Is ADHD coaching for anyone?
Some people think ADHD coaching should only be for those diagnosed with ADHD. But at Shimmer, we see it differently. In this article, Shimmer’s Lead Coach, Alex Bellitter, and Principal Coaching Psychologist, Xenia Angevin, explain how ADHD coaching can help everyone - not just those with ADHD. We'll look at how people without ADHD can benefit from these coaching techniques, highlighting the power of this approach for anyone struggling with focus, motivation, and other executive functioning challenges.
TL;DR: ADHD coaching isn't just for people with ADHD. Many people dealing with executive function challenges can benefit from working with an ADHD coach. You do not have to have ADHD to work with an ADHD Coach.
What is ADHD coaching?
ADHD Coaching is a collaborative partnership in which you and your coach work together to reach your personal goals and achieve your potential by applying the insights of coaching psychology through the ADHD lens. An ADHD coach supports your growth by helping you identify your vision, identify what's important to you, and set goals. Your coach then works with you to develop personalized, neuro-inclusive strategies for living with awareness and self-compassion towards your ADHD.
ADHD coaching combines three main parts:
- Life coaching to help you improve your life overall
- Skill-building/executive function coaching
- Psychoeducation - i.e., educating you about what ADHD is and how it affects you
All together, these help gain awareness of your experiences and develop skills that work with your brain, not against it.
Want to know more about what ADHD Coaching is? Check out this Ultimate Guide!
Want to know more about the difference between the traditional coaching and ADHD Coaching? Click here!
How can ADHD coaching help me if I don’t have ADHD?
An essential part of ADHD Coaching is focused on supporting executive functions. Executive functions (EF) are the high-level mental processes that enable us to determine our goals and act in accordance with them. In essence, they are the skills we use to learn, work, and manage daily life. Since everyone needs these skills, ADHD coaching can be beneficial for anyone facing difficulties around the following aspects of daily life functioning:
- Time management
- Getting stuff done and avoiding procrastination
- Prioritization
- Self-regulation in face of impulsivity
- Self-organizing and organizing the space around you
- Supporting various memory functions
- and more!
Executive functions are universally valuable - and you don’t need to have ADHD to see improvement in your EF from coaching. The coaching process assists you in determining short-term and long-term goals, identifying strengths that will help you achieve those goals, developing strategies to support and improve your executive functioning, and holding you accountable with weekly check-ins.
Examples of how ADHD Coaching can support you in these challenges:
- Learning to break down projects to meet assignment deadlines
- Discover frameworks for decision-making and busting out of task paralysis
- Building motivation to get started and stay on task during deep work
- Create a cleaning routine that feels manageable and sustainable
- Explore ways to make better use of your memory
Loved ones, family members, and employers of people with ADHD can also benefit from working with an ADHD coach by finding techniques and strategies to support and empower those with ADHD or executive function challenges in their lives. In short, ADHD Coaching isn’t just for the individual with ADHD or EF challenges; it can be utilized by their support network as well!
Navigating the new “attention economy”
In today's “attention economy,” our focus, attention, and time have become valuable currencies. When our attention is treated as a monetary resource, it means that businesses, media, content creators, technology platforms, and more compete to capture our attention and keep it.
To really see the impact this has, imagine being a tennis player getting ready for a game. But, instead of a single challenger, there are a dozen players on the other side of the net. Not only are you up against multiple players - they all have an infinite supply of tennis balls. And every ball demands your focus—emails, texts, ads, notifications, sales, content... (This is very much how it feels like when your computer and phone keep pinging at you along with all your other life obligations!) This forces you to just keep reacting, rather than taking time to pause and think, since there are just too many incoming ‘tennis balls’ to attend to at all times. You aren’t strategizing and enjoying the game; it barely feels like you are even a player.
Our brains aren’t evolutionarily adapted for this level of cognitive load, so it can feel like you’re always one step behind and constantly overwhelmed - or even burned out. It can feel like this is how it’s going to be forever. This level of demand has only come about in the last 100-150 years, so we get frustrated when we struggle to manage tasks and distractions we encounter daily; and we know that we’re swimming against the current. We aren’t taught how to manage this.
ADHD coaching offers strategies that help manage distractions and enhance productivity. Working with a coach who understands these challenges can provide you with valuable tools to prioritize tasks, create structured environments that reduce the challenges, and maintain focus on what YOU want to be focusing on.
Is it appropriate for me to have an ADHD coach if I don’t have ADHD?
Yes! Despite it’s name, you do not have to have ADHD to work with an ADHD Coach. Choosing to work with an ADHD coach when you don't have ADHD doesn’t mean you are taking up resources needed by others or that you are intruding in a space you aren’t welcome.
ADHD coaches have the ability to work with all clients needing support in these areas. Seeking coaching isn't about intruding on a specific space, but rather about accessing specialized skills and expertise for these types of challenges; and an ADHD coach is the best support for them!
Some may argue that ADHD coaching without an ADHD diagnosis could potentially take away resources from those with ADHD. However, this is really only a concern if there is not enough of a resource. While development of appropriate ADHD supports are a long way from where they can and should be, there is plenty of space within ADHD Coaching for those without ADHD to come in and start their personal development journey.
Furthermore, one can easily argue that there are also inadequate resources for those dealing with Executive Function challenges that don’t meet a diagnosis - and that utilizing ADHD Coaching is one of the only options for them to get the support they need. While you may not meet diagnostic criteria for an ADHD diagnosis, you may consistently struggle with executive functions and ADHD-like challenges. In many ways, dealing with medium levels of impact across many life domains can be even more challenging to navigate than high levels of impact across one or two areas.
ADHD Coaching is a space that respects inclusivity and accessibility, and supporting individuals without a diagnosis still honors that space.
ADHD Coaching is for every brain
At Shimmer, we believe the principles and strategies that are key components of ADHD coaching contribute not only to better management of ADHD-specific challenges, but also to alleviating executive function challenges overall.
Still not sure if you would benefit? Feel free to email us at support@shimmer.care to see how our services may be able to help.
