What To Expect from an ADHD Coach

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

Deciding to work with an Adult ADHD coach is a big step; it takes tremendous courage to admit you need a new path and realize it’s too hard to try and conquer living with ADHD all alone. New ADHD coaching clients are often unsure of what ADHD coaching is, and even more unsure of what to expect from an ADHD coach.

The Five Key Traits To Expect from an ADHD Coach
1. You want an ADHD coach who understands Attention Deficit from a personal, cellular level. If your coach doesn’t personally have ADD or ADHD, he or she certainly needs experience living with Attention Deficit through either a child or a spouse.

Reading about ADHD treatments and symptoms from a book just isn’t enough. Many people know what ADHD is, but to understand what ADHD really feels and looks like, a coach needs to experience it. This creates a deeper understanding of Attention Deficit thus benefiting you as an ADHD coaching client.

2. Look for a coach who embraces unique approaches to managing ADHD. Articles and books about how to manage ADD are everywhere and some are way off the mark for what’s realistic for an ADHD adult to be able to do. ADHD isn’t one-size-fits all, people with ADHD are individuals with individual symptoms.

Seriously, if every adult with ADHD could just make a list and remember to check it frequently, who would need coaching in the first place? The best coaches for ADHD adults draw on a deep well of practical experience and creativity to tailor make ADHD management solutions for you and the way your brain works.

3. Your ADHD coach needs to know the difference between ADD coaching and therapy. The difference between ADD coaching and therapy has to do with mental time frames. A good ADHD coach knows that life coaching isn’t about digging through a client’s past. Instead, it’s about moving forward.

It’s about making changes to create the future you desire. This doesn’t mean your past is unimportant to your future. Indeed, sometimes, a coach will need to dip their toes into an client’s past to find what is blocking the forward motion, but that is both brief and rare. To go deeper than that is the job of a therapist.

Simply put, ADHD coaching is about moving forward, therapy is about healing the past. They’re both incredibly vital for ADHD treatment, but they’re very, very different and a good coach will absolutely know the difference.

4. Expect patience from your ADHD coach. There’s no magic wand in ADHD coaching. Learning to live more easily with Attention Deficit takes time. It’s about taking small steps and gradually learning to shake up habits and do things differently. For the process to work you, as the ADHD coaching client, must be patient with yourself as you will be learning how to manage your ADHD one step at a time.

Because of this, you also need to work with someone who will be content with small wins. Someone who can persistently and tolerantly guide you and support you while you take baby steps to learn to create a new approach to life. Look for a coach who understands that learning to cope with your ADHD will take time.

5. An important thing to expect from an ADHD coach is the ability to let you go. Sometimes after a coach works with a client for a while they realize the person just isn’t ready for coaching or the personality fit isn’t right. You need a someone who’s willing to make that call and let you move on to a different coach or ADHD treatment plan. Your coach needs to lookout for what’s best for you and not be attached to having you as a client.

If an ADHD coach isn’t right for you, does that mean they’re not a good coach? Not at all.

Each client who comes to ADHD coaching need something different. Knowing what to expect from an ADHD coach will help increase your chance of success

What To Expect from an ADHD Coach was written by ADHD Coach Dana Rayburn, who creates success strategies for ADHD adults. Dana is one of a select group of coaches trained and specializing in ADHD. A graduate of the Optimal Functioning Institute and Coach University, Dana is a Senior Certified ADHD Coach by the ADHD Coach Institute. With Dana’s guidance, clients in the US, Canada and Europe break through the constricting limits of ADHD so they can get organized, reach their goals and achieve the personal and business success they’ve dreamed of but haven’t been able to accomplish on their own.