You've already Googled it. Probably more than once. You typed "ADHD coach San Jose" or "ADHD coaching Silicon Valley" into a search bar, got back a wall of results, opened six tabs, skimmed a few websites, noticed half of them seemed to say the same vague things about unlocking potential, and then closed the whole browser because the executive function required to research executive function support is a cruel joke. Somewhere between the performance coaches, the life coaches, the biohacking consultants, and the actual clinical providers, you lost track of what you were even looking for.

This is a uniquely San Jose problem. In a region where optimization is the default mindset and half the people you know have opinions on nootropics, there is no shortage of people offering to help you perform better. The Valley attracts people who think in systems, who love a good framework, who would genuinely read the research if someone pointed them to the right papers. That same culture produces an overwhelming number of productivity-adjacent services that blur together. Coaching, consulting, mentoring, accountability partnerships, mastermind groups. Some of them are built on solid methodology. Many of them are not. And the ones marketing themselves as ADHD-specific are a subset you have to dig to find and work even harder to evaluate.

Then there is the cost layer. Living in San Jose means your baseline expenses are already astronomical. Median home prices clearing $1.4 million. Childcare that rivals mortgage payments in other states. When you're already stretched, adding another monthly expense requires confidence that it will actually produce results. You need to know the investment is going somewhere, not just toward weekly conversations that feel supportive but don't change anything.

This guide breaks down what ADHD coaching actually is, what separates qualified specialists from everyone else using the term, what effective methodology looks like, and how to find a coach in the San Jose area who understands the way your brain works. All of it, from credentials to cost to the practical steps for getting started.

What is the difference between ADHD coaching, therapy, and psychiatry

In the Bay Area, where therapy is culturally mainstream and half the tech companies in the Valley include mental health benefits in their packages, these three types of support still get confused constantly. Understanding where each one fits helps you figure out what you actually need right now.

ADHD coaching is forward-focused and action-oriented. You work with a coach to build practical systems, strategies, and habits for the specific challenges ADHD creates in your daily life. That includes things like getting started on tasks you've been avoiding, managing your time when your internal clock seems fundamentally broken, following through on commitments, and organizing the chaos that accumulates when executive function is unreliable. Coaching is about what you want to accomplish and what is getting in the way right now. Your coach helps you develop approaches that fit the way your brain actually operates instead of trying to force neurotypical productivity methods that have already failed you dozens of times.

Therapy works on the emotional and psychological layers underneath the daily challenges. A licensed therapist can help you process anxiety, depression, or the accumulated frustration of going years (sometimes decades) without understanding why certain things felt so much harder for you than they seemed to be for everyone else. Many adults in the Bay Area start with therapy because it is familiar and accessible, and that makes sense. But therapy alone often does not give you the hands-on tactical tools for managing executive dysfunction, which is the clinical term for difficulty with planning, initiating tasks, organizing, and regulating attention. Therapy helps you understand the emotional landscape. Coaching helps you build systems that work within it.

Psychiatry handles the medical dimension. A psychiatrist can formally diagnose ADHD, prescribe and manage medication, and monitor how treatment is working over time. If you are exploring medication or need an official diagnosis, this is where that happens. Stanford's Department of Psychiatry and UCSF both have significant ADHD clinical programs in the broader Bay Area, which means the region has strong diagnostic resources compared to much of the country.

These three paths are not mutually exclusive. Plenty of adults with ADHD use all three simultaneously. You might see a psychiatrist for medication, a therapist for processing the emotional weight of late diagnosis, and a coach for building the daily systems that keep your work and personal life functional. In California, therapy and psychiatry visits may be partially covered by insurance depending on your plan, while coaching typically is not. We will dig into cost specifics later.

The core distinction with coaching is that it is present-focused and practical. You are not analyzing the past. You are building strategies that help you stop missing deadlines, hold routines together, and follow through on what matters to you.

What credentials should a real ADHD coach have

This is where the evaluation gets critical, especially in Silicon Valley. The tech ecosystem here is full of smart, high-performing people who transition into coaching roles after successful careers in product management, engineering leadership, or consulting. Some of them bring real skill to the work. But career accomplishment is not the same thing as clinical coaching training, and the title "ADHD coach" is completely unprotected. There is no California state license for it. No board certification required. No minimum hours of supervised practice mandated by any regulatory body. Anyone can put it on a LinkedIn profile tomorrow and start booking clients.

So how do you figure out who actually has the expertise to help?

PAAC certification is one of the strongest signals of quality. PAAC stands for the Professional Association of ADHD Coaches. A PAAC-certified coach has completed ADHD-specific training programs meeting rigorous standards, including supervised coaching hours and demonstrated competency in the particular challenges ADHD creates. This is not a weekend workshop or an online certificate you finish in a few days. It represents serious, specialized investment in understanding how ADHD affects adults across every domain of life.

ICF credentials add an important layer. The International Coaching Federation is the most widely recognized accrediting body in the coaching profession globally. An ICF-credentialed coach has completed extensive training hours, logged a required number of coaching sessions with real clients, and passed a formal competency evaluation. ICF credentials on their own do not guarantee someone understands ADHD specifically. But combined with ADHD-focused training, they signal a coach who takes both their craft and their specialization seriously.

Lived experience with ADHD is genuinely valuable. A coach who personally navigates ADHD may bring deeper intuitive understanding to sessions and a practical empathy that is hard to learn from a textbook. But lived experience without professional training is not sufficient on its own. You want both. Personal understanding paired with structured, evidence-based coaching methodology is where the strongest coaches operate.

Red flags that come up frequently in the Valley's market:

• No specific training or credentials anywhere on their website or profile

• Qualifications listed only as personal ADHD experience or general career success

• Promises of specific outcomes ("I'll optimize your productivity in 30 days")

• No mention of supervision, continuing education, or any framework guiding their sessions

• A coaching approach that sounds more like friendly advice from a successful friend than structured professional support

Questions to ask any coach before you commit:

• 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 peer consultation on your coaching work?

• What methodology or framework guides your sessions?

• How do you track progress and measure whether coaching is actually working?

• What does support look like between sessions?

Asking these questions is self-advocacy, not confrontation. Any coach who has genuinely invested in their training will walk you through their credentials and approach without hesitation. If someone gets vague, deflects, or only talks about their personal journey, that is useful information.

Does virtual coaching work well for people in San Jose

San Jose stretches across the Santa Clara Valley floor in a way that makes most neighborhoods feel suburban even though you are in the tenth largest city in the country. The practical reality is that getting from Almaden Valley to North San Jose during work hours can take 45 minutes easily, and that is before you factor in the stretch up to Palo Alto or Mountain View where a lot of specialized practitioners set up shop. Silicon Valley as a region is geographically sprawling, and the providers you find may not be anywhere near where you actually live or work.

But the scheduling issue is what makes virtual coaching especially practical here. If you work in tech, your days are probably packed with standups, sprint reviews, one-on-ones, and deep work blocks that shift depending on the release cycle, the team, or whatever fire started overnight. Finding a consistent weekly time slot for an in-person appointment across town is a project management challenge in itself. Virtual coaching slots into the gaps that already exist in your calendar. A session can happen from your home office in Willow Glen, a conference room in your North First Street campus, or wherever you happen to be when the time arrives.

The bigger advantage goes beyond convenience, though. When you limit your search to coaches within driving distance of San Jose, you are matching based on geography. When geography is not a factor, you can match based on what actually matters: a coach who specializes in the specific challenges you face, whose communication style fits how you process things, who has experience working with people in your industry or life situation. A coach based in another city who has spent years working with engineers managing ADHD in high-output tech environments may be a significantly better fit than a generalist practitioner with an office ten minutes from your house.

Virtual coaching also lowers the switching cost if the first match is not right. There is no new geographic search. No rebuilding a shortlist. You connect with someone different and keep going.

For a metro area as spread out as Silicon Valley, where the "local" options might be scattered across a dozen cities from Gilroy to Redwood City, virtual coaching fundamentally expands who you can work with and makes it realistic to prioritize expertise and fit over proximity.

What does quality ADHD coaching methodology actually look like

The difference between structured, evidence-based ADHD coaching and a weekly conversation with a well-meaning person is significant. Methodology is where that difference lives, and in a market like San Jose where plenty of smart, accomplished people offer coaching services, it matters more than most people realize when choosing who to work with.

Evidence-based frameworks are the foundation. One widely used approach is the COM-B model, a behavioral science framework that identifies three factors driving any behavior change: Capability (do you have the skills and knowledge), Opportunity (does your environment support the change), and Motivation (do you have the internal and external drive). Instead of generic advice like "just use a task manager," a coach working from this framework helps you figure out whether the actual barrier is that you don't know how to break large projects into small steps (capability), that your open-plan office is an attention minefield (opportunity), or that the project doesn't connect to anything you genuinely care about (motivation). Then they target the real bottleneck. Another research-backed tool is implementation intentions, which are specific if/then plans that bridge the gap between wanting to do something and actually doing it. Rather than "I should go to the gym more," an implementation intention looks like "When my last meeting ends on Monday and Wednesday, I will change into workout clothes before I open Slack."

Structured sessions versus open-ended conversation is a critical dividing line. In structured coaching, your sessions follow a framework. There is a clear thread connecting one session to the next. Goals are tracked over time. Progress gets measured against concrete markers. You build on previous work rather than starting fresh every week. Open-ended sessions can feel good in the moment, but they tend to drift. And drift is something most of us with ADHD already have plenty of.

