Adult Coaching

About 70% of children with ADHD continue to experience difficulties as adults.

Until 1995, very few adults with ADHD knew the source of their difficulties. This all changed when Dr. John Ratey and Dr. Ned Hallowell’s book “Driven to Distraction” was published. The two authors, psychiatrists at Harvard University, wrote a book that brought the disorder out of the shadows for millions of people who felt different from the rest of society and didn’t know there was a scientific explanation for the challenges they faced.

Since the publication of the book, more and more adults have become aware and now understand the reasons for the phenomena that have challenged them from an early age: inconsistency in attention regulation, and difficulties with emotional, organizational, and social control.

Adults with ADHD, despite often being intelligent, creative, intense, and particularly interesting, suffer from a sense of underachievement despite high accomplishments. They may not reach their full potential due to difficulties in managing tasks that “need to be done” but aren’t interesting to them, which hinders their sense of competence and growth.

The most common phrases from adults with ADHD are:
“I’ve always known something was wrong with me…”
“I have so many ideas, but I can’t get myself to act on them.”
“I feel tired all the time and have no desire to do anything.”
“Feelings control me – I don’t control them.”

After years of frustration, and a gap between what is desired and what is actually possible, adults with ADHD develop depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and avoidance of things they fear. Therefore, ADHD in adults is often accompanied by mood disorders or anxiety in at least 50% of cases.

The goal of personal coaching for individuals with ADHD is to strengthen self-management skills by  building an internal CEO who is able to to prioritize, to differentiate between the essential and the trivial, to stay focused on important tasks for extended periods, and deal with distractions that might hinder goal achievement and mental well-being.

My approach is based on the understanding that the root cause of ADHD difficulties is a deficit in executive functions—self awareness, self initiation and self-regulation skills. The coach helps the client create new pathways in the brain by teaching strategies that improve self management in all areas of life. 

The executive function coach teaches, reinforces and empowers individuals with executive function challenges. The coaching process provides a structure  for self growth and maximum self actualization.