ADHD coaching can be an incredibly valuable tool for anyone looking to improve their focus, organization, and productivity, but there’s a noticeable difference between general ADHD coaching and expert ADHD coaching.
What is ADHD coaching?
ADHD coaching is a collaborative partnership designed to help you achieve your personal goals while building awareness of your ADHD with self-compassion. While general life coaching can help you move forward, ADHD coaching recognizes how ADHD impulsivity, distractibility, and inattention can influence your focus on what’s most meaningful to you and supports you in aligning your actions with your long-term vision.
An ADHD coach helps you identify what’s important to you, set meaningful goals, and develop strategies that work with the unique ways your brain functions. It’s all about creating personalized, neuro-inclusive tools and frameworks for goal achievement while learning more about the role of ADHD in your life.
What’s the difference between ADHD coaching and expert ADHD coaching?
It's important to understand that expertise isn’t a binary concept where coaches are either experts or not. Instead, expertise can be thought of as falling within different bands or on a spectrum, with various factors influencing where a coach might fall.
Things that may influence where a coach lands:
- Amount of education and training they've received
- Where their education is from and quality of their trainings
- How much supervision they’ve undergone
- Number of hours spent in sessions
- Amount of time spent on professional development beyond initial trainings
- Years of experience
- Theme of feedback and testimonials from clients (the outcome of the work)
Rather than thinking of a coach as an expert or non-expert, it’s more accurate to see them as working within a spectrum of expertise. A coach with just a few sessions of experience and less extensive education may be on one side of the spectrum, whereas a coach with decades of experience, advanced certifications and degrees, and regular supervision may fall onto the other side.
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Within this line, there are plenty of gradations.
For example, a well-qualified and educated coach without an ADHD coaching background may be more supportive in helping ADHDers reach their goals than someone with lived experience with ADHD with no coaching or psychological studies background. For the reverse, a self-studied coach with consistent supervision may be better equipped to support neurodivergent clients than a coach trained from a curriculum that wasn’t grounded in behavioral theories and has no prior knowledge of ADHD. Both of these would fall somewhere in the middle of the line.
However, a coach who has developed a deep understanding of ADHD through years of continuous professional learning, personal development, and significant session hours specifically for ADHD Coaching, along with supervision, brings a unique level of expertise to their practice that positions them well to support neurodivergent clients.
Qualities of an expert ADHD coach
It can be difficult to determine where a coach lands on the spectrum of expertise. The following qualities are good indicators to look for.
Operate from the neurodiversity paradigm
The neurodiversity paradigm is a framework that views neurological differences as natural variations of the human brain rather than something to be fixed, treated, or healed. In this paradigm, neurodivergent individuals are seen as having unique ways of thinking, processing information, and interacting with the world, which can bring valuable strengths to the table. It also recognizes the unique challenges that may arise for neurodivergent individuals based on demands and expectations. This is a large shift from the traditional medical model, which is based on deficit and disorder language.
Scope of services and supervision
Expert ADHD coaches have understanding of when to refer out. Studies show that, often times, even seasoned coaches may miss signs that therapeutic intervention is needed and actually feel more equipped to help a client with clinical challenges because of their level of expertise. An expert coach has a deeper, more practiced awareness of these boundaries and consistently assesses whether they are the best person to service their member in their goals.
They also consider supervision an essential element of their practice. They regularly bring cases to supervision or consult with other peers, engaging in deep discussions about their approach, ethical considerations, and the evolving needs of their clients. Supervision provides a structured space for reflection, accountability, and professional growth which is critical when working with neurodivergent individuals and helps make sure your coach is operating within scope and their competencies.
Rooted in neuroinclusivity
Expert ADHD coaches actively reflect on what true neuroinclusion looks like in their practice by consistently assessing and adapting their coaching models, language, and questions to align with best practices for neurodivergent individuals. Rather than defaulting to traditional coaching frameworks or styles that may not fully consider the application to neurodiversity coaching, they critically examine new information and research, asking: How does this apply to the clients I work with? They also have the wisdom to seek input when they are unsure how to apply new approaches in an inclusive way by consulting with neurodivergent colleagues, supervision groups, and experts in the field, and they don’t hesitate to adjust their policies or approaches accordingly.
Adaptability and growth
Expertise requires flexibility. Expert ADHD coaches stay attuned to emerging research and perspectives on neurodivergence along with the evolution of our understanding of coaching psychology. They continuously refine their approach to align with what actually works for ADHDers and where the science is going, making sure what they bring to the coaching space is evidence-based.
The fields of ADHD and coaching are constantly evolving, and an expert coach evolves with them. This means they are responsive and adaptable rather than sticking with what they were told at the beginning of their careers or studies.
Why does it matter whether I work with an expert ADHD coach?
One of the most important factors to consider with coaching is expertise. Do you trust the person you’re sharing personal information with to bring wisdom into the relationship and to help you reach your goals?
The information above gave a brief overview into many of the differences between an ADHD coach and an expert ADHD coach, but it’s also about a personality match and building rapport.
Ultimately, coaching isn’t just a pleasant conversation, but a collaborative process backed with theories of behavior change. ADHD coaching includes bringing psychoeducation and executive function coaching into this as well. The goal of coaching, whether that's achieving specific behavioral goals, shifting how you approach challenges, or gaining a deeper understanding of your ADHD, is to bring you closer to your long-term vision.
While ADHD coaching can be deeply impactful, change is often gradual, and the results can be difficult to quantify. But ultimately, it’s about feeling equipped to navigate life’s challenges with more confidence, experiencing higher life satisfaction, and having better self-awareness.
Expert coaches who have invested heavily in their education, tools, and experience are typically able to guide you with greater precision. They have refined their skills over years of practice, and they understand the complexities of ADHD in ways that can help you make quicker progress.
It’s also important to be mindful of the context when looking for a coach. If you're working in a high-stakes situation, like receiving a performance improvement plan or getting ready for an interview, you'll want to make sure you're getting the best-in-class support. While trying out a newer coach can be an exciting opportunity and a more affordable option, in high-pressure situations, the depth of experience and knowledge an expert coach brings can make a significant difference.
Pricing differences
Realistically, there's a balance between cost and the level of expertise you want from a coach. Coaching is an investment, and you want there be an positive outcome, but you don’t want to spend beyond your means.
Coaches who have less experience or formal education may charge less, making them more accessible to a wider range of people. New coaches may offer pro bono sessions to gain experience hours or charge less than $50 an hour (some even less if they offer sliding scale payments). Coaches who have invested tens of thousands of dollars (or more) into their education, specialized training, and ongoing supervision might be more expensive, but bring a higher level of expertise to the table. You may see some ADHD coaches charging upwards of $500 an hour (generally for executive and leadership ADHD coaching).
It's natural to question whether the extra investment is worth it, and paying more upfront for a well-seasoned ADHD coach may feel like a big leap (or for some people, they may consider the cost a risk).
When we view this as “What is the return on investment?”, experienced coaching pays off in the long-run.
Reminder: This is where the spectrum conversation comes back into play; you may find some new coaches charge several hundred for sessions or highly experienced coaches offering pro bono sessions as a way to give back to the community or in support of personal missions.
Conclusion
It can be challenging to move through all the pieces of information and know the right questions to ask to assess a coach’s qualifications. When the price ranges so drastically, you want to make sure what your spending is worth it and that you feel confident with your next step. Coaching isn’t a quick or cheap magic fix; it’s hard work supported by a professional who has poured effort into their education and careers.
Organizations like Shimmer work to highlight the best-in-class coaches, at an affordable price.
