What is ADHD?
If you landed on this page, it probably means you have ADHD or are curious to learn more. There are lots of ways to understand ADHD.
Here’s how we think about it…
ADHD essentially means you take in a lot of information all at once. When that happens, it’s hard to know what to pay attention to, so you pay attention to everything.
When your system picks up on everything - both internally and externally - it can be hard to sort through and prioritize what to pay attention to. So it ALL becomes important things competing for your attention.
To manage all this competing information, your brain may shut it all down or save your attention for the interesting parts.
ADHD sensory systems also make the world louder, more vibrant, more intense, and overwhelming at times.
Your interests are an opportunity for reeaaally long focused time.
Emotionally:
Joy feels really joyful.
Boring is REALLY boring.
And anger, well… it’s really angry.
What are some real life examples of an ADHD brain in action?
Your brain is constantly percolating with ideas
You pretend to pay attention, but your mind is somewhere else
“The last minute” is your time to do things
You don’t need much to understand something and build from there
Time melts away when you’re into something
Drama and deadlines get your attention while the uninteresting stuff gets pushed aside
You have a million items on your to do list so you can track it all
You may think (or someone said) that you “ramble” but really, you’re processing things out loud
Decisions are difficult because you can see all sides
You feel behind all the time
How is therapy for ADHD different than other kinds of therapy?
It starts by shifting to a stimulation perspective – noticing when things are feeling “too much” (overwhelming) or “not enough” (uninteresting). You may move from words like “depression” and “anxiety” and “lack of motivation” to needing more or less stimulation to feel balanced and get things done.
And then we weave it in
with everything else that is going on…
How to work with your brain to do the things you need (or want) to do.
How to turn up and down the volume of your sensory system when you need to.
How to counter messages you got as an ADHDer that created shame, perfectionism, or masking.
Understanding how ADHD can impact relationships and how to build stronger, more affirming ones.
Exploring how the rest of your experience - your history, biology, relationships both past and present, and your identity - can add layers to your ADHD.
And figuring you what you need to ask from a world that was built for a linear brain.
If you have been diagnosed with ADHD, suspect that you could be, or care about someone who is – reach out to us. Most of us ARE there, or have been there. We know well the joys – and challenges – of living in a world where you don’t experience it like the people around you.
And if you want to know what else we do, check out our pages on:
