Austin sells itself as the place where you can build the career you want on your own terms. The tech sector is exploding. Apple, Google, Tesla, Samsung, and Oracle all have significant operations here. Startups launch out of co-working spaces in East Austin every week. The music and creative industries still define a big part of the city's identity, even as downtown condos replace the old venues. And whether you work in tech, government, a UT Austin research lab, or the growing clean energy sector, the unspoken expectation is the same: move fast, produce consistently, and figure it out as you go. If you have ADHD, that last part is where everything gets complicated.

So you start searching for help, and you immediately run into the Austin version of choice overload. Search results pull in coaches from Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville, and San Marcos alongside actual Austin listings. Some are therapists who mention coaching as an add-on. Some are life coaches who recently tacked ADHD onto their website. A few appear to be legitimately specialized, but there is no obvious way to tell who is who from a directory profile or Instagram bio. You have 30 tabs open. You have been meaning to call one of them for two weeks. The irony of not being able to follow through on finding help for your follow-through problems is not lost on you.

This guide breaks down what ADHD coaching actually is, which credentials are worth paying attention to, how to evaluate coaching methodology, and how to make this decision without letting it become another abandoned research project.

What makes ADHD coaching different from therapy or psychiatry

A lot of people in Austin start their mental health journey by looking for a therapist. The city is generally open to mental health support, and with Dell Medical School and UT Austin's psychology department nearby, there is no shortage of clinical resources. But coaching and therapy serve fundamentally different purposes, and understanding the difference matters before you invest time and money.

ADHD coaching focuses on the present and the future. It is a collaborative partnership where you and your coach develop practical strategies, systems, and habits for reaching your goals. Coaching is about action. You identify what you want to accomplish, figure out what keeps derailing you, and build personalized tools for handling challenges like time management, prioritization, task initiation, and follow-through. A good ADHD coach works with the way your brain actually functions rather than expecting you to force yourself into systems designed for neurotypical people. Neurotypical is a term that simply means someone whose brain processes attention and information in the way considered standard or typical.

Therapy addresses the emotional and psychological layers underneath. A therapist helps you process past experiences, work through anxiety or depression (both of which frequently show up alongside ADHD), and understand emotional patterns. In a city like Austin, where the tech culture rewards output and the startup scene rewards constant motion, a lot of adults with ADHD carry years of quiet frustration or shame from trying to keep pace without understanding why it felt so much harder. Therapy is the right space for that work. But therapy alone does not always give you the concrete, tactical systems for managing your inbox or breaking the cycle of missed deadlines at work.

Psychiatry handles the medical side. A psychiatrist can formally diagnose ADHD, prescribe medication, and manage your treatment plan over time. If you are exploring whether medication might help or need an official diagnosis, that is where to start on the clinical end.

These three types of support work alongside each other, not in competition. Many adults with ADHD benefit from a combination. You might see a psychiatrist for medication management, a therapist for processing the emotional weight of living undiagnosed for years, and a coach for building the daily systems that hold your professional and personal life together. In Texas, therapy and psychiatry are often at least partially covered by insurance depending on your plan, while coaching generally is not. We will talk more about cost and workarounds later.

The essential thing to understand about coaching is that it is forward-looking and tactical. You are not unpacking your past. You are building a concrete plan for how to manage your energy, stop losing track of projects, and follow through on the things that matter to you.

What credentials should an ADHD coach actually have

Here is the single most important thing to know before you start evaluating coaches: the title "ADHD coach" is completely unregulated. Texas has no licensing requirement, no state board, no required exam, and no minimum training. Anyone can set up a website, list ADHD coaching as a service, and start charging for sessions tomorrow. In a city as large and fast-growing as Austin, where the wellness market is booming and personal development is practically a cultural norm, that means the range in quality is enormous. And from the outside, it is nearly impossible to tell who is genuinely qualified.

So how do you protect yourself?

PAAC certification is one of the most reliable signals. PAAC stands for the Professional Association of ADHD Coaches. Coaches who hold PAAC certification have completed rigorous ADHD-specific training programs, logged supervised coaching hours, and demonstrated genuine competency in working with ADHD-related challenges. This is not a weekend course or an online module you can finish in a few hours. It represents a serious commitment to specialized education.

ICF credentials are another strong indicator. The ICF, or International Coaching Federation, is the most widely recognized credentialing body in the coaching profession as a whole. An ICF-credentialed coach has completed extensive training hours, accumulated a minimum number of client coaching hours, and passed a formal evaluation. ICF credentials alone do not guarantee ADHD expertise, but when you see them paired with ADHD-specific training, you are looking at someone who takes their professional development seriously.

