ADD Coaching is a process in which a coach works with an individual with ADD on any or all of the following:

• Planning and setting goals

• Building organizational strategies, time management skills, and prioritizing skills

• Developing strategies to maintain focus and concentration Helping to create and maintain a medication titration log

• Creating structure, support and encouragement

• Providing a safe space to work on social skills

• Effectively managing ADD in the workplace

No! Coaching is different from psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is generally long-term and deals with intra and interpersonal issues. Coaching acknowledges these issues but is more interactive. The ADD coach strives to help individuals learn new behaviors and strategies which enable him to overcome areas of difficulty. The coach helps to break tasks down into manageable sized pieces, helps to translate thoughts into actions, and can act as a pillar of support and encouragement.

The client and the coach work as a team, identifying areas of difficulty and agreeing on strategies to use to begin the process of overcoming these difficulties. The client agrees to become accountable for her time and actions, and the coach agrees to hold the client accountable. The coach is flexible and can work with the client in person, by telephone, FAX or an on-line service, in an office, at the client's home, or at the client's work site. The coach is amenable to working alone or in a team with the client's psychotherapist, physician, and/or work site personnel. Individuals with ADD are often aware that they must design their environment so they will be productive and have the proper reminders built in. Using people like supervisors and spouses as coaches often generates feelings of inadequacy and frustration due to the nature of these relationships. The coach is an emotionally neutral person in the life of an individual with ADD. The strong feelings that may be attached to a spouse or supervisor are absent in the coaching relationship. Thus the coach can offer suggestions and reminders, provide structure and boundaries and be perceived by the client as helpful and supportive. Coaching can be the client's way of designing an environment that meets his own unique needs.

Working in particular skill areas such as time management and organization are often a client's primary concern. However, for the individual with ADD symptoms can become more frequent and/or severe during times of stress and fatigue. Paying attention to lifestyle issues in coaching helps individuals learn to promote their own well-being. In addition to working in particular skill areas, the ADD coach supports clients in examining lifestyle issues and making changes. Areas such as diet, sleep habits, exercise programs, and other aspects of self-nurturing are examined. Recommendations are made to foster health and balance in these important aspects of daily life. Coaches also help clients with feelings of being overwhelmed. When they are supersaturated by stimuli, some individuals with ADD tend to "shut down." Coaches help people learn to select target areas to concentrate on - leaving everything else outside the area of focus for that moment.

Coaches and the concept of coaching have been around for a long time. We are all familiar with sports coaches, music teachers, mentors, and role models. Coaching takes place in all aspects of life - in supportive relationships with family members, in business and industry, in extracurricular activities, in tutoring of all kinds. Individuals with ADD often know what changes they want to make in their lives, but don't always know how to make those changes. And most importantly, they can get distracted from their goals. The coach can be instrumental in starting an ongoing process of defining long-range goals and short-term objectives, and in keeping the individual on the defined path once it becomes clear. Many athletes and musicians rely on the knowledge and experience of a coach to help them set and achieve goals and make steady progress. Many individuals with ADD also use a coach to help them assess their strengths and weaknesses, learn how to compensate for weaknesses, and develop personal styles that draw on their strengths.

There are as many answers to this question as there are coaches and clients. Depending on a client's needs, a coaching relationship may last from a few weeks to several months, to an ongoing professional relationship. An average client might expect to spend at least several months in a coaching relationship.

The price for ADD coaching depends on various factors, including geographical region and the qualifications of the coach. The National Coaching Network is the first and only national coaching forum. As standards for ADD coaching are set nationally and as standardized training for coaches becomes available, we may see a more standardized price structure develop.

No. A client has to be willing to be accountable for his time and actions. A client has to want to change inside - not point a finger at her boss, husband, or school. Coaching requires a commitment and day-by-day, hour-by-hour work. Although coaching is also fun, exciting and challenging - the old adage no pain, no gain fits too.

The National Coaching Network knows that there are coaches out there, frequently working alone, without the support of a professional community. We invite you to join with us in creating a national network of ADD coaches. We will provide training, work toward setting industry standards, provide administrative information and support (the ins and outs of setting up and maintaining a coaching practice), and publish a quarterly newsletter, Coaching Matters. We welcome each and every one of you to join the National Coaching Network. We are interested in learning about your personal experience as a coach and invite you to become partners with us in heightening the awareness of the general public regarding the profession of ADD coaching.

Coaches help clients identify and stay on the path(s) to success.

In The Wizard of Oz the path to success was "the yellow brick road" that led to Emerald City. Most people have Emerald Cities, destinations they want to reach. But sometimes, for individuals with ADD, these destinations or goals become obscured; the Emerald City may seem like it is shrouded in fog, the yellow brick road only faintly visible. Perhaps a road map is non-existent, or sign posts along the way difficult to read. The traveler may seek some help to make the way more clear.

In The Wizard of Oz Dorothy is the guide, the coach. She helps the Tin Man, the Lion and the Scarecrow find and stay on the yellow brick road. She coaches them to see their strengths, to recognize that they already have the qualities necessary for success: a heart, courage and a brain. She knows that they are sensitive, brave and smart and helps the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man use these precious qualities effectively.

The ADD coach, like Dorothy, helps clients to accurately access their strengths and weakness, work from their areas of strength, and learn new coping strategies in their areas of weakness.

The ADD coach provides THE 4 S's TO SUCCESS IN COACHING: Structure, Support, Skills, Strategies.

STRUCTURE

Structure, planning, and organization are important factors in everyone?s life; perhaps they are even more important in the life of the individual with ADD, many of whom have difficulties in this critical area. Without structure, we are at the mercy of the winds and are blown about like rudderless ships: we are reactive. With structure, we can craft our days and our destinies, our own course on life's seas: we are pro-active. Both Russell Barkeley and Stephen Covey, among others, use these terms. The coach helps the individual with ADD craft a working structure that will both meet the client's short-term obligations and further his long-term goals.

SUPPORT

Support is important for everyone. It is crucial for individuals with ADD/LD who too often have spent years feeling blamed, criticized and misunderstood. Individuals seeking coaching are frequently working on several levels simultaneously. They want to work on improving skills; yet they also need an opportunity to tell their story, to feel that the coach understands them, has empathy for where they have been and where they want to go.

SKILLS

Individuals with ADD/LD are inconsistent. One day, one hour they can do something (perform); the next they can?t. One day, one hour they experience (perceive) a situation one way; the next it all looks different. The world of the individual with ADD may not be entirely predictable. Bothevents and relationships may be experienced as being somewhat random, with effects not always tied to specific, understandable causes. Therefore, it is necessary for individuals with ADD/LD to work on skill building. When individuals with ADD/LD do work on skill building, their worlds become more predictable.

STRATEGIES

Strategies are the tools coaches use to help individuals with ADD/LD learn new ways to achieve. Strategies are the methods ADD/LD individuals learn to help them more efficiently navigate their lives day by day. Learning new strategies for handling old difficulties is fun, interesting, challenging, rewarding! Developing new ways of thinking, of coping challenge us deeply and require a willingness and commitment to go from "automatic pilot" to the thoughtful, reasoned approach used by seasoned navigators.

Remember the 4 S's to Success in Coaching: