ADHD Coaching or Counselling: Which One Is For Me?
Perhaps you’ve wondered about the difference is between ADHD Coaching and ADHD Therapy? Maybe you’ve wondered if ADHD Coaching actually works… Or you’ve never even heard of ADHD Coaching, let alone Clinical ADHD Coaching.
Clinical ADHD coaching and ADHD therapy are two distinct approaches to managing and addressing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Clinical ADHD Coaching is delivered by a regulated (licensed) mental health professional who follows a code of ethics and uses a clinical approach to guide the process.
While both can be valuable in helping individuals like you optimize living with ADHD, they serve different purposes and have different methods of support.
Perhaps you’ve wondered about the difference is between ADHD Coaching and ADHD Therapy?
Maybe you’ve wondered if ADHD Coaching actually works…
Or you’ve never even heard of ADHD Coaching, let alone Clinical ADHD Coaching.
Clinical ADHD Coaching and ADHD therapy are two distinct approaches to managing and addressing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Clinical ADHD Coaching is delivered by a regulated (licensed) mental health professional who follows a code of ethics and uses a clinical approach to guide the process.
While both can be valuable in helping individuals like you optimize living with ADHD, they serve different purposes and have different methods of support.
Here are a few key differences between Clinical ADHD Coaching and ADHD therapy:
Purpose and Focus
Clinical ADHD Coaching: Clinical ADHD Coaching primarily focuses on practical strategies, skills, and tools to help individuals with ADHD better manage their symptoms and improve their daily functioning. Clinical ADHD Coaching uses evidence-based approaches to guide the process. Coaches work with clients to set specific goals, develop organization techniques, improve time management, and establish routines.
ADHD Therapy: ADHD therapy, often referred to as ADHD counselling is a more comprehensive approach that delves into the emotional, psychological, and behavioural aspects of ADHD. Also relying on an evidence-base to guide the process, Therapy aims to address underlying emotional and psychological issues that may be related to ADHD, such as low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, or relationship problems.
Approach and Techniques
Clinical ADHD Coaching: Coaches use a goal-oriented and action-based approach. They provide practical strategies, accountability, and support to help clients implement positive changes in their lives. Coaching sessions often involve setting specific goals, creating action plans, and tracking progress.
Although this method isn’t therapy, it can often times be therapeutic for clients who have felt stuck for far too long.
ADHD Therapy: Therapists use a variety of therapeutic techniques, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), psychoeducation, talk therapy, and medication management (when applicable). Therapy sessions explore the emotional and psychological aspects of ADHD, helping clients gain insight into their challenges and develop coping strategies.
Duration and Frequency
Clinical ADHD Coaching: Coaching is typically more short-term and goal-focused. Clients often have regular sessions over a set period to gain momentum to work on specific skills and objectives.
ADHD Therapy: Therapy can be more long-term and may continue for an extended period, depending on the client's needs. The frequency and duration of therapy sessions can vary widely.
As each client is unique, duration and frequency will vary based on your individual circumstances and goals.
Insurance Coverage
Clinical ADHD Coaching: ADHD Coaching is typically not covered by health insurance, and clients typically pay for coaching services out of pocket.
However, at Live Heart Forward, ADHD Coaching services are delivered by Krista, a licensed Mental Health Professional. I am delighted that Clinical ADHD Coaching services are covered by many insurance plans, much like therapy.
ADHD Therapy: ADHD Therapy delivered by a a licensed Mental Health Professionals, may be covered by health insurance, making it more accessible to some individuals.
You may benefit from one or a combination of both approaches.
At Live Heart Forward, I work with you to customize a treatment approach that reflects you and your goals.
Book an obligation-free
consultation below to get started.
Why Women with ADHD Can Feel Isolated
Women with ADHD often face unique challenges that can lead to feelings of isolation. Here are 10 reasons why and how to foster more connection.
Women with ADHD often face unique challenges that can lead to feelings of isolation. Here are several reasons why this may happen:
Underdiagnosis and Misdiagnosis: Historically, ADHD has been underdiagnosed in females, especially those who don't exhibit the stereotypical hyperactive behaviour. Many girls with ADHD are overlooked or misdiagnosed with other conditions like anxiety or depression. This delayed or inaccurate diagnosis can lead to a sense of isolation because women may feel like something is wrong with them but don't have an explanation.
Masking and Camouflaging: Some women with ADHD develop coping mechanisms to fit in and avoid drawing attention to their differences. This "masking" or "camouflaging" behaviour can be exhausting and lead to feelings of isolation because it prevents them from being their authentic selves.
Social Struggles: ADHD can lead to difficulties with social interactions, such as impulsivity, forgetfulness, and trouble with time management. Women with ADHD may struggle to maintain friendships or feel like they're constantly making mistakes, which can lead to social isolation.
