Focused Forward

Images of Balance When our resilience isn’t well developed yet, managing stress can feel like walking a tightrope. Any misstep leads your brain to perceive a threat, leading to the familiar cascade of ADHD symptoms, leading to the feeling that you’re falling, followed by the reality that, yes, you’re falling off that rope, hoping there’s a net unde

“After encountering the concept of the Emotional Distress Syndrome, I was able to acknowledge in therapy how much I felt like a screw-up, for so many years, that I just couldn’t do anything right. From there, I could see how those years of self-doubt, self-criticism and frustration took a toll on my self-esteem and self-worth. This acknowledgement

The work ahead of you is all about building this inner strength, and I do mean building, because people with ADHD come with structural problems. They may have once used their ADHD to function, to see above the problem, to get the oh-crap-it’s-due-tomorrow-at-6am-and-now-it’s-11pm paper written at the last minute, but they can’t seem to pull it off

TRY THIS AT HOME INTUITION WALK Find a time when you have no set schedule—a couple of hours, or a whole day. Go outside and take a walk. When you get to a corner, ask yourself: Which way should I turn? What’s my intuition on this? Follow that immediate response. See where it takes you. When and if you get tired of walking, do something else. Ask yo

Here’s a cheat sheet to help you tell the difference. Impulsive thought: Look at that shiny thing! I want that thing now! Intuitive thought: If I can block out all the shiny distractions and slow down a little, I can perceive an interesting, glimmery possibility, and something about it just feels right. I don’t have to do anything about it right no

David Rock’s Results Coaching System (www.resultscoaches.com).

PUT THIS ON YOUR REFRIGERATOR ADHD is a brain-based difference. It has nothing to do with intelligence. It is not possible to rewire your brain through intelligence or willpower. Structure works. Routines and systems: create them, trust them, use them. It’s not natural to plan, prioritize, or think ahead. If it is not done very deliberately, it wil

“The role of emotional management in adults with ADHD is something the DSM IV criteria don’t touch, but most of us who are clinicians and researchers who deal with adults with ADHD repeatedly encounter patients who have difficulty managing their emotions. For many persons with ADHD, when an emotion hits them, whether it is worry, or they are annoye

Take the familiar issue of losing your car keys. In a perfect world, a coach would also give you a good grounding in how your brain works—what happens in your short-term memory that causes you to misplace things. Then he or she would help you come up with a half-dozen strategies for how not to lose those keys.