ADHD coaching for adults and teens

Have you been playing Life on Hard Mode?

If you can focus for hours on something that interests you but can't focus on the important (but not interesting!) things that need to get done, I can help. Together we'll work with your novelty-seeking nervous system instead of against it.

Like many of my clients, I like to play video games. If we think of managing our lives like a game, it seems to me that many of us are playing with the difficulty setting set too high. What if we played in Easy Mode?

Choose a difficulty
A day's stress level at the selected difficulty redline bored in the green deadline

Knowing what to do isn't the problem. Doing it is.

Those of us with ADHD usually know exactly what we're supposed to do; the difficulty is doing it in the moment. This is a performance problem, not a character flaw. And the most effective help is the kind that arrives at the "point of performance" — a term from Russell Barkley, the prominent ADHD researcher — when we're at the beginning of a task or anywhere in the middle of it. This is why coaching works so well for ADHD: it helps us practice and strengthen executive functioning skills right when they're needed.

When we were young, most of us with ADHD discovered the wonders of procrastination. It ups the difficulty to Hard Mode, turning mundane tasks into thrilling ones. The deadline, signaling dire consequences if we fail, becomes scary enough to stimulate our stimulation-hungry brains — which generates focus and motivation. This actually works! It also takes a real toll on our emotional, mental, and physical health, and our relationships.

Coaching is where we experiment with and build a different approach, a different way to play: same goals, with less friction, less drama, and less stress on ourselves and our relationships. We're aiming for less suffering and more ease and fun.

Adults and teens with ADHD

This is for you if you:

You don't need a diagnosis to work with me. If you have ADHD, or strongly suspect you do, that's enough.

Parents of teens: you're welcome to reach out first.

Email me to book a free consult

The Easy Mode approach

Three practices:

Greg Tompkins, smiling, outdoors under oak trees

Who I am

I've spent thirteen years as a licensed therapist working mostly with ADHD boys and men, and couples where one or both partners have ADHD. I have ADHD myself.

While I continue to work with clients as a therapist, I have a separate coaching practice for those who are looking for that kind of support. Coaching is forward-looking, practical, and focused on improving performance: building a life that fits your neurodivergence (which is a strength!).

I'm a fellow traveler on this path. I know the default environment we grow up in is often hostile to the way our brains work. But there are plenty of highly successful people with this trait who find the paths and environments where they can thrive. I love helping folks find that for themselves.

I write about this approach on the Easy Mode blog.

Working together

ADHD support tends to fail when it only exists inside a weekly hour. Most of the real difficulty happens between sessions, so the package is built around that gap.

$800 per month
  • Three 50-minute video sessions per month
  • Between-session text and email support, so help arrives at the moment of action
  • Small concrete experiments each week, sized so they actually happen
  • Month-to-month. No long contracts.
Email me to book a free consult

A 30-minute video call to see whether we're a good fit. No commitment. I'll reply with a few times that work.

A note on the difference between therapy and coaching

Therapy and coaching are both valuable, and they do different jobs. Therapy can explore the past, work with emotional pain, and diagnose and treat mental health conditions. Coaching looks forward, focusing on skills, systems, and the practical details of daily life. Many people benefit from one, the other, or both. If you're already in therapy, coaching can complement and support that work.

In my coaching work, I don't diagnose or provide treatment. If something comes up that therapy would serve better, I'll let you know and help you find good support. And because I'm also a therapist, I keep the two practices separate: my coaching clients and my therapy clients are never the same people.