Self-Esteem Issues: Repeated experiences of underachievement or criticism, combined with difficulties in self-regulation, can erode self-esteem. Women with ADHD may feel inadequate or like they're constantly failing, which can lead to isolation as they withdraw from social situations.
Executive Function Challenges: Many women with ADHD struggle with executive functions like planning, organization, and time management. These difficulties can make it challenging to maintain commitments, leading to canceled plans and a reduced social life, which can contribute to feelings of isolation.
Relationship Struggles: ADHD can also affect romantic relationships. Impulsivity, forgetfulness, and difficulties with communication can strain partnerships, leading to feelings of isolation and loneliness.
Self-Stigmatization: Some women with ADHD internalize negative stereotypes and stigmas associated with the condition. They may believe that they're lazy, disorganized, or unreliable, which can lead to feelings of shame and isolation.
Lack of Support: Without proper recognition and support from family, friends, or professionals, women with ADHD may feel like they're navigating the challenges of ADHD alone, increasing their sense of isolation.
Emotional Dysregulation: ADHD can also involve emotional dysregulation, making it harder for women to manage their emotions. This can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts in relationships, contributing to isolation.
Perfectionism: Many women with ADHD develop perfectionist tendencies as a way to compensate for their challenges. This perfectionism can lead to isolation because they fear showing any perceived flaws or weaknesses.
To address these feelings of isolation, it's essential for women with ADHD to seek support and understanding.
This can include getting an accurate diagnosis, connecting with support groups and/or working with a therapist who specializes in ADHD and building a network of friends and loved ones who are aware of their challenges and can offer support and encouragement.
Understanding and accepting one's ADHD and its unique traits can also be empowering and, if given the opportunity, can help women with ADHD connect with others who share similar experiences. In fact, that’s why I launched Live Heart Forward as I’m a woman with ADHD too.
I would love to hear about your experience as a woman with ADHD. Get in touch here, follow me on Instagram, or book an appointment so we can help you Live Heart Forward too.
Happy Self-Love Day!
In case you need the reminder, here it is. Loving others starts with loving ourselves.
Many of us struggle with diminished self-image, fueled by our struggles with ADHD. The reasons for this include social expectations centred around unrealistic gender roles, rampant perfectionism, unrealized potential, and a harsh inner critic cultivated along the way.
Day in and day out, we are engaged in a vicious cycle of comparing ourselves against some fictitious gold standard and then beat ourselves up when we fall short. Of course, this negative self-talk only makes us feel worse. Over a lifetime, it may feel more familiar to be hard on ourselves than to be kind. Many of us don't feel we are deserving of self-kindness. Our brains can be cruel to us, far more than anyone else.
“The bottom line is that we are all worthy of self-love.”
Steps & Strategies for Circuit-Breaking Negative Self-Talk
Learning to speak to yourself with the same kindness and compassion you offer others is one of the most effective ways to increase internal sense of well-being, and it doesn't cost a thing. Some may know this as #radical seeselflove.
You might be thinking, "That's great and all, Krista, but how do I bring that into practice in my life?"
Step 1 - Intention-Setting
For many, the biggest challenge is to catch negative self-talk in the first place. Learning to recognize when it's happening will likely be challenging because it's reflexive, almost automatic at this point. In your busy ADHD brain, it will probably take many attempts even to remember that you're trying to implement this new practice of being kind to yourself (an annoying but characteristic trait of our non-neurotypical brain).
One strategy that works for ADHD brains is to speak your intention out loud. "I commit to catching negative self-talk and replacing it with self-love." Yes, this might feel weird at first, and that's ok. Repeat this affirmation as often as you need until it sticks in your brain.
Step 2 - Catch and Replace Negative Self-Talk
The next step is to catch the negative self-talk when it's happening. Once you notice yourself engaging in negative self-talk, immediately tell yourself, "Self, I'm doing my best here!" (or whatever phrase works for you - just remember to keep it compassionate!)
You may find it helpful to say your chosen phrase aloud as if you're talking to someone else. Let's call this process "externalizing". The aim is to create distance between our negative self-talk and us as inherently awesome people who are totally worthy of self-love. Not only that but, by speaking our positive self-talk phrase out loud, we engage multiple senses (speech and hearing) in the process, and this increases the chances of cementing this practice amongst the noise.
Repeat Steps 1 and 2 as many times as needed.
Step 3 - Practice and Patience
Here's the rub. As much as you may crave change at a deep soul love, implementing a new practice takes time. Seasons may pass. You may entirely forget entirely about this practice for awhile. That's ok, and even to be expected in our busy brains. Patience is a toughie for those of us with ADHD but we can do this.
Recognize and avoid perfectionism-fueled thinking traps like "If I don't catch negative self-talk every time then I've failed". Sorry brain, we're not doing that anymore.
