Getting to know coaching
ADHD coaching and therapy overlap a little, but they're fundamentally different.
Therapy tends to emphasize feelings, past patterns, and the origin stories behind them, with scope to address trauma, mental health conditions, and emotional or psychological wounding.
ADHD coaching focuses on how ADHD shapes a client's self-perception and way of functioning. It covers practical, day-to-day pieces like task initiation, planning, organizing, alongside deeper work: building a healthy self-narrative, identifying and reinforcing the systems and strengths that have historically worked for you, and learning to appreciate your unique wiring. It can feel like getting a new handbook for life.
It's common and often helpful to work with a therapist and an ADHD coach at the same time. The two complement each other well, addressing the same territory from different angles for wider, deeper growth.Coaching is building. Therapy is holding.
ADHD coaching is strengths-based. We look at your past to understand what's worked and why, and we name and celebrate your strengths along the way. There's room for the sadness, grief, and loss that come with ADHD, but we don't go into deep emotional processing. Over time, a sustained coaching relationship builds discernment, you understand how you work and what it takes for you to thrive.
ADHD therapy goes deeper into emotional processing, and can hold complexity, co-occurring conditions like PTSD alongside ADHD, for instance. There's more room for grief and trauma. It's therapy with someone who truly understands what it means to have ADHD and how damaging it can be when it's gone undiagnosed, dismissed, or invalidated. If the pain of being neurodivergent runs deep, this can feel especially affirming.Sessions are strengths-based and goal-oriented. We follow a simple structure: you tell me what's on your mind, and together we figure out what you'd like to work toward and walk away with by the end of the session.
You bring the goal. I reflect back and ask questions. Together, we find a path toward what you want, all through an ADHD lens.
It's simple on the surface, deep in impact.
Book a free call if you have questions, or just want to get a feel for how sessions work.No formal diagnosis is required. If you suspect you have ADHD, or resonate with common ADHD characteristics, you're welcome. Those with a formal diagnosis are just as welcome.
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I don't diagnose ADHD, and I'm not legally positioned to determine whether you have it.
Absolutely. Medicated or not, I work with adults seeking support around their ADHD, or what they suspect may be ADHD.
It depends.
Medication and ADHD coaching do different things. Medication can improve attention, focus, impulsivity, and working memory. Coaching focuses on understanding how ADHD has shaped your life, rewriting negative stories about yourself, recognizing your strengths, building self-confidence, and developing practical systems that work for your brain, based on who you are.
For some, medication feels like enough. For others, coaching helps them better understand themselves and bring about lasting change.You could be highly educated about ADHD and still not know how it shows up for you personally. Coaching helps uncover deeper layers that general ADHD education doesn't reach.
Just like how you'd go to therapy even if you understand feelings in general.
Is this right for me?
You'll feel it before you recognise it. Your relationship with yourself will begin to shift, more self-acceptance, confidence, and joy. You'll actually understand what's going on with you, and how to navigate life better. You'll recognise your strengths and celebrate yourself more.
It's a journey of incremental shifts. You'll learn practical strategies, and you'll also feel a lot more sure of yourself along the way.
That's how you'll know coaching is working, when you're in the driver's seat instead of ADHD.We'd first understand what results mean to you and have an honest conversation about what, and how much of that, can be achieved through ADHD coaching. Results also depend on the relationship we build together: coaching is teamwork, and the better the coaching relationship, the better the outcome. That means we both show up consistently, I fully commit to understanding you, and you're as open and honest with me as possible.
A coaching relationship typically takes time to form, and the best work is done over 10 to 12 sessions. There's no minimum commitment, but three months gives us both time to build toward sustained results.Coaching is a skill acquired through extensive training and practice. Coaching you and teaching you how to coach someone are two separate skills. I'm qualified to coach you.
That said, if you're navigating someone close to you who has ADHD and would like them to benefit from coaching, we can talk about how best to support you through that.
Working with RITIKA
I am a 31-year-old immigrant South Asian woman currently running my private practice as an ADHD coach out of San Francisco. I hold a Masters in Psychology with a focus on somatics, neuroscience, and neurodivergence, and a year-long specialization in ADHD from ADD Coach Academy.
I was late-diagnosed at age 30, and understand ADHD not just theoretically but through lived and embodied experience.
You can find more about me in the About Me section of my website.Apart from my training and lived experience, my work is supervised by the Director of Training at ADD Coach Academy, a Master Certified ADHD Coach with 15 years of coaching experience and founding president of the Professional Association of ADHD Coaches.
I regularly invest in supervision and upskilling, including reading research papers and attending workshops and conferences on ADHD.Yes. I first suspected I had ADHD while making a presentation on neurodivergence in my Masters program, and soon after got a diagnosis. I'm what would be considered late-diagnosed, at age 30. My symptoms showed up strongest when I moved countries and didn't have my usual support systems from home.
I work with adults of all ages and genders. I especially enjoy working with cisgender BIPOC and immigrant women in their 20s and 30s. My work is queer-affirmative. Whether you're a working professional, student, or someone seeking support around ADHD, you're welcome.
I do not work with people under 18 years of age.
Yes. I've been in a sustained ADHD coaching relationship for almost a year. While my training taught me a lot about ADHD, having a coach really helped me understand my own ADHD. It helped me move through the grief of a late diagnosis and understand what was happening and why. It's been a long process of grieving, making sense of past experiences, rewriting overly negative stories, uncovering strengths, understanding my natural way of functioning, and building systems.
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I still find there's so much for me to learn about myself through an ADHD lens. Alongside therapy, my ADHD coach is part of my support system and helps me function and feel better about myself.
You start by booking a free discovery call. We talk about your interest in coaching, I answer any questions you have about what coaching entails, and we discuss if and how coaching could work for you. We also use this time to assess if we're the right fit for each other.
A discovery call is a free 20-minute call. You can use this time to learn what ADHD coaching is, tell me what's on your mind, and share what got you to book the call with me. There's no pressure to know what you want or what you're going to say, and if you do know exactly what you want, that's absolutely welcome too. We use this time to discover what our work together could look like. No pressure, no prep needed.
Sessions take place online. Discovery calls can be booked on the website. Once we enter a coaching agreement, you'll have the option to book sessions through the coaching member portal, details of which will be shared via email.
Logistics and investment
We discuss pricing during the discovery call. You can choose between one-off sessions or a package, depending on your needs and budget.
I'd recommend a minimum of 12 sessions to see real change. However, it's entirely up to you, you can do as little as one session or as much as you'd like. There's no minimum requirement, but real change takes understanding, experimenting, and building, all of which takes time.
Depends on your needs and budget. We could meet weekly, every 10 days, fortnightly, or monthly, entirely up to you. That said, I'd recommend meeting every week or every 10 days in the beginning, and revisiting the frequency as needs change. Most people find it helpful to have a space they can visit on a regular basis and feel supported, confident, and energised.
I ask for a 24-hour window for a free cancellation or reschedule. Full details are included in your client agreement, which will be emailed to you should we decide to work together.