NBC-HWC certification is worth knowing about as well. NBC-HWC stands for National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach. This is a board certification that indicates training in evidence-based coaching techniques, and when combined with ADHD specialization, it adds another layer of verified competence.

Lived experience with ADHD can make a coach more intuitive and empathetic. Many excellent coaches have ADHD themselves and bring a personal understanding of the struggles you face. But lived experience without professional training and a structured methodology is not enough on its own. You want someone who brings both personal understanding and evidence-based frameworks.

Red flags to watch for:

• No specific credentials or training programs listed anywhere on their website

• The only stated qualification is personal experience with ADHD

• Promises of guaranteed outcomes like curing procrastination or eliminating distractibility

• No mention of continuing education, supervision, or a defined methodology

• A vague approach that sounds more like friendly conversation than structured support

Questions to ask any coach you are considering:

• What ADHD-specific training have you completed, and through which program?

• Are you certified through PAAC, ICF, or another recognized body?

• Do you receive regular supervision or participate in peer consultation?

• What methodology or framework guides your coaching sessions?

• How do you track and measure client progress?

• What does support look like between sessions?

A qualified coach will welcome every one of these questions. They have invested real time and money in building their expertise and will be happy to walk you through it. If someone gets evasive or defensive when you ask about their training, take that seriously.

Why does virtual coaching work well for ADHD in Austin

Austin has grown faster than its infrastructure can keep up with, and anyone who lives here already knows that. I-35 is a construction zone that has been a construction zone for years. Getting from south Austin to the Domain can eat an hour on a bad day. Cedar Park and Round Rock are technically suburbs, but they are where a huge portion of the metro population actually lives. Public transit is limited, and while Project Connect's light rail is on the way, it is not here yet. All of this means that filtering coaches by geographic proximity inside the Austin metro is a losing strategy before you even start.

Virtual coaching removes location from the equation entirely. You can work with your coach from your apartment in East Austin, your home office in Westlake, your desk at a tech campus up north, or your kitchen table in Pflugerville. Sessions fit into the natural rhythm of your day rather than requiring you to carve out an extra hour for transit on top of the session itself.

But the more meaningful benefit is about quality of match, not convenience. When you are no longer limited to coaches who happen to have an office within a 20-minute drive, you can match based on what actually matters: their experience with your specific type of challenge, their coaching style, their understanding of your industry or life stage. A coach who specializes in working with software engineers navigating executive function challenges at high-growth companies might be a dramatically better fit than a generalist who happens to rent office space near the Capitol. Someone with deep experience supporting entrepreneurs with ADHD might be exactly what a founder in East Austin needs, even if that coach is based in a different city entirely.

Virtual coaching also helps with consistency, which is one of the hardest things to maintain when you have ADHD. Every logistical barrier becomes one more reason to reschedule. When your session is a video call you can take from wherever you happen to be, the friction drops. You show up more often. The coaching relationship builds momentum. Progress compounds over time instead of stalling out every time your schedule gets complicated.

And if a coaching match turns out not to be the right fit, pivoting is simple. You are not restarting a geographic search or committing to someone just because they are conveniently located. You match with a different coach and keep moving forward.

What does a strong ADHD coaching methodology look like

Methodology is the invisible difference between coaching that creates lasting change and coaching that feels like a pleasant conversation you forget about by the next morning. Two coaches can have similar websites, similar pricing, and similar professional bios, but their approaches might be completely different underneath.

Evidence-based frameworks form the backbone of quality coaching. One widely used model is the COM-B framework, which breaks behavior change into three components: Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation. Rather than giving you generic advice like "just use a planner" or "set more reminders," a coach using COM-B helps you identify whether a particular challenge comes from a skill gap (capability), an environmental barrier (opportunity), or a drive issue (motivation), and then addresses the actual root cause. Another evidence-based tool is implementation intentions, which are specific if/then plans designed to bridge the gap between wanting to do something and actually doing it. Instead of "I will work on my project this week," an implementation intention sounds like "When I finish my Monday standup and sit back down at my desk, I will open the project document and write for 25 minutes before checking Slack."

Structured sessions versus open conversation is one of the biggest dividing lines between quality coaching and everything else. In a structured approach, each session follows a framework. Your coach prepares. Goals carry forward from previous conversations. Progress is tracked over time. You are building on a foundation week after week rather than starting over each session. Open-ended conversation can feel supportive in the moment, but without structure, it rarely produces consistent behavior change.

Between-session support matters more than most people realize. ADHD does not pause between your weekly coaching calls. New habits are fragile. Motivation fluctuates constantly. Quality coaching includes some form of ongoing connection between sessions, whether that is messaging, quick accountability check-ins, or access to a community. That continuity between calls is often what determines whether a new strategy actually sticks and becomes part of your routine.

