Starting from ADHD
ADHD coaching
Starting, sense of time, priorities, energy and strong feelings: how executive function and an interest-based reward system shape everyday life, and which structures fit.
01Your shore
For you, aged 14 to 25
Coaching for teenagers and young adults
With you, not about you. Here you are the person we work with: your everyday life, your next steps, your way of saying things. With or without a diagnosis.
02Recognition
What if nothing is wrong with you?
Six sentences many young people know. They are typical examples, not quotes and not a checklist. Maybe one of them sounds like you, maybe none does. Either is fine.
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Today
“Something is wrong with me.”
PossibleYou are not wrong. You work differently, and that can be understood.
In coaching: a personal picture of how you work.
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Today
“I know what to do, and I still don’t start.”
PossibleYou are not lacking willpower. You are lacking a structure that suits your mind, and that can be built.
In coaching: visual plans, visible time, smaller first steps.
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Today
“When someone demands something of me, I shut down.”
PossibleWith less pressure, movement can return, without responsibility disappearing.
In coaching: real choices instead of instructions.
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Today
“I don’t have any goals any more.”
PossibleMotivation can’t be forced. It can come back once it feels safe enough to look again.
In coaching: the question of what makes you lose track of time.
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Today
“I have no idea where to go after school.”
PossibleYou don’t need to know where you will be in ten years. The next step that feels right is enough.
In coaching: one step you choose, reviewed together next time.
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Today
“Nobody understands what I actually mean.”
PossibleMisunderstandings run both ways. You are allowed to explain your language rather than give it up.
In coaching: preparing and practising important conversations, in your words.
1 of 6
Typical examples from working with neurodivergent young people, not statements by clients.
Stage 2The bridgeWhat support can look like in practice.
03What we work on
What we can work on
Three areas where things can start to move. Underneath all three sits the same question: how do you work, what do you need, and what matters to you?
For teenagers it is often homework, mornings and the arguments about them at home. For young adults it is more often exams, an apprenticeship, a first flat and bills.
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Everyday life & executive function
Tasks that won’t start even though they are small. A sense of time that doesn’t report in reliably. Systems that hold for three weeks and then collapse. We look at where exactly it tips and build structures that suit your mind.
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Direction & transitions
Before leaving school, between an apprenticeship and university, after dropping out or after a change nobody planned. Direction here does not mean someone telling you what to become. It means finding out what matters to you and where you function well, and then trying something out.
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Communication & self-advocacy
Asking for an adjustment at school or at your workplace. Explaining what you need without it turning into an argument. Preparing an important conversation and making sense of it afterwards. Saying no before it is too late. We practise this concretely, in your words.
The three areas overlap. You don’t need to decide in advance where to start.
04Two ways in
Two ways in, one offer
ADHD, autism, both, or no label yet: the coaching is the same. The two pages explain how I understand it in each case and what knowledge feeds into it.
Starting from autism
Autism coaching
Sensory input, energy, transitions, communication and masking: how autistic perception works, and how your surroundings can be better tuned to you.
You don’t need a diagnosis. My specialism shapes how I understand and work, not who is allowed to come.
05How it works
What a session looks like
There is no fixed script, but there is a reliable frame. This is what a session usually looks like.
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Arriving
We start with what has happened since last time, and with one question: “How balanced do you feel today, from 1 to 10?” Your answer decides whether we take pressure off or plan a bigger step.
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Understanding and sorting
What lies underneath the difficulty? What already works, even a little? From there come two or three strategies that suit your mind, such as a visual plan, visible time or a sentence prepared in advance.
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Choosing a step
You leave with one step you feel ready for, not with a long list of homework. Next time we look together at what happened. If it didn’t work, that is information, not failure.
What holds throughout
Your goals lead, not the ones others have for you. The aim is more autonomy, not more compliance.
If talking is hard
There are other ways: writing things down, sending something in advance, taking breaks, turning the camera off. You don’t have to explain or justify any of it.
How long and how often
A session usually lasts an hour, online or in Rheinfelden, in English or German. How many sessions it takes depends on your situation. We check regularly whether working together is still useful.
06Who it is for
Who this is for, and what it is not
This fits if …
- you are between 14 and 25 and want to change something yourself
- you have an ADHD or autism diagnosis, suspect something, or simply notice that you work differently
- you are at school, in an apprenticeship, at university, in a first job or somewhere in between
- you would like to talk online or in person in Rheinfelden, in English or German
Other services are there for this
- Diagnosis or assessment. If an assessment would make sense, I will say so.
- Psychotherapy or medical treatment, including advice on medication.
- Crisis intervention and emergencies.
- Official careers guidance or case management.
- Training to appear less noticeable or more “normal”.
If things are acute or your safety is at stake: Bridge & Bloom is not an emergency service. Please contact medical or emergency psychiatric services near you, or call 144 or 112.
If you are under 18
You can get in touch yourself, even without your parents. Before we work together, your parents or guardians are involved. Consent, the framework and what your parents will be told are agreed together beforehand and put in writing.
What you say in coaching stays confidential and is not passed on automatically. The only exceptions are those the law provides to protect you or others. I name these limits openly at the start, not only when they apply.
Stage 3BloomWhat is allowed to change, at your own pace.
07Bloom
How you might notice that something is moving
Bloom does not mean everything becomes easy. It means more things start to fit you. Imagine what an ordinary week could look like once you have found your next step:
A task that is started before the pressure arrives.
An evening when you notice earlier that your battery is running low.
A next step after school that feels like your own.
A sentence you use to tell a teacher what you need.
A no that comes in time.
A view of yourself with less “wrong” in it.
Examples, not promises. Every kind of growth looks different, and every kind counts.
08Questions
Common questions
Do I need a diagnosis?
No. My specialism in ADHD, autism and neurodiversity shapes how I understand and work, not who is allowed to come. If you have a diagnosis, that knowledge feeds in. If not, we work with what you experience day to day. More in the article Do I need a diagnosis?
Will my parents find out what I say?
Not automatically. If you are the client, the conversation is confidential. What your parents are told is agreed together at the start. For under-18s this is put in writing before we begin, together with the legal exceptions that apply for protection.
What if my parents want me to have coaching, but I am not sure?
Then your decision counts. Coaching does not work against your will. In the introductory call you can first see whether it fits, without committing to anything. This is about your goals.
Is this a kind of therapy?
No. Coaching works on your current situation and on concrete steps. Psychotherapy treats mental health conditions, with a different remit and a different legal basis. If you are in therapy, coaching can sit alongside it but does not replace it. More in the article Coaching or psychotherapy.
What does coaching cost?
The introductory call is free. The terms for coaching are discussed openly before any work together, for under-18s together with their parents or guardians. They differ for Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Payment is by invoice before the session.
09The first step
Nothing to prepare, nothing to prove.
In the introductory call we spend 20 to 30 minutes clarifying what it is about for you, how I work and whether coaching fits. It is not a free coaching session, and in the end you decide. No pressure to sign up and no follow-up chasing.
- 20 to 30 minutes
- Free and without obligation
- Online or in Rheinfelden
Who are you asking for?