Between-session support is where many coaching relationships succeed or quietly fall apart. ADHD does not pause between your weekly calls. The insight you had during Tuesday's session can feel completely irrelevant by Thursday if nothing reinforces it. Quality coaching includes some form of ongoing support between sessions, whether that is messaging access, community connection, or structured check-in points. This continuity is what allows new strategies to actually take root instead of evaporating within days.

Executive dysfunction-specific approaches are non-negotiable. Generic coaching techniques often assume a baseline level of executive function that people with ADHD do not reliably have. Executive dysfunction means difficulty with working memory, time perception (sometimes called time blindness), task initiation, and emotional regulation around tasks. A methodology designed for ADHD accounts for all of this. It builds systems around these realities rather than pretending they do not exist.

Community and peer support adds a dimension that isolated one-on-one coaching cannot. Connecting with other adults working through similar challenges creates shared accountability, normalization, and practical learning from people who genuinely understand your experience. Hearing that someone in a comparable situation tried a specific approach and it actually worked has weight that theoretical advice does not carry.

Coach supervision and ongoing training is the piece most people never think to ask about. Coaches who work independently with no oversight can develop blind spots, fall behind on current research, or drift into habits that do not serve their clients well. Regular supervision means a qualified professional is reviewing their work, providing feedback, and holding quality high. The majority of independent coaches have no such structure in place.

Two coaches can have similar-looking websites and comparable pricing, but one is using a rigorous, supervised methodology and the other is improvising session by session based on personal experience. The only way to tell them apart is by knowing the right questions to ask.

How much does ADHD coaching cost

Let's talk numbers directly, because cost matters and it matters differently in the Bay Area than in most other places in the country.

Nationally, individual ADHD coaching sessions typically range from $150 to $300 per session. Monthly coaching packages generally fall between $300 and $600 per month depending on session frequency, length, and the coach's experience level. In San Jose and the broader Silicon Valley area, pricing often lands at the higher end of those ranges or above. The cost of living here pushes overhead higher for practitioners, and the market bears premium pricing because the local population is accustomed to paying more for specialized services.

The impulse to find the lowest price point is completely understandable. In a region where your rent or mortgage already absorbs a staggering percentage of your income, adding another recurring expense feels significant. But the cheapest coaches tend to be the least experienced, with fewer credentials and less structured methodology. Coaches who have invested substantially in ADHD-specific training, ICF certification, and ongoing supervision charge more because their expertise and professional overhead are both higher. Low pricing is not automatically a red flag, but unusually low rates are worth questioning.

Insurance typically does not cover coaching. This is true across California and most other states. Coaching is not classified as therapy or a medical service, and most insurance plans do not include it as a covered benefit.

FSA and HSA funds can often be used. If your employer offers a Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account, ADHD coaching may qualify as an eligible expense. Many tech companies in the Valley offer robust HSA programs. Paying with pre-tax dollars effectively reduces the cost by 20 to 30 percent depending on your tax bracket. Some tech companies also include coaching stipends or mental health spending accounts as part of their benefits packages. It is worth checking what your employer offers.

When you weigh the investment, consider what it costs to keep going without support. Missed project deadlines that affect your performance reviews. Promotions you did not get because you could not consistently demonstrate follow-through. The compounding stress of feeling like you are always running behind despite being fully capable. Effective coaching pays for itself when it helps you perform reliably in the areas that directly affect your career and quality of life.

How do you find and vet coaches in the San Jose area

Armed with an understanding of what coaching is, what credentials matter, and what quality methodology looks like, the actual search begins. In Silicon Valley's dense market of productivity-adjacent services, this part takes real effort.

Where to start looking:

The PAAC directory (Professional Association of ADHD Coaches) is the most targeted starting point. Every coach listed has met specific ADHD training requirements. The ICF directory is broader but useful for independently verifying a coach's credentials. CHADD of Northern California / Silicon Valley covers the San Jose and broader Valley area, offering support meetings and resources. CHADD stands for Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. The Northern California chapter is part of a generally active Bay Area ADHD community, and the support meetings can be valuable not just for connection but for getting firsthand recommendations from people who have actually worked with coaches in the region. Beyond CHADD, the Bay Area has multiple neurodivergent community organizations and meetup groups where you can find peer reviews and referrals.

Stanford University in nearby Palo Alto runs significant ADHD research programs and clinical services, and while they are focused on the clinical and academic side rather than coaching, the broader Stanford network sometimes connects to practitioner referrals. It is another thread to pull.

The vetting challenge specific to San Jose and the Valley:

The tech culture here means a lot of coaches frame their services around performance optimization, productivity systems, and career advancement. Some of this is genuine ADHD coaching with relevant expertise. Some of it is general executive coaching or career coaching with ADHD language layered on top because the market demand is there. The burden of distinguishing between these falls entirely on you. You need to verify credentials independently (not just accept what a website says), schedule consultation calls, and evaluate whether someone truly understands ADHD at a clinical and practical level or just knows the vocabulary.

During a consultation call, pay attention to whether the coach:

• Asks about your specific challenges before describing their program

• Can clearly explain their methodology and framework

• Mentions supervision, continuing education, or structured quality practices

• Communicates in a style that feels natural and useful to you

• Is transparent about pricing, what is included, and what to expect

When the match is not right:

If you go through this entire process, commit to a coach, and realize after a few sessions that the fit is off, you are essentially starting over. New research, new calls, new consultations, new financial commitment. For someone dealing with the executive function challenges that brought you to this search in the first place, restarting that cycle is genuinely exhausting. Even with solid resources like CHADD, the professional directories, and the Bay Area's active ADHD community, the entire weight of researching, vetting, verifying, evaluating fit, and beginning again if needed sits on your shoulders.

Why did we build Shimmer

That cycle of searching, vetting, hoping, and restarting is exactly why Shimmer exists. We built it because we have been through it ourselves and knew the process was fundamentally broken.

The quality problem is solved before you ever show up. Shimmer's 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. And they are not hired and then left on their own. Shimmer coaches receive ongoing supervision and continuing education, which means they are consistently held to a high standard. The methodology is consistent across the platform, grounded in behavioral science frameworks built specifically for how ADHD brains work. You are not gambling on whether a given coach happens to have a quality approach. The approach is embedded in the system.

Matching is built into the experience instead of being your problem to solve. Rather than spending weeks researching coaches and hoping the one you pick works out, Shimmer matches you with a coach based on your specific challenges, preferences, and goals. If the match does not feel right, you switch. No uncomfortable conversation. No starting the search from scratch. No financial penalty. You connect with someone new and keep moving. That alone is a fundamentally different model from the traditional path where a bad match sends you back to Google to start the whole process over.

The methodology extends well beyond your weekly session. Shimmer's coaching framework is rooted in science-backed approaches to behavior change and executive function support. Sessions are structured, goal-oriented, and connected to each other over time. But the support does not disappear between sessions. Shimmer includes community access where you connect with other members navigating similar challenges. That combination of expert one-on-one coaching and peer community builds accountability and ongoing support that a single weekly call, regardless of how good it is, simply cannot replicate alone.

The risk is minimal. Shimmer offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Pricing is transparent and straightforward with no hidden fees. You know exactly what you are getting and what it costs before you commit anything. Compare that to the traditional path where you might spend $300 or more on an initial session with a coach you found through a search engine, only to realize a few sessions in that their approach does not match the way your brain operates.

Virtual-first means all of San Jose and Silicon Valley is covered. Whether you are in Evergreen, Cambrian Park, downtown San Jose, or anywhere across the Valley corridor, you get the same access to quality coaching. No commute across the sprawl. No geographic limitations. Consistent, expert support that fits into your life wherever you already are.

Shimmer's coaches work with adults across the industries and lifestyles that define this region. Engineers managing ADHD while shipping code on aggressive sprint cycles. Startup founders juggling a hundred priorities with no external structure. Product managers trying to hold it together across multiple cross-functional teams. Parents in dual-income households balancing demanding tech careers with family responsibilities while their own ADHD goes unaddressed. The matching process accounts for these differences so you work with someone who understands your specific context, not just ADHD in the abstract.

How do you get started with ADHD coaching

If you have been reading about ADHD coaching for a while without actually starting, you are in extremely familiar company. The irony of executive function challenges getting in the way of seeking help for executive function challenges is something most of us in the ADHD community understand at a personal level.

Getting started is more straightforward than the research process suggests. You sign up, get matched with a coach, and have your first session. That initial conversation is about your coach understanding you: your goals, your challenges, what you have tried before, and what has not worked. You do not need to arrive with a perfectly organized list of objectives or a comprehensive history of every productivity system you have attempted and abandoned. Your coach is trained to guide the conversation and help you figure out where to focus first.

Early sessions lay the groundwork. You and your coach will identify what matters most to you right now and start developing strategies designed for how your brain actually works. Expect the first few weeks to be exploratory. You are testing approaches, observing what sticks, and building a working relationship with someone who is genuinely in your corner.

Set realistic expectations. Coaching is not a patch you deploy once and walk away from. You will not leave your first session with every executive function challenge resolved. What you will have is a structured starting point, a coach who understands ADHD deeply, and a framework for building consistent progress over time. Most members begin noticing meaningful shifts within the first few weeks as new strategies and habits start to hold.

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