Welcome to Free To Be ADHD Coaching!
Have you been living with ADHD? So have we!
But after years of struggle, we have learned many lessons about how to live successfully with ADHD. We’d like to offer you the opportunity to benefit from our life experiences, our struggles and growth, as well as our ADHD-specific coach training. We invite you to consider engaging with either of us, Neil or Linda Swanson, in a coaching relationship. Coaching can change your life, as it has ours!
For many years we were living in a puzzle. There were lots of questions and few answers. Eventually we learned that what was underlying our challenges was ADHD. Neil was finally diagnosed at age 60, and a few years later Linda was also diagnosed.
We began to work with coaches and other supportive professionals. Eventually we both enrolled in the ADD Coach Academy, graduated from the advanced program, and earned the professional credentials to become professional ADHD coaches ourselves. What had been a puzzle gradually turned into an adventure that we expect to enjoy for the rest of our lives!
If you are on your way from puzzle to adventure, we would like to invite you to engage with either of us as your ADHD coach to support you on your journey!
If you would like to learn more about coaching or about us, take advantage of our Free Introductory Conversation. There is no obligation. Using this Contact Us link, request an opportunity to talk to one of us. To help you decide which one, you might want to use the “About Us” tab at the top of this page.
We look forward to hearing from you! There’s no time like the present to discover ADHD coaching!
Warmly, Neil and Linda Swanson
Take a moment to meet us in the video at the right.
If you would like to chat about how one of us might partner with you as you move toward your goals and dreams, we offer you the opportunity of a free introductory conversation. We can talk in person or by phone, Skype, or FaceTime, so geography is no barrier.
Our mission as coaches is to listen to you fully and to accept you non-judgmentally. This provides you with a space in which you can feel FREE TO BE your amazing, unique self. Building on that foundation of self-acceptance, you . . .
- grow in courage and wisdom
- begin to let go of old, limiting beliefs
- open to new ways of looking at yourself and your experience
- feel safe trying new things and taking risks
- expand your views of what is possible for you
- accomplish things you had once doubted were possible
Explore this site, check the “Events” link for the schedule of classes and support group meetings, download the free e-book, check out our blog and YouTube channel, subscribe to our occasional newsletter, and contact us with any questions or comments and to schedule your free introductory conversation with either of us.
To Your Success!
Before becoming a client with Neil, I looked at my ADD as a weakness. Coaching has allowed me to see myself in a new light. This new light allows me to focus on my innate strengths and abilities, as I move forward with a stronger sense of self. The impact and understanding of my life that I have gained from working with Neil has been invaluable.
DL, OregonLinda was there to listen to what I was dealing with NOW and how to move FORWARD. She met me where I was at and listened and talked about what I WANTED to talk about and really helped me figure out what I WANTED. It was all driven by me. It was also beneficial the fact that she could relate to what I was going through, the cycles of anxiety and everything that comes with it. I have now picked a career path (which before I could never make up my mind on) and have been accepted into school.
DS, Washington StateCould It Be ADHD? Download Our Free eBook.
If you are wondering what is the next step to take when you suspect ADHD, we invite you to download our free eBook. This little book offers seven steps you can take and includes links to numerous helpful resources.
The ADHD Puzzle
Some things those of us with ADHD do just don’t make sense, either to ourselves or to others. For example, we are inconsistent. When those of us with ADHD are in the flow of working on something we find interesting, creative, or challenging, we can often outperform most others. Few can focus as intensely as we can!
But if our assignment or task is not interesting or creative or challenging, if we find it painfully boring, it can be impossible to even start, much less finish. If we do finally start, the slightest interesting distraction can pull us away and leave us unable to refocus on the original task.
Have you experienced this ADHD puzzle of inconsistency? What’s going on? Are you just lazy, as people might tell you and as you might have begun to believe? Are you intentionally choosing to do only your favorite things and avoiding jobs you dislike?
If you haven’t understood what is going on in your brain in situations like that and haven’t yet learned new ways to respond, it’s not likely that your family members, teachers, employers, and friends have understood you either. This may have led to disappointment, arguments, and bad feelings – even shame and despair. There is a way to get beyond this situation that is so often experienced by folks living the puzzle of AHDD.
The ADHD Adventure
One way to begin to solve the puzzle of ADHD and move into the adventure of ADHD is to work with an ADHD coach, someone who has been well trained in coaching and also in ADHD. The ADHD part is especially important. Be sure your coach has been trained through an ADHD-specific coach training program. A coach who is extremely effective for more typical individuals but who does not understand ADHD may unknowingly reinforce the shame and blame someone with ADHD wants to leave behind.
Your ADHD coach will help you become more aware of your thoughts and your behaviors. You will learn about your brain and begin to better appreciate its strengths and areas of challenge, while also discovering strategies that work with your specific “brain wiring.”
As you uncover your strengths, notice and celebrate your successes, gain insights into how ADHD is affecting you, and learn to be compassionate toward yourself, you will begin to see how your strengths and talents can be put to use in areas such as organization, time management, emotional control, procrastination, and other executive functioning challenges. Your coach will support you through the ups and downs of letting go of old habits and establishing new ones. That can be hard work, so self-compassion is an important ingredient of your success recipe.
As your adventure unfolds, your life of significant challenge can be transformed into a life filled with enjoyment, productivity, and satisfaction. The challenges by no means disappear entirely, but remaining challenges become opportunities for growth, learning, appreciation, and self-acceptance.
For most individuals and families, this turnaround does not happen overnight. It requires some dedication and commitment to learn a new perspective and to replace old habits of thought and action with new, more life-serving patterns.
Are You Ready for Coaching?
Is this the right time for you to challenge yourself to move toward your goals? Can you devote an hour a week to a conversation with your coach? Can you commit to doing your best to take the actions steps you come up with during each coaching session? We invite you to discuss these topics, among others, in a free introductory conversation with Linda or Neil.
Try It! You’ll Like It!
We can’t guarantee that, of course. But since there is nothing to lose and a great deal to gain through learning more about coaching, why not set up a free introductory conversation with either of us. After that you will have a better idea of what goes on in a full session. You and your coach will also have a better sense of how well you will work together. Call or email and let’s get started!
RECENT POSTS
Two articles from Attention Magazine by Linda
Two-Part Series from Attention Magazine Click above for two articles by Linda Swanson that appeared in consecutive editions of "Attention" Magazine in early 2018 - "The punishment mindset and school discipline," and "Raising ADHD awareness in the local...
read more
ADHD Hint Newsletter for March 28, 2018
Click here for the ADHD Hint Newsletter for March 28, 2018. It's on the topic of ADHD meds. Be sure to sign up if you'd like to receive these each week!
read more
ADHD Hint Newsletter for March 21, 2018
Click here for the latest Wednesday ADHD Hint Newsletter - for March 21, 2018. (It's about the importance of PLAY!)
read more"ADHD Hints," Our Occasional Newsletter
Sign up to receive our occasional newsletter. We will never share your contact information, will not email unless there is something important in the ADHD world to share, and you can always unsubscribe at any time.
