Broadway Suite 303 Eugene, OR 97401 [(458) 215-1465](tel:+14582151465) In person in Eugene, telehealth anywhere in Oregon. Weekend appointments available. Pages - [About Heather](/about) - [Services](/services) - [Rates and Payment](/rates) - [Who I Help](/who-i-help) - [Eugene, Oregon](/eugene-therapist) - [Springfield, Oregon](/springfield-therapist) - [Lane County, Oregon](/lane-county-therapist) - [Telehealth in Oregon](/oregon-telehealth) - [The Office](/office) - [Frequently Asked Questions](/faq) - [Contact](/contact) - [Privacy Policy](/privacy-policy) - [Terms of Use](/terms) - [Accessibility](/accessibility) Who I Help - [Children and Teens](/who-i-help/children-and-teens) - [Young Adults](/who-i-help/young-adults) - [Adults](/who-i-help/adults) - [Seniors](/who-i-help/seniors) - [Couples](/who-i-help/couples) - [Families and Parents](/who-i-help/families-and-parents) Areas of Focus - [Autism](/services/autism) - [ADHD](/services/adhd) - [Trauma and PTSD](/services/trauma-and-ptsd) - [Anxiety](/services/anxiety) - [Grief and Loss](/services/grief-and-loss) - [Life Transitions](/services/life-transitions) - [LGBTQIA+ Affirming](/services/lgbtqia-affirming) - [Couples and Family](/services/couples-and-family) - [Consultation and Letters](/services/consultation-and-letters) * * * Using this site or emailing does not create a client relationship. Email and web forms are not secure or monitored channels. Do not send clinical or emergency information. Therapy outcomes vary and are not guaranteed. In crisis, call or text 988, or 911 if there is immediate danger. Lane County Mobile Crisis [541-682-1001](tel:+15416821001). Heather Swaney is licensed as a Professional Counselor in Oregon and works only with people located in Oregon. Heather Swaney, MA, LPC, Oregon LPC license C8649. [Verified on the Oregon Counselors Directory](https://orcounselors.com/provider/heather-swaney-ma-lpc-behavioral-health-therapist). © 2026 Ubuntu Counseling. All rights reserved. Call now / Book now