ADHD Coaches Organization » Why a coach?

Why a Coach

ACO Admin — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:07:47 +0000

by Laurie Dupar

There are as many reasons to work with an ADHD coach as there are persons living with the disorder.

In addition to basic coaching skills, professional ADHD Coaches are trained to provide their clients with structures, tools and strategies that will help them better manage the challenges they have living with ADHD.

Coaching is a relatively new profession, having grown out of the mentoring and consulting models. ADHD Coaching is a specialty area of coaching in which coaches share a passion for advancing the understanding of ADHD in their client’s lives and in the community at large.

An ADHD coach helps you identify what changes you would like to make in your life, supports you in aligning your thoughts and actions accordingly, all the while holding you accountable for your goals. When you desire something to be different in your personal or professional life and are willing to learn, grow and take action, a coach can support you in making those lasting changes. Because you have a partner–your coach who helps you focus–your efforts produce greater results and more quickly then you have on your own.

An ADHD Coach is an expert at creating structure out of chaos, simplifying client’s lives with organizational and time management tools, demystifying ADHD in their clients’ lives and champions at recognizing their clients’ strength and possibility.

Over the years, I have found that there is something more that happens in my clients’ lives that goes beyond structure, organization and planning. Coaching changes the lives of my clients in ways even I could not foresee. The people who have taken the opportunity to work with an ADHD coach answer best the question, “Why a coach?” The following are three clients’ experiences with coaching:

Tina, a 43-year-old mother with ADD writes:

I cannot express adequately what a positive influence coaching has had on my marriage, on me as a parent, on me as a wife, and on me as a human being. I will be eternally grateful for the times I had to share my past, my present, my hopes, my dreams, my fears and all else that my coach does for me. I thought it was about organizing…it really was about me living my life!

John, a 45-year-old corporate VP of a Fortune 500 company writes:

A coach has a unique ability to bridge goal setting with the very real challenges of ADHD. Even in my forties, coaching has helped me to appreciate the positive characteristics of having ADHD and to minimize the challenges. Coaching has been the difference in my life and my career.

Finally, Trinity, a 22 year old college student writes:

Thank you for the blessing of having worked with you and knowing your insight, wisdom, and enthusiastic support are always available to me. Sometimes just knowing that is enough to help me remember what I am capable of.

Working with an ADHD coach changes peoples’ lives. Let them support you in changing yours

About the author:

Laurie Dupar, MSN, RN, CPCC, ACC, is an AD/HD Coach and Educator in Granite Bay, CA. You can contact her by phone at (916) 791-1799 or on the web at www.changeoffocus.com

How to pick an ADHD coach

ACO Admin — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:06:09 +0000

by Kerch McConlogue, CPCC, PCC

Coaching is a personal relationship. It should be a dependable and safe vehicle where you can decide on the changes you want to make in your own life. So it’s particularly important that you are comfortable with your coach and that you believe your coach is comfortable with you.

First, choose a couple of coaches to interview. You can find them in the ACO Find a Coach database or search on line for “(ADD, ADHD) +coach” without the quotes (That search will return all the coaches who’s websites say they work with people who have ADD or people with ADHD.)

Lots of coaching takes place on the phone, so it’s not necessary that the coach is in your town. Long distance rates have gone down or you can use a prepaid phone card to make the calls. You might also find a coach who will talk to you over Skype or some other VoIP provider.

Next, check out the coach’s website. It should be a reasonable representation of the person and might tell you something about how the person works. So see if what you find resonates with you, if you think you might like to work with that coach.

Then call the coach on the phone. Say you’re interested in working with an ADHD coach and that you’re interviewing a few people. Coaches are used to that. It won’t be strange. They might, however, ask you to make an appointment to have a longer conversation. That generally doesn’t cost anything. And you’ll get to speak with the coach when you both have enough time.

During the first call, the coach may offer you some information to start the conversation or you may choose to start off with some questions like:

How long have you been a coach?
What did you do before you were a coach?
Do you have coach training? And specifically, to be an ADHD coach?
What kinds of clients do you work with most often?
What do you expect from your clients?

Take some time to be sure the coach you pick seems like the right one for you. However, the right coach for you today might not be the right coach for you tomorrow. This is not uncommon. And it’s better to get going than to keep thinking about getting going. And you can always change your mind.

Keep track of your list of questions and your list of prospective coaches. During your initial interviews and to help if you want to look for a new coach, add to your list things you’ve learned about coaching so you can ask different or additional questions the next time.

