Can This ADDer Be Saved? – Part 4

Finding the Right ADD Coach for YOU
– Ten Points from Katy 

*”Katy,” “Barb,” and the details of this story are a composite of the process and progress of several ADDers working with the author, to honor the confidentiality of the client/coach alignment and to better illustrate a sense of the ADD Coaching process.
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 Click HERE to read PART 3 :” Katy’s Coaching Notebook

Katy suggests you make SURE you can answer yes to each of the following ten points as you interview coaches to work with YOUR precious life. (Barb says, “Interview, schminterview, go with your gut!”).

My Coach is:

1.  Thoroughly knowledgeable about ADD, especially my kind of ADD.

2.  Able to share information readily.  Never makes me feel “stupid” or “intellectually lazy.”

3.  Someone who never pressures me into a quick decision or makes me feel like it is important to him or her that I take their advice or agree with their point of view.

4.  A good strategizer – can explain a systematized way of working clearly, yet is flexible enough to adapt to my preferences.  My coach may be the expert on Coaching and ADD, but I am the only expert on me and what I need.

5.  A good fit for me — we both enjoy each other’s communication style.  When we don’t communicate completely, s/he requests more information from me or explains him or herself to me in another way.

6.  Willing and able to work in a format that works for me.  I have interviewed at least 3 coaches who work in at least a few of the different formats that appeal to me — email, phone, face-to-face or combination, weekly, brief calls daily, etc.

7.  Someone I can trust — enough to try things s/he suggests and to tell the whole truth, even in areas where I have developed “rehearsed cover stories.”  I know s/he needs “nothing but the truth” to tailor the Coaching approach to reflect the results I report, and that s/he will keep our sessions strictly confidential.

8.  Truthful but gentle.  I feel in my gut that I can trust my ADD Coach to work with me in a way that keeps me challenged without making me feel shut down or shamed.

9.  An ADD resource, and a source for materials developed especially for ADD coaching.  She knows how to help me track my medications on a log I can take to my doctor.

10.  A well-trained ADD professional –

• s/he clearly articulates practice standards,
• reminds me gently when I oops,
• has well-developed listening skills,
• endorses more than s/he corrects,
• always listens from belief, even while s/he articulates a feeling that something seems a little incongruent or “off,” and
• knows a lot of different ways to get things done!

Both Katy and Barb wish you success in the search for your ADD coach, and send wishes that your days become as enjoyable as theirs.  

If money’s tight, don’t be like Barb.  Check out Peer Coaching Basic Training – don’t let lousy finances keep you from the wild success we ALL deserve!

If you are interested in working with ME – go to the e-me form (on top menu) to let me know.  I will respond by private email — but BE SURE to click the appropriate box or it won’t file correctly and THIS ADD Poster Girl might NEVER find it!

Sorry, but due to the technical skills of spammer narcissists,
I can’t post my email to make it more ADD-friendly

BY THE WAY - I’ve gotten a lot of positive response about Katy and Barb – so I may be adding new articles to keep you updated on their progress.  You’ll find them in the “Working with an ADD Coach” category.

You DO realize that they are not “real” people, right?  Katy and Barb are a compilation of many of the items and issues that many of my clients bring to ADD coaching.

It would be a violation of client confidentiality to disclose “real client” detail in any manner that might allow anyone to figure out who I’m talking about.

Response to my male commentors:  I hear you!  If this series continues, we’ll zap a few lucky guys with an ADD diagnosis too; PARENTS; maybe I’ll bring in a whole ADD family!

If you’d like email notification of other posts about this particular series (or anything new posted to this site), AS ALWAYS, give your name and email address to the nice form near the top of the skinny right sidebar (you only have to do this once, btw, so if you asked for notification earlier, you’re covered).  STRICT No Spam policy

Related articles

• Different Kinds of ADHD, Different Kinds of Coaches (psychologytoday.com)

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Assorted articles about ADD and ADDCoach Concepts:

• ABOUT Boggle
• ABOUT Black & White Thinking
• Reframing: Changing the Frame changes the VIEW
• ADD Overview 101 (#1 of 5)
• A Bunch of Words about FIT – Part 1 of 4

A few Articles in the Attention series: