ADHD Coaching: Everything You Need to Know

An ADHD coach is a coach specifically trained to help adults, teens, and children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) better manage their lives. ADHD coaching is also helpful for parents of children with ADHD. Coaching is a collaborative partnership designed to help you bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Your coach will help you set and achieve goals through guidance, support, and accountability. Together you develop strategies to tackle the challenges often experienced by those with ADHD. You can learn to be more organized, improve concentration and focus, manage time, and prioritize. Coaching can even help you overcome procrastination! Your coach will help you tap into your strengths and learn to be kinder to yourself in order to create the extraordinary life you deserve.

What is ADHD Coaching?

ADHD coaching is a blend of life coaching, skills coaching, and education. It uses all three elements to help clients cultivate the self-awareness required to understand and work with their own unique brains, thereby recognizing, appreciating, and sharpening their strengths to reach their goals, enjoy their passions, and achieve lifelong well-being.

In a nutshell:
• ADHD coaching helps people with ADHD come up with specific and practical strategies to help them deal more effectively with daily challenges.
• Coaches collaborate and problem-solve with clients, help them identify and define the problem, and then brainstorm potential solutions with the client.

They also help clients implement what they’ve learned in their daily life.

Coaching Versus Therapy

If you’re struggling with the symptoms of ADHD, you might wonder if you need coaching, therapy, or a combination of both. The following chart depicts some of the key benefits of each modality. Coaching and therapy have their own unique benefits, but they also share a lot of the same benefits.

A few takeaways:

• Therapy is about insight; coaching is about action and getting things done. (Favorite, 1995)
• Coaching focuses on specific goals and objectives. It is a pragmatic, behavioral, results-oriented, “just do it” approach, as opposed to a process, insight-oriented, intellectual approach (Levrini & Prevatt, 2012).
• The structure of coaching tends to be open and flexible. Text or email support and reminders between coaching sessions is common and recommended.

Coaching may require ongoing support, encouragement, structure, accountability, and sometimes gentle but firm confrontation (Murphy, 2005).

Here’s another way to look at the benefits and differences of therapy and coaching:

In a nutshell:

Coaching targets the core impairments of ADHD such as planning, time management, goal setting, organization, and procrastination. Coaching is results oriented, with specific behavioral goals.”

Coaching Services at Next Step 4 ADHD

Here at Next Step 4 ADHD, coaching services are part of our multidisciplinary treatment philosophy. Coaching services are available to adults, parents, teens, and children in any of the 50 states.  ADHD coaching is offered via telehealth so you can get the guidance you need straight from the comfort of your own home.

Coaching can improve deficits in executive skills, including time and task management, planning, organization, as well as strategies to manage mindset and to minimize the impact of ADHD.

Adults

Coaching is recommended for adults with ADHD who have specific goals that they want to work on and want more support, structure, and accountability than they can provide for themselves. Whether you need help with organization, nutrition, improving your sleep, or your relationships, we’ve got you covered.

Teens

Coaching is available for high school-aged teenagers, 14 yrs – 18 yrs old. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 3 million teens live with ADHD.

Parents

Coaching sessions aren’t just for the individuals who are diagnosed with ADHD. Parents may benefit from parent coaching sessions. During these sessions, parents will learn strategies for parenting children with ADHD.

Kids

Coaching for children is available for children in 6th grade and up. Coaching can help with planning and organization at school and home. Kids typically will be coached with their parents, who are often involved in sessions.

Coaching Packages

Motivation gets you started, but habit keeps you going. That’s why we bundle our coaching sessions into packages so that you can build the habits you need to create life-changing habits.

What’s a coaching session like? Our coaches take the time to get to know YOU and your struggles. This means that each session is geared towards your unique goals, strengths, and challenges. With text and email support, you’re just a call or click away from your ADHD coach.

ADHD Coaching for College Students

ADHD may present unique challenges for college students — for both in-person and online learners. College courses demand a lot of focus, time management, memory, and follow-through. But if you’re a college student living with ADHD, these struggles (including procrastination) are exacerbated by the intense pressure of daily classes, assignments, essays, lab work, and exams. As intimidating as college courses can be, it is also the perfect opportunity to shine — if you understand the way your brain works.

About Pam Valdes

Pam Valdes is a certified Health Coach with a focus on ADHD coaching. She has a strong background in wellness and counseling. She has provided caring coaching to adults and teens for over 10 years.

Pam specializes in working with adults and teens to address the core issues related to ADHD. As a coach, she helps clients set and stay focused on goals, face obstacles, and develop strategies to handle the responsibilities and tasks that are often made difficult by the symptoms of ADHD.

You can reach Pam directly through our coaching line at 502-475-3296. Alternatively, you can request an appointment here .