I am a wife whose husband has ADHD. I am a mom whose daughter has ADHD. I am a daughter whose father had ADHD. I am a sister whose brother has ADHD. I am an aunt whose nephew has ADHD..... Hmmm. What is this ADHD thing anyway? But I'll get to that!
Whether you are a couple feeling like bad roommates, a professional feeling the overwhelm of missing deadlines, or an adult that has been recently diagnosed looking for support, I understand the challenges that you face. I am an active listener who cares deeply about my clients. I live with ADHD on a daily basis and intimately understand the challenges that can impact one's life.
You can't change your chemistry, but you can certainly learn how to manage it, and coaching is a great place to start!
I have over 5000 hours of coaching adults from all walks of life. My clients range from college students to retirees and come from a wide array of professional backgrounds. Medicine, Psychology, Law, Technology, Clergy, Engineering, Community work, customer service, etc. I also work with a fabulous group of creatives: artists, authors, chefs, dress designers, and entrepreneurs. Each client has a compelling story. And yet despite this diversity, ADHD presents a commonality of challenges.
My personal life experience has been rich and vast. My undergraduate and graduate degrees are in art and psychology. Later in my career, I acquired advanced ADHD coach training at ADDCA, an ICF and PAAC certified coaching program dedicated exclusively to training ADHD coaches. That combined with my background in art and psychology has become a great platform for coaching. The creative process is much like coaching. It's a process of self-observation, trial and error, and forward momentum.
Before I did my coach training, I joined my family's business. I transitioned from the abstract, cerebral world of the arts into a business dictated by sales performance, financial quotas and customer relations. Truly an important piece of my personal development. I learned that not only do I have a keen understanding of the mechanics of business, but I also actually enjoy the strategic challenges that it presents. I am as comfortable in an art studio as I am in a board room.
So, what lead me to becoming an ADHD coach? Years ago, my husband and I had our "challenges". Finally, after several attempts to find the right "couple's" therapist, I learned that he had been diagnosed with ADHD... as a kid. But I thought that ADHD was just an issue of whether or not you could sit still and focus. I had no idea that it contributed to his warm sense of humor, his insatiable quest for information, his uniquely insightful opinions, and his ability to be the best travel partner that I had ever experienced. However, some of his traits that contributed to the friction in our marriage were also a result of his ADHD. He was not the problem. Our communication and our lack of knowledge around the topic were the real issue. That's when I decided to go back to school. My husband and I have moved from frustration and resentment to acceptance, compassion and gratitude. We have learned to respect the ways in which we are different and not personalize the rough spots. I am not saying that we never disagree, but I will say that our life together is more loving, supportive and kind.
I acquired advanced ADHD coach training at ADDCA, an ICF and PAAC certified coaching program dedicated exclusively to training ADHD coaches. That combined with a degree in psychology and a master's in fine arts, serves as a great platform to work with couples, entrepreneurs, creatives and other adults working hard to understand why they frequently feel like they are on the sidelines of life looking in. Through my own work, I have witnessed first-hand the tremendous benefit that comes from working with a trained and certified coach. With the support of coaching, my clients live with greater intention, increased productivity, more satisfying relationships, and improved self-esteem. Coaching is a truly transformational experience.
"Coaching is wonderful for those with ADHD because it gets to all the nitty, gritty stuff
that medication does not address."
Patricia Quinn, MD and Author
