What it's like to train as an ADHD Coach with me
ADHD coaching isn't the kind of job you get told about at school. I didn't even find out I had ADHD until age 25, so it makes sense as to why I couldn't pick a career path: I had no idea it existed!
Talking to an ADHD coach who actually got the way my brain worked was like meeting Hagrid and finding out Hogwarts existed. There were other people out there like me!
This is what has come up in all of the ADHD coaching and training I've done since: the feeling that we are not alone.
Validation of a lifetime of shaming ourselves for being ourselves. Acceptance of who we are and what's happened to us, whilst finally forgiving ourselves for the crime of being so 'weird'. Realising that maybe it's not the worst thing in the world to be a misfit, and following this thread until it leads us to where we're meant to be.
For me, ADHD coaching was the difference between me hating myself and accepting myself. This is why I do what I do, because everybody deserves this - especially after a lifetime of feeling so alone and misunderstood.
Having just finished the second ADHD Works Coaching Training within 6 months (and 50 new ADHD coaches), here are some reflections on how I created this course:
1) You get coaching at the same time
The best advice I've ever heard on coaching is: 'if you want to be a coach, get a coach.' You don't necessarily need my (or any) course to become an ADHD Coach, but what you do need is to understand what ADHD coaching is and what you want from it.
As a chronic people pleaser, I'd thought about coaching as a job before discovering ADHD coaching - but then found out it was completely different to what I thought. Coaching isn't about coming up with the solutions or telling people what to do: it's about empowering them to do this for themselves.
Our clients are the experts in themselves, but having tailored ADHD knowledge and understanding of how to apply this in a coaching context is what makes this unique. If you can coach someone with Pathological Demand Avoidance (very common with ADHD-ers!), you can coach anyone!
I built this course to ensure people get coaching alongside training, because I know the best way to do something is to fully experience it. Having graduated with a 2:1 law degree and theoretical knowledge I had zero idea how to apply in the real world, I need things to be engaging, fun, and relevant to learn - and teach - myself! So we have live trainings where I coach a volunteer student, to show how the 'theory' is applied in a real scenario, before people practice on each other (alongside extra practice sessions in the Coaching Lounge!).
My favourite part of this is that coaches get to experience coaching literally on the exact issues they're navigating. My answer to most questions is: get coaching - you're your own best expert!
'I have learned more than i could have imagined. It has profoundly changed my understanding of me, and how I can help others do the same.' - Sam Williams CEng MIET CSEP MINCOSE
'It's completely changed the course of my life. I have a purpose and a passion for something like I've not felt before. I've never wanted to be an entrepreneur; it just took me finding my passion to take that leap and start my first ever business. I'm so much more confident now in advocating my needs and boundaries to those around me. It's given me the skills to understand and manage my own diagnosis.' - Anna Hall
2) You get to do what you know - and help others to do the same
Having a developmental delay in executive functioning skills means that ADHD-ers KNOW what to do, they just don't do it.
This is why neurotypical coaching doesn't work so well for ADHD-ers - we know the answers. We've tried every single to-do list, app, planner, hack, TikTok tip, routine, and strategy - you name it, we've tried it. Telling people what to do doesn't work, but helping them to understand why they can't do what they want to do does.
My publisher forced me to include chapter 'E is for Executive Functioning' in ADHD: an A to Z . I fought against this because I didn't really understand it - until I did - and it all made sense. Last year, I presented to the World Health Organization about how outdated diagnostic criteria was threatening lives. Hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention do not describe the myriad of ways ADHD can show up in our lives, with 1 in 4 ADHD women having attempted suicide.
The executive functioning angle made sense: emotional regulation challenges (i.e Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria), planning ahead, problem solving, self-awareness, memory - all of these neurological explanations of how ADHD genuinely shows up in our lives.
This is why I created the ADHD Works Executive Functioning Coaching Method, a series of exercises to coach people through so they can understand what ADHD actually means for them - and what they want to do with it. The lessons and trainings are recorded, with life-long access.
One of my favourite things about the course is knowing that a lot of people who do it are neurodivergent, so I push them all immediately to do what they know. Our first training session is on introductory calls, because what's the point in learning how to do something if you never use it?
Being uncomfortable is the quickest way to grow, and is there's one thing I want people to takeaway from this course, it's growth. This course has attracted lots of perfectionist coaches who have done LOTS OF COURSES - but they need to stop learning theory and start putting it into practice.
To pass the course, they need to demonstrate their ability to do what they know with real life clients. They get to experience what we teach them first-hand, with the safety of supervision and support.
'The course was brilliant and gave me so much new information! I feel like I benefited not only through knowledge and skills, but also by application - having ways to find out about my unique brain and how it works has been life changing and put me on a really good path with managing and understanding my own ADHD.' - Heidi Smith
3) You get to meet people who are like you
When I ran the first coaching training in January, I had no idea what to expect. I hoped that maybe 10 people would do it, but we had 25 sign up. I'd planned to run another in September, but due to high demand to do this earlier, I ran another in June - with 30 people.
These people are from all over the world. They come with a huge range of experiences and backgrounds, but the one thing that unites them all is a passion to understand the misunderstood - often because they've experienced this themselves.
One coach said that before this course, she'd never been able to connect with women - and that's all the proof she needs for ADHD being a 'real' thing. Feeling like you belong somewhere, with people who genuinely support you exactly as you are, is something we all need.
It's incredible to see the difference in people developing in confidence and growth throughout the 6 weeks of training. When I pointed this out to one student, they explained it was because of being surrounded by a community of people who 'got' them for the first time. As they said, alone, we're invisible - but together, it becomes real.
'I am grateful to have built knowledge and new friendships in a lovely community - it's been a safe space and I feel like despite being pushed out of my comfort zone, I have thrived and been brave.' - Heidi Smith
There are literally millions of coaches out there - but very few ADHD coaches. Those that do exist are very likely to be burnt out and overwhelmed, because it can be a lonely, stressful job. The gift of being able to help people to transform their own lives comes with serious responsibilities and ethical duties, especially in an ADHD context.
ADHD isn't a quirky niche to coach people on - it's a serious, life-threatening neurodevelopmental condition. Having a long-lasting community of people who can support you when things get tough is crucial to a sustainable, happy, and successful career.
This is why I've set up the ADHD Works Coaches Community, to keep this going. Throughout the course, our coaches have access to a channel where I become a living ADHD-Chat-GPT, answering questions all day and all night - but now we've figured out a way to share all of these resources with our wider community of ADHD Works coaches on an ongoing basis.
'A safe place which is the ultimate of importance when you've spent 45 years of your life looking for your tribe!' - Joanne Magill
I have learned more than i could have imagine it has profoundly changed my understanding of me, and how i can help others do the same.
I never could have imagined that I'd be training and certifying ADHD coaches as my job - or just how much I'd love it.
Growing up neurodivergent in a neurotypical world has always made me feel like an outsider, or that I'm somehow doing things wrong - but leaning into this and embracing doing things my way is an incredibly empowering way to live my life.
If you want to join us in April, head here.
Jump in and do it. The community, self-understanding, and practical experience you'll gain is definitely worth it - for you and for those you'll serve through coaching. - Lizzie Somerfield