What should you look for in an ADHD coach?
Someone who knows and understands ADHD and who you resonate with. People with ADHD have incredibly fast acting brains with 1000s of ideas whizzing through them daily and it took a while for Michelle to realise that not everyones brain is like that and other people cannot keep up with your speed. Michelle often finds the neurotypical world quite slow as she herself is quite speedy however sometimes it is nice to slow down so she appreciates the benefits of both and of balance. The reason this is important is because it helps to match the speed and temperament of the ADHD coach you are working with so this is something to look out for.
It is also important to choose someone who is qualified in coaching and who has professional experience and credentials as well as lived experience. Both are as important as each other.
The best advice is to choose someone you click with and who gets you but is also qualified to coach and has had many years experience. Find someone who gets you so that you don’t feel so alone with your differences and maybe who has had similar experiences to you. You want someone who supports and inspires you to grow and be yourself who has lived experience with good enough qualifications to help you through. And someone who is kind.
What does one to one coaching/ADHD coaching & Brief Solution Focused Therapy involve?
Coaching, ADHD Coaching and BRIEF Solution Focused therapy are very personal processes and what happens in each session will be tailored to you. However, there are is a typical process and certain questions that will be asked within the sessions.
Details:
- Sessions last between 1 hour to one hour and a half.
- Ideally, you will meet on the same day and at the same time each week, although should you not be able to make one session at that time/day, this can be rescheduled.
- During the sessions you will be encouraged to talk as openly and honestly as that is how the sessions will work best.
- Michelle will listen carefully and non-judgementally to what you say and how you say it and will at times reflect her understanding to you.
- She will also ask you specific questions to guide the process.
- Through the relationship and the explorations of your feelings and your life, you will gain a greater insight into your life and will feel understood and listened to.
- This will allow you to increase your choices in your life, find your own voice, become self empowered and use your potential more fully.
- Brief Solution Focused Therapy (BSFT) and coaching are all predominantly future, and solution focused. They explore current strengths, resources, and future hopes rather than dwelling too much on present and past difficulties.
- BSFT supports people to look at what a preferred future might look like and identifies ways in which this is already happening.
- Importantly results indicate that BSFT can not only solve a person’s problems but can also improve the person’s ability to solve problems themselves so that they are not so dependent on someone else going forward.
- ADHD coaching is like the above in that it is forward-looking, and outcome oriented however is much more practical with strategies to try out specific to help an ADHD brain such as helping with maintaining focus and time management.
What will the first session involve?
When opening up we recognise the value of feeling comfortable with someone who will understand what you are communicating and who will respond in a way which will help you to understand yourself and help you to make better sense of things. We know from research that the most important part of therapy, is the relationship and being listened to. It is this relationship which will enable you to think about areas of your life that you may never have thought about before and allow you to see things from a different perspective.
We offer an initial appointment which will allow you to meet with Michelle and talk about any issues you have. This will give you a sense as to whether you feel sessions will be helpful and whether Michelle is the right person to help. It will also allow Michelle to begin to build a picture of you and which intervention is most suitable, if at all. You can decide after this first session if this is something you would like to proceed with or not.