Coaching differes from therapy in that we are solely interested in daily action vs. investigating feelings, past trauma, and the like. Those things will come up, but we won’t talk about or deal with those things in the same ways that you would with a therapist, only in the ways that they affect the elements of your life that you would like to change.

A certified* coach is ONLY an expert on the coaching process. You are the expert on you- your needs, challenges, strengths, weaknesses. Which means a coach/client relationship is more of a balanced partnership than relationships you may have had with professionals in the past.

I tend to get wordy, so instead of explaining further I will list below topics I have coached clients on:

• Being more spontaneous
• Niching down their business
• Relating and reflecting values to business social media posts
• Managing burnout
• Organizing and managing tasks to become a notary
• Which way to turn at a career crossroads
• General career goals
• Valuing their career when partner does not
• Finding time for exercise
• Finding time for self care
• Communicating what ADHD is like to a neurotypical partner
• Phase of life change (parent to empty nester)
• Evolution of motherhood- what it looks like as kids grow up
• Relationship with time
• Managing kids and a business
• The joy of missing out
• Planning a last summer with kids home
• Managing a task list when you have ADHD
• How to manage unpacking after a big move
• And LOTS AND LOTS of sessions on time management and systems!

*Coaching is a largely unregulated term and field. In my opinion it is important to find a coach that is either ICF (International Coaching Federation) or PAAC (Professional Association for ADHD Coaching) certified. Both organizations have extensive criteria they require coaches to meet before credentialling (usually 60+ hours of coaching specific education and 100 or more hours of coaching experience, plus mentor coaching and a recorded session that is evaluated before approval)

ADHD Coaching

The main difference between general coaching and ADHD coaching is that the coach brings a little more expertise to the table on ADHD. They are still not a doctor, psychiatrist, or therapist, so the amount of knowledge they have will fall below that of most of those professionals and will be more applicable to how ADHD affects people daily vs. the clinical implications.

During an ADHD session a coach might share a few resources or little bits of information on ADHD, with the aim of helping the client in some way. They will never diagnose or even suggest a diagnosis, but they might recommend you see a doctor or a therapist for a variety of reasons (diagnosis, symptom management, etc).

As an ADHD coach it is important to me that the information I share with clients is as up to date and backed by science as possible.