Executive dysfunction-specific design is non-negotiable for ADHD coaching. Executive dysfunction refers to difficulties with the brain's management system: working memory, planning, task initiation, emotional regulation, and time awareness. Generic coaching techniques often assume a baseline level of executive function that people with ADHD do not consistently have. A methodology built specifically for ADHD accounts for these realities and designs systems around them rather than pretending they do not exist.

Peer community and shared learning add something that isolated one-on-one sessions cannot replicate. Connecting with other adults who face similar challenges creates accountability, normalizes the experience, and generates practical strategies you might not discover on your own. Hearing that someone in a similar professional situation found a particular approach helpful carries a different weight than hearing it from a coach alone.

Ongoing coach supervision is something most people never think to ask about, but it is a significant quality indicator. Coaches who practice in isolation with no external oversight can develop blind spots or drift into outdated approaches over time. Regular supervision means a qualified professional is reviewing their work, providing feedback, and keeping them accountable to a consistent standard.

The frustrating reality is that none of these methodological differences are visible from a website or directory listing. Two coach profiles can look nearly identical while representing very different levels of rigor. The only way to distinguish them is to ask the right questions, and now you know what those questions are.

How much does ADHD coaching typically cost

Cost matters, and it is better to go in with clear expectations than to be caught off guard.

Nationally, individual ADHD coaching sessions range from about $150 to $300 per session. Monthly coaching packages, which typically include regular sessions plus some level of between-session support, tend to fall between $300 and $600 per month. Those ranges vary based on coach experience, credentials, session length, and how much support is included between calls.

The instinct to look for the cheapest option makes sense, especially in Austin where the cost of living has risen dramatically over the past several years. Housing costs have pushed budgets tighter for a lot of people who moved here when things were more affordable. But cost and credential depth tend to go together. Coaches who have invested thousands of dollars in ADHD-specific training, ICF certification, supervised hours, and continuing education charge more because their overhead is higher and their expertise runs deeper. That does not mean the most expensive coach is automatically the best. But consistently choosing the lowest price point increases your odds of ending up with someone who has minimal specialized training.

Insurance generally does not cover ADHD coaching. Coaching is not classified as therapy or a medical service under most plans, and Texas does not currently mandate coaching coverage.

FSA and HSA accounts can often be used for coaching. If your employer offers a Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account, ADHD coaching may qualify as an eligible expense. This lets you pay with pre-tax dollars, effectively reducing your real cost by 20 to 30 percent depending on your tax bracket. Given the number of large tech companies and employers in Austin that offer strong benefits packages, this is absolutely worth checking.

When evaluating cost, it helps to weigh it against the cost of not getting support. Stalled career momentum because you cannot consistently deliver. Strained relationships from forgotten commitments. The mental and emotional weight of feeling like you are underperforming despite knowing you are capable of more. Effective coaching pays for itself when it helps you show up reliably in the areas that matter most to you.

How do you find and evaluate coaches in Austin

With a solid understanding of what coaching is, which credentials matter, and what strong methodology looks like, the practical search can begin. Austin's specific situation creates a few distinct challenges worth knowing about.

Where to look:

The PAAC directory (Professional Association of ADHD Coaches) is the most targeted starting point. Every coach listed there has met specific ADHD training requirements. The ICF directory is broader but useful for independently verifying credentials. Central Texas CHADD covers the Austin area and offers support group meetings and community resources. CHADD stands for Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. While CHADD does not provide coaching directly, attending a meeting or connecting with the community can be an excellent way to get firsthand recommendations from people who have worked with coaches in the area.

The Austin-specific challenge:

Austin is a city where the wellness and personal development market is saturated. SXSW culture and the broader startup ecosystem normalize self-improvement, which is genuinely great, but it also means the coaching market includes a lot of generalists who have added ADHD to their list of offerings without deep specialization. Directory searches pull results from across the metro, mixing credentialed specialists with life coaches, wellness coaches, and productivity consultants who all use similar language on their profiles. Sorting through that noise takes real effort.

The vetting process:

Once you have a shortlist, go beyond what their website says. Verify credentials independently through the PAAC and ICF directories. Schedule consultation calls, which most coaches offer for free or at a reduced rate. Use that conversation to ask the credential and methodology questions outlined earlier.

During a consultation, pay attention to:

• Whether they ask about your specific challenges or move straight into pitching a package

• How clearly they explain their methodology

• Whether they mention supervision, continuing education, or structured frameworks

• How natural and comfortable the conversation feels

• Whether pricing, session structure, and expectations are transparent from the start

When a match does not work out:

This happens more often than anyone talks about. You go through the whole search, commit to a coach, and after a few sessions, you realize the fit is off. Maybe their approach does not match how you process things. Maybe they lack depth in the specific area where you need the most help. Now you are back at the beginning. New search. New vetting calls. New financial risk. New decision fatigue. For someone with ADHD, restarting that kind of open-ended research project can feel nearly impossible.

