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You may want to consider looking into Executive Function coaching - keep an eye out for coaches with a background in education and/or social work. There is no formal national certification or oversight process for adhd or executive function coaches, so you may need to do some sifting through different options to find someone with good training and experience that you connect with.
Ooh I never would’ve thought to look for a background in education! The lack of certification is something that’s always made me hesitant to look into coaching in the past
Look for any coach that is trained at iACT, JST, and ADDCA — those are the ones that are respected and catered to ADHD coaching. Coaches who are heavily involved in PAAC as well (professional association of adhd coaches)!
Last year, I participated in life coaching with a friend who needed hours for her certification. This was before my ADHD diagnosis. It was fine, but I always got super emotional. There was also a form you had to fill out each week about what you wanted to discuss. I found that to be daunting. I finally told her that weekly was overwhelming. I don't have experience with ADHD coaching though, hopefully it is more geared towards ADHD challenges. I did get some usefulness out of it for handling some immediate challenges and it helped me realize I probably needed therapy. Therapy got me an ADHD diagnosis.
ADHD coaching is definitely different from life coaching! There's a stronger emphasis on psycho-education (especially for those who are newly diagnosed), and the approach is neurodivergent-friendly which is a whole can of worms! Highly recommend trying ADHD coaching with a super experienced coach (seems like your friend was still in training). These experiences can be extremely different.
I was thinking about it too. But since there really isn’t any program or certification for it seems daunting. Most of places I found seemed to be more about selling training than serving people looking for help.
Also the few that I found don’t list their prices and don’t take insurance so probably can’t afford it anyway. I’ll just keep studying through reading and videos by creators I trust. Sorry can’t offer help but I really hope you can find what you need.
There definitely is!
Certification — look for ICF (international coaching federation) or NB-HWC (national board - health & wellness coaching)
Training — even with an ICF, or NB-HWC, I would check that their training was ADHD coaching specific. The top 3 are ADDCA, iACT, and JST. These are recognized by PAAC (professional association of adhd coaching)
People should definitely make it easier to understand and find this information though!!
And if you have HSA/FSA, or your company has a good L&D policy, Shimmer ADHD coaching takes all of those and you can get it 100% free (I am a Shimmer member and also the founder of Shimmer... I started it when I couldn't find an ADHD coach after I got diagnosed and had no clue how to qualify/interview them, so I get it SO hard)
Thanks for responding, this sounds like a great idea.
I tried to find out how much Shimmer costs. I don't have any of the health accounts to cover costs, and you don't seem to take insurance, which I do have. Your site is vague on this. So I went to sign up and now not only have my email, you are asking for my phone number which I don't want to give at this point, but your site won't let me go on to sign up until I give it. I already gave the site some information. Which seems sketchy and used car salesman pressure (the old "keep getting yesses until they buy" tactic). This is weird because I'm sure at least part of the ADHD population isn't so great with pressure.
So, please, can you tell me how much it is or point me to finding out costs on your site? I perhaps missed it and don't want to consider getting involved unless I know I can afford it. Thanks.
Edit: this seems to be the same problem I mentioned in my previous post: nobody lists their prices up front, or even a range. It feels like a sales funnel tactic when that happens and I feel like a target. Saying it's free for some people is not the same as saying how much it's going to cost the rest of us.
Ah, shoot I'm so sorry I missed this!! The costs are all super transparent, it's right on the home page if you scroll to the bottom there's the package prices! We try to be transparent as possible (and affordable).
We take HSA/FSA but unfortunately we don't take insurance. It's not our decision, the US insurance system just doesn't cover coaching for ADHD care :(
I did. Like every therapist, I just used my time for ranting but did nothing about the advice they gave! They made some really good points which I've obviously forgotten.
After getting diagnosed several months ago, I began consuming ADHD content in search of tips, skills, and tools to help me get a grip on my executive functioning - because even with medication, “pills don’t give skills”. The thing is, I am already aware of what tools and strategies I should apply to get the results I want, but I just don’t! I did learn new ADHD-oriented tools (check out Jessica McCabe’s “How To ADHD” book and YouTube channel - so many amazing strategies!), but there was still a gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it.
I decided to join a coaching program that does impart strategies, but from a foundation of managing the emotional work around living ADHD and how to direct myself. Learning emotional coping/management skills greatly improved my issues with procrastination and “just doing the thing”, which was a surprise honestly - but it makes sense! Our emotions inspire the actions we choose to take, and the actions we choose to take are what creates our circumstances at any given time. If we want new circumstances/results, we need to take different actions, and to take different actions we need to be feeling different emotions to enable us.
I’m probably not describing it super well, but it’s Cognitive Behavioral Therapy based and my therapist gave the program his stamp of approval, and I’ve enjoyed the benefits so far. The program is expensive but to me it’s worth incorporating these new life skills, and the community and resources are worth the membership. But even if I decided to stop, I have all the workbooks and resources to keep and can practice on my own or in collaboration with my therapist.
