PODCAST: COACHING YORK OCT ‘23 #01

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE NEURODIVERGENT IN A NEUROTYPICAL WORLD?

In this first of two podcasts, Fiona and Geoff are joined by Helena Territt, an Executive Coach with a specialism in Neurodiversity. They explore coaching people with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) - a growing trend in our society today. Helena describes ADHD as not so much a deficit of attention, as much as having too much attention with the attendant challenge of regulating where it all goes. In adults the ‘hyperactivity’ tends to me more internal than external. This results in the twin challenges of managing the internal and external flows of data. It’s like having a Ferrari brain with bicycle brakes. Helena outlines the challenges of prioritisation, regulating attention and emotion, working memory, and managing impulses (where we find out about the marshmallow test). We also begin to explore typical strengths found in ADHDers - creativity, the ability to hyper focus to achieve results, endless curiosity, excellent system thinking skills, and the ability to take in a lot of information at once. They explore how ADHD coaching works with the internal and self-defining stories people tell themselves, the particular ways strengths assessments can be used with this client group, and the combination of factors that the coach needs to be aware of, and actively working with, as they journey with their clients.

Helena refers to The AFEEMA model which is a useful, (if somewhat deficit focused) way of understanding ADHD. And here’s a great article which highlights ADHD strengths and summarises some of the key points Helena makes about working successfully with ADHDers.

Available at https://shows.acast.com/63ea2819ccecb30010948356/episodes/65003a391c482e001182bd38?