WHAT IS COACHING?
The Personal and Professional Coaches Association defines Personal and Professional  Coaching as “...a technique which focuses on the clients’ taking action toward the realization of their  vision, goals and desires.”

Coaching uses a process of inquiry and personal discovery to build the client’s level of awareness and responsibility, and provides the client with structure, support and feedback. Even though personal coaching is still young as a profession, it has given rise to many  “specialty areas” of coaching, including the coaching of individuals with Attention Deficit Disorder and Learning Disabilities.

HOW DOES ADD COACHING WORK ?
ADD Coaching  is a supportive, practical and concrete process in which the coach and the client work together to identify and clarify the client’s goals and to chart a course towards accomplishing these objectives. Most importantly, the coach helps individuals with ADD sustain the motivation and focus necessary to achieve their goals.

The coaching process is highly individualized and takes shape according to the needs of  the person being coached. Regular meetings and telephone check-ins with accountability are the guideposts of the coaching process.  A partnership with a coach can help refocus the client’s energy, ultimately turning failure and frustration into achievement and increased self-esteem.  ADD  Coaches work  with individuals of all ages to help them acknowledge strengths, accept limitations, develop social skills, and actively create strategies that enable them to be more effective in managing their daily lives.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS COACHING CAN HELP ME WITH?
· Organizational skills: setting and maintaining goals
· Time management:     realistic scheduling, creating good health habits
· Medication titration:   self-awareness of effects of medication
· Building self-esteem: letting go and moving on
· Relationship issues:   dealing with boundaries, forgetfulness and impulsivity

COACHING PARENTS
Many parents, with or without ADD/LD, benefit from ongoing coaching that helps with the day-to-day issues such as setting limits, getting chores and homework done, and developing coping skills. Coaching  offers practical strategies for dealing with these issues.

WHY IS COACHING SO EFFECTIVE FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH ADD ?
ADD is - according to Dr. Russell Barkley - a deficit in self-regulation, or of “executive functions.” - the ability to inhibit impulses, control moods, use flexible problem-solving and effective self-directed speech. These executive functions permit forethought and planning, self-discipline and persistence despite interruptions and lack of immediate reinforcement.  Individuals with attention disorders experience difficulty deferring immediate gratification to obtain a long term reward.

Coaching is a perfect “fit” for the ADD brain. It helps individuals with deficits in distractibility and self-regulation by facilitating executive functioning. Individuals with ADD need to impose structure on their world in order to move forward. The coach holds the clients’ focus and helps them initiate action and develop follow through. The coach models rational problem-solving, and positive self-talk, while providing  necessary cues, reminders and support.  The client may ultimately “internalize the coach.”

COACHING STRATEGIES
Coaching strategies are derived from rational-emotive therapy, behavior therapy hypnotherapy, NLP, and, above all, from the field of sports and business coaching. The coach boosts motivation by offering frequent feedback and ongoing support - in order to foster movement away from the past,  and toward the future.
 

1. Co-engineering:
The coaching process is highly individualized and takes shape according to the needs of  the person being coached. The client co-engineers his own structure: face-to face meetings, scheduled and unscheduled telephone check-ins, voice mail and e-mail.

2. Self-discovery:
The client is guided through a process of guided self-discovery, as he is asked to specify values, evaluate strengths and examine weaknesses that may prevent action. For example, he may learn to identify his “time-robbers” - saboteurs of efficient time management: inflexibility, perfectionism, procrastination, unrealistic scheduling, misplaced items  He is then asked to create his own strategies, with “tips” from the coach.

3. Proactivity and accountability:
The guideposts of the coaching process: clients are taught to be proactive - to take action, rather than be reactive, and are held accountable, as they are given deadlines  - to  promote consistency and reliability. Coaches help clients from living in a never-ending sequence of “nows,” in which they are stuck, to being able to plan for a desired positive change.

4.  Empowering questions: The coach asks powerful and motivational questions:

•  What are you tolerating?
•  What are your options?
•  What is the one thing you can change that would make the biggest difference in your life?