Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) & ADHD Coaching
What is ADHD? Do you grow out of it?
ADHD is a brain-based disorder and the part of the brain that seems to be most affected in individuals with ADHD is the prefrontal cortex. This is the area of the brain responsible for a set of skills referred to as executive functioning skills.
What are executive functions?
Executive functions are a set of processes that help you manage yourself and your resources in order to achieve a goal.
Executive functions are neurologically-based and involve mental control and self-regulation (e.g., organization, initiation, effort, managing frustration, and memory).
Can executive functioning skills improve?
ADHD Coaching can be beneficial with or without an ADHD diagnosis and can support individuals with Executive Functioning and/or Learning Difficulties as well.
ADHD Assessments
How is ADHD assessed?
There is no medical test for ADHD, although it is considered a neurobiological disorder. Our approach to diagnosing ADHD is comprehensive and thorough. We distinguish between ADHD and other pieces of the puzzle that may be equally as important and present, such as anxiety and learning disorders that may be misdiagnosed as ADHD, just as ADHD may be misdiagnosed as other difficulties. Many disorders also often co-occur with ADHD.
Our ADHD assessments follow a comprehensive, stepwise process that examines all of the factors potentially affecting your child, teen or young adult. We evaluate symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity using multiple sources of information and determine how much these symptoms are impairing daily functioning in home, school, and/or work settings.
Through assessment of symptom expressions, severity, presence in multiple environments and effect on functioning, that an appropriate diagnostic statement about ADHD can be made.
What does an ADHD Assessment include?
One-on-one assessment of the client with a psychologist. This can be done in one full day, but is usually broken into multiple sessions for younger children and those with severe symptoms
Interview with parent/guardian if child/teenager assessment, or client if an adult assessment
Consultation with school staff, family doctors and other professionals
Comprehensive written report that includes assessment results, diagnostic findings, and recommendations
Client and/or parent feedback, as appropriate
Advocacy and participation at the school (e.g., program-planning process, adaptations) or university level (e.g., accessibility options), as appropriate
We can complete paperwork to support access to funding for school or university.
At Spirit, we are school psychologists who understand the importance of a well-written, practical report. Such a report, as well as the consultation with school staff that can accompany it, allows school or university to understand and meet needs, those of your child, teen, young adult, or your own.
Beyond assessment, how can Spirit help?
ADHD Coaching
Getting clarity on diagnosis is a first big step in the right direction.
At Spirit, we offer ADHD coaching and psycho-educational counselling to help people thrive, not just survive. This is equally as important for young children as it is for teens and young adults.
There are many skills that need strengthening, which begins with understanding a person’s strengths and needs. This important work affects areas such as social skills, social-emotional regulations, organizational skills, problem solving, maintaining relationships, and setting and reaching goals.
There are many positive aspects of having ADHD that are often overlooked. We can help you create personalized life strategies and choose a career that works with your dreams and skills. We consider diagnosis just the beginning of an amazing journey to your best life, and your best self.
What is ADHD Coaching and how can it help?
ADHD Coaching is a collaborative and goal-oriented process in which the coach and the client work together to identify the client’s goals. The coach helps the client to develop self- awareness and build the strategies needed to achieve their goals and reach their full potential.
ADHD coaching can help you to:
Understand ADHD and how it impacts your life and executive functioning
Identify specific areas of your life that are causing difficulty and frustration
Set and attain goals
Increase your confidence
Learn to self-advocate
Develop techniques to improve attention/focus
Maintain a healthy lifestyle
Improve time management
Develop planning skills, and
Maximize productivity
Coaching has a lot of overlap with different counselling strategies, and particularly with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), as it is also goal-oriented. Coaching is different from counselling as it is forward-focused and is not designed to help a client heal or deal with past trauma. It concentrates on practical day-to-day issues and helps to build executive functioning skills so that you can meet your goals.
At Spirit, we provide ADHD Coaching for teens and students in college or university up to age 25. Simply book an intake and specify that you are interested in ADHD Coaching - it is as easy as that. Then get ready for the changes it will bring about in school, at work and in life - and yourself.