Remember that it has taken a lifetime to get to this point; anticipate it will take some time to reprogram your brain too. Your desire to change this pattern is far more important in the long run than how long it takes you to change.
If you stick with it, you may find positive self-talk actually becomes more intuitive than negative self-talk. And self-love is a radical act indeed!
Alarm Bells
I believe each and every one of us is born with innate gifts and passions that make us who we are. Perhaps you feel this way too.
Over the course of our lifetime many of us become disconnected from our authentic selves in a well-intended and/or subconscious effort to fit in.
Some us have an endless desire to please others which only further exacerbates the issue.
We measure ourselves and our worth against external markers of success. Career, relationships, friends, our bodies, our brains… Many of us can get by this way for a while but sooner or later, we may find ourselves feeling lost, stuck, and unhappy.
Illustration by Seb Black Art created just for us!
Hi I’m Krista, the human behind Live Heart Forward.
I believe each and every one of us is born with innate gifts and passions that make us who we are. Perhaps you feel this way too.
Over our lifetime many of us become disconnected from our true selves in a well-intended or subconscious effort to fit in.
Some us have an endless desire to please others and go along to get along, which only causes further internal disconnection.
We measure ourselves and our worth against external markers of success. Career, relationships, friends, our bodies, our brains…
Many of us can get by this way for a while but sooner or later, we may find ourselves feeling lost, stuck, and unhappy.
We may find ourselves feeling empty and disconnected despite our best efforts to follow the social script. This is often compounded by feelings of guilt and shame for not being happy with what we have achieved.
Or maybe we feel like no matter how hard we work we’re just going through the motions day to say. We may feel broken or faulty. We may ask ourselves “WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?”
I am here to tell you that there is NOTHING wrong with you. That nagging feeling of dis-ease (get it?) is actually your internal alarm system letting you know that there’s a misalignment between your internal self and the external environment in which you move through day to day.
Maybe, like me in the past, you’ve tried to turn down the alarm bells by “numbing out” - choosing to distract yourself with vices of various forms. It probably works for a bit, at least to take your mind off that gnawing feeling. But then it comes roaring back in a matter of hours, days, weeks, month and the cycle repeats.
In my work as a Registered Social Worker, I have seen time and time again that many of us have been conditioned to believe we are faulty, that who we are is the problem. For women with ADHD this feeling is even more common, and we are only starting to understand the impact on wider society.
Let me be the first to tell you that you dear one, are not the problem. I know firsthand the hurt that a lifetime of trying to achieve some mythical (and often unrealistic!) standard can wreak on us. When we fall short of meeting whatever expectation we hold ourselves against, we often direct that anguish inward.
So back to those alarm bells. Do you hear them? Those alarm bells are actually your inner wisdom, calling you back to perfectly imperfect self.
Rather than trying to drown out the noise, what if you chose to courageously tune in?
Unlearning our social programming and tuning into ourselves may feel scary at first, especially as women who have been conditioned to please others our whole lives. Trust that engaging in this life-changing act of radical self-love will ultimately change your life for the better as you live in greater alignment.
I’m here to walk next to you on your journey toward greater ease in your life. Want to learn more about me first? Feel free to drop me a line and say hello.
With love,
Krista
Journal Prompts for Self-Exploration
What is your internal alarm system trying to tell you? How long have you been tuning out?
What is and isn’t working for you in your current situation? Be honest with yourself, this is a safe space to explore.
Visualize yourself in this preferred future where your external and internal worlds are more aligned. What will your day-to-day life look like? What will it feel like in your body? In your heart? What area will feel easier?
October is ADHD awareness month (and why you should care).
#ADHD is having a moment.
Chances are that you’re aware, considering ADHD is trending on platforms like TIkTok and other social medial platforms.
When you consider that at least 1.5 million Canadians are living with ADHD this perhaps becomes less surprising. (Source: Statistics Canada, 2017)
Despite this sharp rise in interest in ADHD in public discourse and the evidence of prevalence amongst Canadians, ADHD research and understanding remains in relative infancy.
One of the most compelling reasons to better understand ADHD, however, is the immense impact on mental health.
CADDAC, Canada’s national charity focused on ADHD advocacy and awareness for Canadians is running a campaign this October to increase awareness on the connection between ADHD and mental health.
According to CADDAC:
80% of adults and 44% of children with ADHD have at least one additional mental health condition .
46% of women are misdiagnosed with another mental health condition disorder before being diagnosed with ADHD.
Up to 40% of children and 50% of adults with ADHD also have an anxiety disorder.
Read more about ADHD and Mental Health on CADDAC’s website.
Living with ADHD can feel overwhelming, but help is out there. As a Registered Social Worker, I offer practical support for women navigating life with ADHD. Together we can identify challenges and create solutions to get through day-to-day life with ADHD.
Click here to learn more about me and how we might work together.