Coaching for mental health. ADHD Coaching. Organizations. Support. Natural alternatives.

Not quite a therapist, a coach is someone trained to help someone through family problems, or to coach someone who has ADHD symptoms, give advice, help a person to organize their life, talk things out and help a person keep things in perspective.

Some opt for a ADHD coach or other coach, rather than a therapist.
Some use a coach along with a therapist or psychologist.
Coaching can help those with adult ADHD and young people with
ADHD symptoms. It can even be of value for some children with ADHD.

ADHD Coach, Tara McGuillicuddy. There are many types of coaches, some are specialized, such as Ms. McGuillicuddy, who focuses on ADHD, some are more generally applicable for persons with other mental health disorders, or for persons who just need a life coach [or personal coach].

Tara McGuillicuddy Off site link
Tara McGuillicuddy offers ADHD coaching services, as well as newsletters and podcasts on subjects related to ADHD. Her site is an excellent guide on the subject of organizing one's life and thoughts, and coping with symptoms of ADHD in a practical way, as well as finding support.

One might say, in some respects, somewhere between tutoring and therapy is coaching.

“Coaching may be used as a first line treatment for patients who are reluctant to use psychotropic medications or therapy,” says a source on the National Resource Center website on ADHD.

A coach has been described as “someone standing on the sidelines giving encouragement, instruction and reminders.” ADHD coaching provides structure and support; also it helps a client build skills and coping strategies It has become popular among those who may not want to use a therapist and who may not even require one, but who need help with motivation, organization and life skills. And it deals more with the what’s, where’s, when and how questions, while therapy delves more into the why’s.

Why might a person want or need a coach?
The International Coach Federation states about coaching, in general, not necessarily, but possibly including, coaching in relation to mental health disorders:

What are some typical reasons someone might work with a coach?
There are many reasons that an individual or team might choose to work with a coach, including but not limited to the following:

There is something at stake (a challenge, stretch goal or opportunity), and it is urgent, compelling or exciting or all of the above. There is a gap in knowledge, skills, confidence, or resources. A big stretch is being asked or required, and it is time sensitive. There is a desire to accelerate results. There is a need for a course correction in work or life due to a setback. An individual has a style of relating that is ineffective or is not supporting the achievement of one's personally relevant goals. There is a lack of clarity, and there are choices to be made. The individual is extremely successful, and success has started to become problematic. Work and life are out of balance, and this is creating unwanted consequences. One has not identified his or her core strengths and how best to leverage them. The individual desires work and life to be simpler, less complicated. There is a need and a desire to better organized and more self-managing.

However, coaching is often used in conjunction with a therapist or psychologist also. Coaches are being used today in many areas of life and are also used in helping people with ADHD or who have mental health difficulties.

Sean was a person with ADHD had been told all his life that he was no good, that he couldn’t do anything that he would amount to nothing. He believed it and lived up to it. He didn’t have a job, never held a steady job, and really believed that he could accomplish nothing. A mentor who served as a coach, helped him to realize that this wasn’t the case, that he did have value, that what he had been told all his life wasn’t true. He could work if he wanted to, and he could overcome his problems.

This kind encouragement, along with help with some practical matters of life, as well as help in overcoming certain self-destructive lifestyles, helped Sean to the point that he was able to hold a steady job for the first time in his life. He realized that he could be successful and accomplish something and that what he had been told most of his life wasn’t true.

A coach can provide ongoing, even daily support, helping a client through practical areas of life and helping him or her to develop coping skills in dealing with a problem or lifestyle. A person might utilize a coach daily, 15 or 20 minutes every day, or once or twice a week for an hour or two.

Compassion goes a long way for anyone going through mental health difficulties. Many adult clients have often stated that it was a coach who was the first person to understand the frustration of their challenges, but also they were the first person to sincerely believe all of their stories concerning their difficulties. Having a sympathetic, non-judgmental listener, who sincerely believes one’s point of view, is an essential component of overcoming even serious mental health disorders.

If the person with whom you might confide is also in a position to take action, hospitalize, change one’s medications, in some way administer something that might infringe on one’s self-determination, it can effect what is needed to keep open communication. This is why coaching can be a positive step for open communication for many. It is said to be a relationship “more conducive to personal encouragement and motivation than the traditional doctor/patient relationship. The skilled coach provides an environment for open and honest communication.”

Some of the benefits of coaching are:

It provides support.
It helps clients identify their strengths
It assists to guide the client and help him or her to build self-esteem
It helps to contribute to a safe environment and can help a person out of isolation.
It can help a client develop strategies for overcoming problems and improving the quality of life.

A coach is there to help a client develop pragmatic solutions to problems, help him or her with problem solving, how to get life back on track, develop a plan to accomplish his or her goals and putting these into action, developing and implementing practical coping and healing strategies.

The coach can help with specific lifestyle issues, how to get enough sleep, good diet, keeping TV time down to a minimum, to develop an exercise schedule, encouragement to quit smoking or keep off of alcohol or drugs. Some coaches work only by phone, some will go to your home and help there as well in organizing bills, the home office or room, and paperwork. For some it can be a vital link of support. Coaching can be a part of an arsenal of natural remedies, person-to-person, that can give someone the strength and determination to succeed.

Dennis Carothers is a coach in Massachusetts, who said that he felt that for adolescents the most important thing was that youths with such challenges needed to “recognize pressure situations at school and at home, socially, to identify them and reduce them.” It is “a critical first step to help them to focus.”

ADHD Coaching and Mental Health Coaching Organizations

ICF
International Coach Federation Off site link
www.coachfederation.org/ICF

Coaching for all types of situations, including for those involving various mental health disorders.

Specific for ADHD:
Certified Coach:
Dennis Carothers
Off site link
Certified by ADD Coaching Academy, Slingerlands, NY.
http://carothers.4t.com

IAAC
Off site link
Institute for Advancement of ADHD Coaching
www.adhdcoachinstitute.org

ADHD Coaches Organization
Off site link
www.adhdcoaches.org

ADD Coach Academy
Off site link
www.addca.com