Even with the right directories and a thoughtful approach, the full weight of research, vetting, and risk sits on your shoulders. That is a heavy lift for anyone, and it is an especially hard one when the executive function challenges you are trying to get help with are the exact same ones making sustained research feel exhausting.

Why a Shimmer ADHD Coach might be the better option

Every frustration described above is why Shimmer exists. We built it because we have been through that same draining search ourselves and knew there had to be a better way.

The vetting is done before you ever show up. Shimmer coaches go through a selection process with a 4% acceptance rate. Every coach holds ADHD-specific credentials, whether that is PAAC certification or equivalent specialized training. They do not just get hired and left on their own. Shimmer coaches receive ongoing supervision and continuing education, which means their practice is consistently held to a high standard. The methodology is grounded in behavioral science frameworks designed specifically for how ADHD brains work, and it is consistent across the entire platform.

Matching is built into the system. Instead of spending weeks scrolling through directories and hoping for the best, Shimmer matches you with a coach based on your specific needs, preferences, and goals. If the match is not right, you switch. No awkward conversation. No penalty. No restarting the whole search from scratch. You match with someone new and keep building momentum. This alone changes the experience fundamentally compared to the traditional model, where a bad fit means repeating the entire process from the beginning.

The methodology extends beyond your weekly session. Shimmer's coaching approach is rooted in science-backed frameworks for behavior change and executive function support. Sessions are structured, goal-oriented, and connected from one to the next. But the support does not vanish between calls. Shimmer includes community access where you connect with other members working through similar challenges. That combination of expert one-on-one coaching and peer community creates a layer of accountability and shared learning that a single weekly session on its own cannot provide.

The financial risk is minimal. Shimmer offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Pricing is transparent and published upfront, so you know exactly what you are committing to before you begin. Compare that to the traditional path where you might spend $300 on a first session with a coach you found through a directory, only to realize after two or three sessions that their approach does not work for your brain, and then face the prospect of spending more money to try again with someone else.

Virtual-first means all of Austin is covered equally. Whether you live downtown, work at a tech campus near the Domain, are based in a home office in Cedar Park, or split your time between East Austin and Round Rock, you get the same quality of coaching without geography being a factor. No sitting in I-35 traffic. No rearranging your afternoon around a cross-city drive. Just consistent, expert support that fits into your life where it already is.

Shimmer's coaches work with professionals across every industry that defines Austin's economy. Software engineers managing cognitive overload at fast-growing tech companies. Entrepreneurs trying to build structure into inherently unstructured days. Creative professionals in the music and entertainment scene dealing with inconsistent schedules and project-based work. UT Austin students and researchers navigating academic demands alongside ADHD. Corporate professionals in government and healthcare balancing detail-heavy responsibilities. The matching process takes these differences into account so you work with someone who understands your professional and personal context.

Members consistently describe the difference as significant compared to previous coaching experiences. The structured methodology, the ongoing accountability between sessions, and the ability to switch coaches without friction combine to create something that works with ADHD instead of asking you to power through a broken process to get help.

How do you get started with ADHD coaching

Taking the first step can feel like a big decision. If you have been researching ADHD coaching for weeks or months without actually committing, you are in very good company. That kind of decision paralysis is one of the most common ADHD patterns, and there is a real irony in the fact that the challenges you need help with are the same ones making it hard to seek help in the first place.

Getting started is simpler than the research process makes it seem. You sign up, get matched with a coach, and have your first session. That initial conversation is about your coach getting to know you: your goals, your challenges, what you have already tried, and where you want to focus first. You do not need to arrive with a polished list of objectives or a detailed history of your ADHD journey. Your coach is trained to guide that conversation and help you figure out where to begin.

The first few sessions are about building a foundation. You and your coach will identify what matters most to you right now and start developing strategies tailored to how your brain works. Expect it to feel exploratory at first. You are testing approaches, finding out what sticks, and building trust with someone who is going to be in your corner consistently.

Set realistic expectations. Coaching is not an overnight fix. You will not leave your first session with every executive function challenge resolved. What you will have is a structured starting point, a knowledgeable partner who understands ADHD deeply, and a framework for making steady, compounding progress. Most members start noticing meaningful shifts within the first few weeks as new strategies take hold and small wins begin to build on each other.

If you are ready to stop cycling through browser tabs and start working with a vetted, expert ADHD coach who genuinely understands how your brain works, Shimmer is a good place to begin.