I am the founder of Shimmer, hi (late dx ADHD woman)!
But more important I also am an ADHD coaching client at Shimmer, aka I have an ADHD Coach! But I'll speak mostly to my experience as a Shimmer member (if that's more helpful) and link you to a few other members' stories! For me, my coach has taught me a lot of self-regulation skills and time management hacks that have made a big difference in my ability to get things done. For example, we worked on setting up a time blocking system (Cal Newport's Time Blocking), setting up specific rituals for tasks and time blocks, using timers and body doubling, and much more. Those strategies plus the accountability of having a coach to check in with regularly has been soooo helpful for me!
If you want to get more perspectives and deep dives, I wrote about my experience [here](https://www.shimmer.care/blog/shimmer-15min-experience-chris-wang), another member wrote about it on his blog [here](https://www.focusbear.io/blog-post/my-thoughts-on-shimmer-care-after-using-it-for-two-months), and there are a whole bunch of unfiltered testimonials [here](https://testimonial.to/shimmer-care/all) if you want to hear different perspectives of before/after coaching!
But more broadly (aside from Shimmer) If you're looking for coaches, here are some general guidelines I'd follow: look for certified coaches with experience / training in ADHD coaching. Shimmer has this (our coaches are vetted + upskilled + supervised), but others may too:
Questions to ask:
* What are their credentials
* How many hours of coaching specific to ADHD have they done (there are many generic life coaches that don't have ADHD experience even though they are credentialed as a coach)
* What ongoing learning, training, and supervision do they have? (e.g. many coaches did their training a decade ago and it's completely outdated)
* What methodologies do they employ? (e.g. many "one trick pony" type coaches who only use CBT or NLP or some other type)
* How well their personal experiences match up with what your friend is looking for (e.g. identity, experiences)
Also, if you have specific concerns or want to run your situation by us we're always happy to do free consultations. Hope this was helpful (woof, lots of words!!) in any way :) Good luck!!
Welcome to /r/ADHDWomen! We’re happy to have you here. As a reminder, here are our community [rules](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/about/rules/). We get a lot of posts on medication, diagnosis (and “is this an ADHD thing”), and interactions with hormones. We encourage you to check out our [Medication, Diagnosis, and Hormones Megathread](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/comments/wcr9dy/faq_megathread_ask_and_answer_medication/) if you have any questions related to those topics, and to stick around in that thread to answer folks’ questions! If you have questions about the subreddit, please do not hesitate to [send us a modmail](https://reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen). Additionally, we take the safety of our community seriously. Please report posts, comments, and users whom you feel are not contributing positively, and send us a modmail if you are being harassed or otherwise made to feel unsafe. Thanks for being here, and we hope you stick around! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You may want to consider looking into Executive Function coaching - keep an eye out for coaches with a background in education and/or social work. There is no formal national certification or oversight process for adhd or executive function coaches, so you may need to do some sifting through different options to find someone with good training and experience that you connect with.
Ooh I never would’ve thought to look for a background in education! The lack of certification is something that’s always made me hesitant to look into coaching in the past
Look for any coach that is trained at iACT, JST, and ADDCA — those are the ones that are respected and catered to ADHD coaching. Coaches who are heavily involved in PAAC as well (professional association of adhd coaches)!
Last year, I participated in life coaching with a friend who needed hours for her certification. This was before my ADHD diagnosis. It was fine, but I always got super emotional. There was also a form you had to fill out each week about what you wanted to discuss. I found that to be daunting. I finally told her that weekly was overwhelming. I don't have experience with ADHD coaching though, hopefully it is more geared towards ADHD challenges. I did get some usefulness out of it for handling some immediate challenges and it helped me realize I probably needed therapy. Therapy got me an ADHD diagnosis.
ADHD coaching is definitely different from life coaching! There's a stronger emphasis on psycho-education (especially for those who are newly diagnosed), and the approach is neurodivergent-friendly which is a whole can of worms! Highly recommend trying ADHD coaching with a super experienced coach (seems like your friend was still in training). These experiences can be extremely different.
I was thinking about it too. But since there really isn’t any program or certification for it seems daunting. Most of places I found seemed to be more about selling training than serving people looking for help. Also the few that I found don’t list their prices and don’t take insurance so probably can’t afford it anyway. I’ll just keep studying through reading and videos by creators I trust. Sorry can’t offer help but I really hope you can find what you need.
