What is ADD Coaching? I hear this question all the time.
As the field of ADD Coaching is relatively new, many people, understandably, do not know about it. When I was a teacher no one ever asked: “Marla, what is teaching?” Like most of us, they assumed that they knew what the work of a teacher entails. Whether that is accurate or not would make for an interesting conversation. I won’t digress here, though.
So, now, as an ADD Coach, I welcome these conversations about my work. It is an opportunity to share my perspective of ADD Coaching, and how this perspective informs my practice. Just like teachers, ADD Coaches describe the service that they provide in different ways.
Here is how I have come to define ADD Coaching…
1. I work with people who have ADD or ADD-like syptoms. They share the concern that they are not satisfied with some aspect of their life. Typically, they have tried many other avenues to address their concerns, but have not been able to make what they consider sufficient progress.
2. I bring my expertise in coaching and knowledge of ADD /executive function to the table. I assist my clients in:
- learning about ADD and their particular ADD traits.
- identifying and using their strengths to reach their goals.
- learning about and implementing strategies and skills that will work for them to address those ADD traits that they find troublesome.
- learning about different types of treatments
3. My clients, in turn, bring to the table their expertise in themselves, their agenda and their willingness to do the necessary work to achieve their goals.
4. We collaborate in figuring out the most effective ways for them to be successful.
5. One way we do this is by co-designing the stages needed to ensure completion of tasks leading to their goals by:
- clarifying and identifying their goals.
- identifying the tasks required to reach these goals, and breaking them into discrete steps.
- creating a schedule for these steps.
- exploring what will help them complete the task and determining how to access needed resources.
- addressing any potential obstacles that might hinder them in reaching their goals.
6. For each step, I provide accountability, as well as support and encouragement, by asking for commitment for each step with the following questions:
- What are you going to do?
- When are you going to do X by?
- How will I know?
7. By holding my clients accountable, as they experiment, we then have the opportunity to assess their actions, by exploring:
- What worked?
- What helped to make the action successful?
- What did not work?
- What got in the way of being successful?
- What additional resources do you need to be successful?
- Taking into consideration all of the above information, what is your plan now?
8.The learning that comes from being held accountable is at the core of ADD Coaching.
ADDed Perspectives Bottom line
ADD Coaching about action, accountability and learning. If there is no action and / or learning, then coaching has not occurred.