01Your own shore
What we can work on
Direction and transitions: the next step that feels right is enough
Transitions such as moving from school into an apprenticeship, upper secondary school or university often cost neurodivergent people more energy than others can see. In coaching you clarify what matters to you and which surroundings suit you, test options in real life and prepare your next step so that it holds even when things go differently.
02Recognition
When everyone else seems to know where they are going
Five sentences that often come up in times of change. They are typical examples, not quotes. Maybe one of them fits where you are, maybe none.
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Today
“After school, I have no idea where to go.”
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 chose yourself, reviewed together next time.
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Today
“I don’t have any goals any more.”
PossibleMotivation cannot be forced. It can come back once it feels safe enough to look again.
In coaching: questions like “When do you lose track of time?”
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Today
“Everyone else seems to know what they want.”
PossibleDirection is a skill, not a destination. It can be practised, even if you have no answer today.
In coaching: the coach model, from where you are to where you want to be, with a scale in between.
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Today
“A new place costs me the whole week.”
PossibleTransitions cost more energy than people see from outside. Good preparation plans for things going differently.
In coaching: what is reliable, what might change, and what do I do then?
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Today
“I dropped out and I feel like a failure.”
PossibleAn attempt that did not fit is a result. It shows you what to look for next time.
In coaching: the four-step model of keep, change, combine, new.
1 of 5
Typical examples from working with neurodivergent people, not statements by clients.
03Understanding
Why transitions can cost so much energy
A transition is rarely just one change. New rooms, people, routines and unwritten rules arrive at once, just as the familiar things that used to save energy fall away.
What normally runs in the background now needs active thought: where is everything, how loud will it get, who can I ask, when may I leave? Each question is small. Together they add up to a constant load that is hard to see from outside. Exhaustion after a change is not an overreaction.
With autism, predictability often gives stability, and attention that goes deep into a few things at a time (monotropism) makes every switch more costly. With ADHD, a transition often removes the outside structure that used to carry things, for example when school gives way to a degree course with a lot of self-organisation.
On top of that comes one of the big questions of this stage of life: who am I, what matters to me, where do I function well? In my experience, training rarely fails because of the wrong subject. More often the surroundings do not fit: the noise, the pace, too little structure or too much.
I don’t promise to know the right path for you. What can be built is the ability to explore, test and choose options yourself. You will need that for the next transition too.
Stage 2The bridgeWhat support can look like in practice.
04The bridge
How we work on transitions in coaching
First, clarify what you are sorting by. Then check what is really out there. Then choose a step and prepare it so it holds even if something changes.
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Clarify what matters to you
With the coach model we look at where you are today and where you want to be, with a scale in between. Questions like “When do you lose track of time?” often lead to interests and strengths that get buried in everyday life. And we take surroundings seriously: noise, pace, structure, closeness, predictability.
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Sort out what can stay
The four-step model asks what you want to keep, change, combine or do completely differently. That way you decide what may stay, not only what needs fixing. A network map shows who can support you along the way.
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Test rather than brood
You cannot think your way through a place, but you can walk into it. A taster day, a talk with someone in the job or a day shadowing often tells you more than weeks of brooding. Afterwards we review: what was the thing itself, what was the day, what was the setting?
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Prepare for things going differently
A seamless plan collapses at the first deviation. A sturdier question is: what is reliable, what might change, and what do I do then? One prepared sentence such as “I need a short break, I’ll be right back” often carries more than a long schedule.
Decisions are hard when the nervous system is already on alert. So at the start of each session we look at how much is possible today, and set the pace by that.
What the work is based on
The work combines solution-focused coaching after de Shazer and Kim Berg with knowledge about autism and ADHD, including monotropism and executive functions. The balance of support and trust draws on Laurent Daloz’s work on mentoring. Described in detail under How I work.
05For parents
For parents: supporting transitions without taking them over
Transitions are often the most exhausting phase for parents. The pressure is real, the deadlines are real, and your own worry is hard to switch off.
At the same time, this is the phase in which taking over costs the most. The ability to manage the next transition is built right here. In practice that often means asking questions rather than supplying answers: “What do you need to know where you have to go?” rather than “I’ve printed the route for you.” That is slower. But it carries beyond this one transition.
If your child is the client, their goals lead, not the parents’ agenda. For your own role during this time there is a separate offer: coaching for parents.
Stage 3BloomWhat is allowed to change, at your own pace.
06Bloom
How a transition can feel different
It does not make a transition effortless. But some things can shift:
A first day that is prepared rather than dreaded.
A taster day after which you know more than after three weeks of brooding.
A sentence ready for the moment things go differently from the plan.
A decision that feels like yours.
Dropping out that counts as information, not as a verdict.
A next step, even without a ten-year plan.
Examples, not promises. Every kind of growth looks different, and every kind counts.
07Limits
Not careers guidance, but the work before and alongside it
For entry requirements, application deadlines, follow-on options and funding, there are dedicated services that know the details authoritatively. Where that is what you need, I point you there.
What it is for
- Finding out what suits you and which surroundings you need
- Checking options and trying them in real life
- Preparing transitions so that they can cope with change
- Living with a decision once it has been made
What it is not
- Not official careers, study or vocational guidance
- Not case management and not advice to employers
- Not diagnosis and not psychotherapy
- Not crisis support
If a transition weighs on you so much that you have been feeling generally unwell for weeks, that should be assessed by a doctor or psychotherapist. Coaching can sit alongside that. If things are acute right now, please contact medical or emergency psychiatric services near you straight away; in an emergency, call 144 or 112.
08Knowledge
Articles on direction and transitions
These articles go deeper into individual questions from this page, calmly and at your own pace.
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Direction and transitions
From school to training or study: questions before the next step
“What interests you?” is rarely the most useful first question. These tend to get further.
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Direction and transitions
Preparing transitions with autism, without prescribing everything
A seamless plan is not security — it is a risk. What preparation can do instead.
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Self-understanding
After a late ADHD diagnosis: not everything at once
The explanation is there, everyday life is the same. Why the urge to change everything at once usually backfires.
09Questions
Frequently asked questions about direction and transitions
Is this careers guidance?
No. I am not an official careers, study or vocational guidance service. For entry requirements, deadlines and funding, the dedicated services are the right place. Coaching covers the work before and alongside: finding out what fits, testing it and living with a decision.
I have no idea what I want. Is it too early, then?
No. Not knowing what you want is more the reason to come than a requirement. We start with what you already know about yourself, even if it seems like very little.
I am under 18. Can I get in touch myself?
Yes. Before we start working together, your parents or guardians are involved. Consent, the framework and what your parents will hear about are agreed in writing beforehand. The sessions themselves are confidential, with the legal exceptions that exist for protection.
When is a good time for coaching around a transition?
Ideally before the transition begins, not only once it has not worked. But it is not too late in the middle of a change or after dropping out either. Then we first look at what gives you stability right now.
I dropped out of an apprenticeship or a degree. Is that a topic for coaching?
Yes. Dropping out often says something about what did not fit: the subject, the setting or the timing. We sort out what you want to take from it and look for a next step that fits better.
10The first step
You don’t need to know what you want in order to start.
In the introductory call we clarify what it is about for you, how I work and whether coaching fits. Not knowing yet where you are heading is a perfectly good starting point. 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?