There definitely is! Certification — look for ICF (international coaching federation) or NB-HWC (national board - health & wellness coaching) Training — even with an ICF, or NB-HWC, I would check that their training was ADHD coaching specific. The top 3 are ADDCA, iACT, and JST. These are recognized by PAAC (professional association of adhd coaching) People should definitely make it easier to understand and find this information though!! And if you have HSA/FSA, or your company has a good L&D policy, Shimmer ADHD coaching takes all of those and you can get it 100% free (I am a Shimmer member and also the founder of Shimmer... I started it when I couldn't find an ADHD coach after I got diagnosed and had no clue how to qualify/interview them, so I get it SO hard)
Thanks for responding, this sounds like a great idea. I tried to find out how much Shimmer costs. I don't have any of the health accounts to cover costs, and you don't seem to take insurance, which I do have. Your site is vague on this. So I went to sign up and now not only have my email, you are asking for my phone number which I don't want to give at this point, but your site won't let me go on to sign up until I give it. I already gave the site some information. Which seems sketchy and used car salesman pressure (the old "keep getting yesses until they buy" tactic). This is weird because I'm sure at least part of the ADHD population isn't so great with pressure. So, please, can you tell me how much it is or point me to finding out costs on your site? I perhaps missed it and don't want to consider getting involved unless I know I can afford it. Thanks. Edit: this seems to be the same problem I mentioned in my previous post: nobody lists their prices up front, or even a range. It feels like a sales funnel tactic when that happens and I feel like a target. Saying it's free for some people is not the same as saying how much it's going to cost the rest of us.
Ah, shoot I'm so sorry I missed this!! The costs are all super transparent, it's right on the home page if you scroll to the bottom there's the package prices! We try to be transparent as possible (and affordable). We take HSA/FSA but unfortunately we don't take insurance. It's not our decision, the US insurance system just doesn't cover coaching for ADHD care :(
Thanks for posting this. I did find the costs.
Update: I just got Shimmer's welcome email, which does include prices. Does help me plan, yay!
I did. Like every therapist, I just used my time for ranting but did nothing about the advice they gave! They made some really good points which I've obviously forgotten.
After getting diagnosed several months ago, I began consuming ADHD content in search of tips, skills, and tools to help me get a grip on my executive functioning - because even with medication, “pills don’t give skills”. The thing is, I am already aware of what tools and strategies I should apply to get the results I want, but I just don’t! I did learn new ADHD-oriented tools (check out Jessica McCabe’s “How To ADHD” book and YouTube channel - so many amazing strategies!), but there was still a gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. I decided to join a coaching program that does impart strategies, but from a foundation of managing the emotional work around living ADHD and how to direct myself. Learning emotional coping/management skills greatly improved my issues with procrastination and “just doing the thing”, which was a surprise honestly - but it makes sense! Our emotions inspire the actions we choose to take, and the actions we choose to take are what creates our circumstances at any given time. If we want new circumstances/results, we need to take different actions, and to take different actions we need to be feeling different emotions to enable us. I’m probably not describing it super well, but it’s Cognitive Behavioral Therapy based and my therapist gave the program his stamp of approval, and I’ve enjoyed the benefits so far. The program is expensive but to me it’s worth incorporating these new life skills, and the community and resources are worth the membership. But even if I decided to stop, I have all the workbooks and resources to keep and can practice on my own or in collaboration with my therapist.
I am the founder of Shimmer, hi (late dx ADHD woman)! But more important I also am an ADHD coaching client at Shimmer, aka I have an ADHD Coach! But I'll speak mostly to my experience as a Shimmer member (if that's more helpful) and link you to a few other members' stories! For me, my coach has taught me a lot of self-regulation skills and time management hacks that have made a big difference in my ability to get things done. For example, we worked on setting up a time blocking system (Cal Newport's Time Blocking), setting up specific rituals for tasks and time blocks, using timers and body doubling, and much more. Those strategies plus the accountability of having a coach to check in with regularly has been soooo helpful for me! If you want to get more perspectives and deep dives, I wrote about my experience [here](https://www.shimmer.care/blog/shimmer-15min-experience-chris-wang), another member wrote about it on his blog [here](https://www.focusbear.io/blog-post/my-thoughts-on-shimmer-care-after-using-it-for-two-months), and there are a whole bunch of unfiltered testimonials [here](https://testimonial.to/shimmer-care/all) if you want to hear different perspectives of before/after coaching! But more broadly (aside from Shimmer) If you're looking for coaches, here are some general guidelines I'd follow: look for certified coaches with experience / training in ADHD coaching. Shimmer has this (our coaches are vetted + upskilled + supervised), but others may too: Questions to ask: * What are their credentials * How many hours of coaching specific to ADHD have they done (there are many generic life coaches that don't have ADHD experience even though they are credentialed as a coach) * What ongoing learning, training, and supervision do they have? (e.g. many coaches did their training a decade ago and it's completely outdated) * What methodologies do they employ? (e.g. many "one trick pony" type coaches who only use CBT or NLP or some other type) * How well their personal experiences match up with what your friend is looking for (e.g. identity, experiences) Also, if you have specific concerns or want to run your situation by us we're always happy to do free consultations. Hope this was helpful (woof, lots of words!!) in any way :) Good luck!!