And if you decide to change coaches, it’s quite possible that your existing coach can help you find a new one.

About the author: Kerch McConlogue, CPCC, PCC is a Baltimore-based coach in private practice who works with adults who have too many ideas. You can find her on the web at www.mapthefuture.com. Contact her by email using kerch@mapthefuture.com or by phone at (410)233-3274.

About coaches and coaching

ACO Admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:49:45 +0000

The Role of the ADHD Coach

by Nancy A. Ratey, Ed.M., MCC, SCAC

The ADHD coach, who is trained in specific techniques to help those with ADHD, works with clients on tactical, not psychological, issues.

Together, the coach and client address practical issues such as managing time, maintaining focus, and becoming overall more effective in both personal and professional life. The coach asks what, how, or when, never why, such as: What can you do about it? How can you motivate yourself to take action? When must this action be completed?

The coach helps clients focus on understanding their own needs and setting their own goals for creating new behavior patterns. The coach provides encouragement, recommendations, feedback, and concrete techniques such as reminders, questions, and calendar monitoring to help the client stay on track.

The ADHD Coaching Process

The coaching process can make the difference between the client’s desire to reach a goal and the subsequent ability to attain that goal. The coach provides the external support and guidance necessary until the client learns the skills to keep himself or herself on track. Ultimately, clients learn to self-initiate change, but during the process, the coach is the external voice demanding accountability until the client’s internal voice kicks in.

The coaching process begins with an initial interview in which the client shares his or her goals, history, and current challenges with the coach. The potential client and the coach have an in-depth, one- to two-hour meeting to develop the step-by-step plans needed to achieve goals.

Regular meetings and weekly check-ins are an essential part of the coaching process. These sessions can be conducted in person, over the telephone, or via e-mail, depending on the client’s preference.

The People Who Most Benefit from ADHD Coaching

Those who benefit most from ADHD coaching are ready, willing, and able to participate in the process, and they are committed to taking action. They acknowledge they are struggling and need help, they are accountable to their coach, and they have no overriding psychological issues that would keep them from making progress.

But because coaching is not a substitute for therapy or medication, individuals with ADHD often need the collaborative efforts of various people, such as one or more of the following: physician, psychologist, therapist, social worker, schoolteacher and/or administrator, employer, family member, or significant other.

The Time Frame of ADHD Coaching

Because the coaching process is unique for every individual, the time frame for individual coaching relationships varies. Some clients need to hire a coach for a short-term project, while others hire a coach for long-term goal achievement.

Specific Benefits of ADHD Coaching

ACO Admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:46:43 +0000

by Nancy A. Ratey, Ed.M., MCC, SCAC

What can coaching do for you? It can help in:

Identifying your specific strengths and weaknesses
Setting realistic goals
Learning to prioritize
Creating necessary structures to stay on track and meet deadlines
Utilizing strategies without giving up; becoming more resilient
Improving organizational and time management skills
Self-motivating by means of your “internal dialogue” and self-observation
Learning productive ways to handle details of your daily life
Improving personal habits, such as exercise and nutrition
Setting up a more efficient environment to meet your needs

What Is ADHD Coaching?

ACO Admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:42:35 +0000

by Nancy A. Ratey, Ed.M., MCC, SCAC

ADHD coaching is based on the premise that the brain is flexible in its ability to learn continually, and while evidence of its success is purely anecdotal to this point, scientific research does support the underlying concept: Rehearsing actions helps to forge new neural pathways in the brain so it can develop new competencies in areas that have historically been deficient. This flexibility of the brain, with its ability to adapt, is one way new habits are learned.

ADHD coaching helps the client learn about his or her own brain and its deficits in order to demystify them. When individuals have an understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses, they are able to develop concrete, sustainable strategies to maximize their unique abilities. The brain can learn! People can develop new habits! This is the energy that helps clients make positive, lasting changes in their lives.

ADHD coaching is rapidly gaining worldwide acceptance as part of a comprehensive treatment program for the increasing numbers of individuals diagnosed with ADHD. Like all coaching, it is a supportive process in which the coach and the client work together to help the client reach his or her potential.

And because ADHD coaching is holistic, clients learn to consider their complete lifestyle in creating strategies to deal with all areas of their lives.

Nancy A Ratey, EdM, MCC, SCAC
Strategic Life Coaching
www.nancyratey.com