Rora Coaching
ADHD coaching: what to expect
If you're considering ADHD coaching, you might be wondering what actually happens in a session, whether you need a diagnosis, or what working together involves.
Here are the practical details.
What is ADHD coaching?
ADHD coaching is a collaborative process that gives you space to understand what is happening, identify patterns or points of friction, and work out what might help.
That can involve things such as planning, organisation, getting started, managing competing demands, work, communication, or the systems and structures around you.
The aim is not simply to find another productivity technique. We can look at why a difficulty keeps happening, what is already helping, what may be making things harder, and what might be worth changing.
From there, we can develop practical approaches, try them in real life and refine them from what we learn.
I may also bring in relevant information, frameworks or ideas from psychology, ADHD and executive-function research where they help us make sense of something. These are starting points to explore together rather than a fixed system you are expected to follow.
No.
I work with adults who are formally diagnosed, waiting for assessment, or self-identifying and not currently seeking assessment.
Coaching does not assess or diagnose ADHD. We can work with the difficulties, patterns and goals that are relevant to you without coaching trying to determine whether you meet diagnostic criteria.
ADHD coaching is not therapy, counselling, medical treatment, crisis support or an ADHD assessment.
An ADHD assessment is a clinical process used to determine whether somebody meets diagnostic criteria. Coaching does not provide assessment or diagnosis.
Therapy and psychological treatment have different purposes and professional scopes. Coaching can involve subjects such as emotions, identity, relationships or experiences that matter to you, but it does not become psychotherapy or treatment for a mental-health condition.
There can sometimes be overlap in the topics people bring to different forms of support. Part of working responsibly is being clear about what sits within coaching and what may need support from an appropriately qualified healthcare or mental-health professional instead.
The usual starting point is a free 20-minute introductory call.
It gives us a chance to talk about what has brought you to coaching, what you might like support with, and whether coaching seems like an appropriate next step.
You can ask questions about how I work too.
It is about mutual fit, rather than a sales call. You do not need to make a decision during the conversation, and the call itself is not a coaching session.
If a call is not accessible or suitable for you, we can establish fit in writing instead.
If we decide to work together, I'll send you the information you need to get started, including a short, flexible intake so I have some useful context before our first session.
You do not need to arrive with a perfectly organised agenda.
We will usually start with what feels most useful or important to look at that day.
- making sense of a situation that feels confusing or stuck
- noticing a recurring pattern and exploring what may be contributing to it
- looking at where demands, environment or existing systems are creating friction
- recognising support that is already working
- deciding what might be worth doing differently
- developing a practical approach to try.
Sometimes the useful work is developing a strategy. Sometimes it is gaining enough clarity about why something keeps happening to know what kind of strategy would make sense in the first place.
Sessions do not have to follow an identical formula. Some conversations may benefit from more structure, an exercise or a resource; others may need more space to think something through. We can adapt the way we work according to what is useful.
Sometimes.
We may agree something useful to try, notice or test before the next session. That might be a practical change, a new way of approaching something, or simply paying attention to what happens in a particular situation.
The purpose is to learn from real life rather than to complete homework for its own sake.
If something does not work, that is useful information. We can look at why and adapt it rather than treating it as something you have failed to do correctly.
No formal preparation is required.
You also do not need to know exactly what your goal is before starting coaching.
You may already have something specific you want to work on. Or you may know that something is difficult without yet understanding exactly why.
Both are valid starting points.
If it helps, you can make a note of anything you particularly want to remember or discuss, but coaching should not create another complicated preparation task.
There can be light-touch support between sessions where it is useful.
This might include a personalised recap, relevant resources or brief messages connected to the work we have agreed.
Between-session contact is there to support the coaching process, not to replace a session or provide crisis, therapeutic or medical support.
We can agree what is actually useful rather than applying the same communication structure to everybody.
The standard Rora Coaching offer is six 60-minute sessions, normally used within 12 weeks.
Working across several sessions gives us enough continuity to understand patterns, try approaches in real life and use what happens to refine them.
In the sixth session, we review what has been useful, what you have learned and whether there is anything that still needs attention.
For many people, that may be a natural point to finish.
If there is a clear reason for further coaching, we can agree up to six additional sessions. Continuing is optional.
Yes.
Rora Coaching is delivered online and is available to adults across the UK.
You will receive the joining details before your session.
Information you share as part of coaching is treated confidentially and handled in line with Rora Studio's privacy arrangements and the agreement we make before coaching begins.
There are circumstances where confidentiality cannot be absolute, for example where disclosure is required by law or serious safeguarding concerns arise. Relevant boundaries will be explained before we start working together.
Part of the introductory process is working out whether coaching is a suitable fit for what you need.
That does not mean you need to present a perfectly defined 'coaching problem'. It does mean I need to be confident that what you are looking for sits within my competence and the scope of ADHD coaching.
If it becomes clear that what you need falls outside that scope, I will be open about that rather than trying to make coaching fit something it is not designed to provide.
Ready to talk it through?
You are welcome to book a free 20-minute introductory call to talk about what you are looking for and whether coaching might be useful.
Book a free intro call