What ADHD Coaching Is (and Isn’t)

By Sarah D. Wright, MS, ACT

Specialized life coaching for people with ADHD, commonly known as ADHD Coaching, has been in use for over twenty years. It is increasingly recognized as, and demonstrated to be, an effective process that supports people with ADHD by helping them to strengthen their executive functioning skills, improve their quality of life, and achieve their self-identified goals.

In order to understand what ADHD Coaching is, it is helpful to briefly describe what it is not. Basically, ADHD Coaching is not what most people are familiar with. It is not therapy, counseling, consulting, mentoring, training, teaching, tutoring, advising, or managing. All of those disciplines may use coaching techniques in their work, but they differ from ADHD Coaching in very some important ways.

Notably, in most helping professions, the practitioner is considered an expert that the client is working with to improve or fix something about their life. In ADHD Coaching, the philosophy is that there is nothing about the client that needs fixing. The coach and client are colleagues; equal partners in identifying, clarifying, and forwarding the client’s own agenda. That being said, it is important to note that psychological and physiological challenges such as anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders often co-occur with ADHD, and that additional services from therapists or doctors may be needed to help the client move in the direction they wish to go. For coaching to be effective, clients must have addressed or be addressing these issues and be ready, willing, and able to participate in the coaching process.

THE DEFINITION OF ADHD COACHING

As an emerging profession, it took a number of years for the essential elements of ADHD Coaching to be recognized and clarified, both through empirical evidence and research. In 2013, the ADHD Coaches Organization convened a Thought Leader Summit to develop a clear definition of ADHD Coaching for the profession. The following description is based on that definition.

As ADHD Coaching specifically addresses the needs of people affected by ADHD, it is a collaborative, supportive, goal-oriented process in which the coach and the client work together to identify the client’s goals and then develop the self- awareness, systems, and strategies—the skills—necessary for the client to achieve those goals. Additionally, since understanding ADHD is crucial to learning to live well with it, ADHD Coaches often share information regarding ADHD and related topics with their clients. Therefore, ADHD Coaching is comprised of three elements, each employed by the coach as needed. They are:

• Life Coaching: In Life Coaching, the client is regarded as an intact, creative, and resourceful person, and the coaching is collaborative, client-centered, client-driven, and confidential. The coach partners with the client in a thought-provoking and creative process to facilitate the client’s actions toward self- awareness and achievement of the client’s self-identified goals. The coach provides structure and accountability as needed to help the client achieve those goals.

• Skills Coaching: In Skills Coaching, the coach and client collaborate to develop conscious awareness of the client’s strengths, challenges, and resources and, leveraging that awareness, develop conscious competence; creating systems and strategies tailored to the client’s assets and environment that support and strengthen the client’s ability to manage the pragmatic aspects of life.

• Education: In order to help clients better understand Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, the coach often shares research-based information regarding aspects of ADHD and related topics relevant to the client’s needs and interests. The coach may also offer information regarding tools, resources, and referrals as needed or requested by the client.

Each of those elements—Life Coaching, Skills Coaching, and Education—is a crucial part of ADHD Coaching, yet ADHD Coaching is more than the sum of its parts. The crux of ADHD Coaching is using all three elements to help clients understand and work with their own unique brains; recognizing, appreciating, and using their strengths to enjoy their passions and achieve what they want in life.

What Would You Like to Achieve?

Coaching is now broadly recognized as a process that helps individuals increase their abilities, achieve more, and develop their full potential in both professional and personal arenas. With the help of ADHD Coaching, those affected by ADHD can do the same.

Maybe life with ADHD has been sufficiently difficult and discouraging that you’ve let go of your dreams, thinking you couldn’t possibly get there, but what if you could? What would your life be like then? Ask yourself now: If it were possible, what would you like to achieve?

Next month look for an article on the research behind why ADHD Coaching is so effective for adults with ADHD. If you’d like to talk with a coach, you can find one through ADDA’s Professional Directory, The Professional Association of ADHD Coaches, or through the ADHD Coaches Organization. A lot of coaches work on the phone, so if you can’t find one in your area, it’s not a problem. Just look for a coach who sounds like a good fit for your needs and give them a call.

Sarah D. Wright is an internationally known ADHD Coach, well respected as a presenter and author on topics related to ADHD and coaching. She is a founding board member of the ADHD Coaches organization, the 2012 recipient of that organization’s Founders Award for Distinguished Service to the Professional ADHD Coach Community, co-author of the perennial favorite Fidget To Focus, and author of the recently published book, ADHD Coaching Matters: The Definitive Guide. Find her online at SarahDWright.com.