Is an ADHD Coach worth the $$

[danibp727]

I need to do something whether that is an ADHD coach or a counselor who understands ADHD. Has anyone had experience with an ADHD coach? Is it worth the money?

[Gettingittogether]

Well yes! A good coach can be worth the money. Not magic, but can be extremely helpful. The thing is you will know if the coach is any good (and if you and the coach have good chemistry) after two sessions or so. So you don't have to spend a ton of money on nothing.

You can also ask for free consultations with a number of people before deciding on what coach to hire.

With ADHD, people sometimes don't know where to start to straighten things out---so it's easy to throw up our hands. A coach can help with direction and focus. For the next week, start here ... and then there's accountability of reporting to someone as well as getting good encouragement. At the deepest level over time you can absorb the coach's thinking.

I met a coach who spoke to my ADHD support group shortly after I was diagnosed. I think I had 8 30-minute phone sessions with her. She was amazing. She actually started with the basics: my goals in my life, meaning because she thought ADHD was such a pain that you needed to tap into some clear purpose to forge forward. But she showed me multiple ways I could simplify and ease my job. Still amazed by her thinking a decade later. Still trying to apply it.

Addendum:

One thing I got from my coach which still stuns me is that she taught me it's fully legit---even necessary and responsible--to look for the easiest, most simple ways of doing your job and the easiest and most simple (less than perfect) ways of getting things done. I realized that with my ADHD struggles, I had assumed that all my shortcuts were not legitimate (and sometimes I guess they weren't).

But it's funny: after working with her I would talk and listen to the really well organized people I knew (the ones I liked, not the super-rigid folks) and I saw that dang, they actually spend time thinking about how to keep things simple. They spend time thinking of how best to remind themselves to complete tasks and how to talk to themselves about starting on a task and so on.

This was one of the greatest benefits I got from my coach: feeling entitled to do my job simply and doing so without a shred of guilt!!!!!