Certified ADHD life coach helps guide neurodivergent clients manage their symptoms

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Certified ADHD life coach Kirsten Lightfoot helps guide neurodivergent clients, but for decades didn’t recognise the chemical imbalance in her own brain. She only sought an assessment after her four children were diagnosed.  Now aware she also has ADHD, she better understands common symptoms like rejection sensitivity dysphoria or RSD which can make negative feedback feel like a personal attack.

Transcript

00:00Certified ADHD coach, Kirsten Lightfoot, helps guide neurodivergent clients,

00:08but for decades didn't recognise the chemical imbalance in her own brain.

00:13She only sought an assessment after her four children were diagnosed.

00:17Now aware she also has ADHD, she better understands common symptoms

00:22like rejection sensitivity dysphoria or RSD,

00:25which can make negative feedback feel like a personal attack.

00:29I have significant RSD so I could remember things where I'd said something slightly wrong when I was five

00:34and so I was able to go back and reframe it as opposed to that it was a fault of mine.

00:40RSD can also lead to self-doubt and feed into task paralysis,

00:45described as extreme procrastination.

00:48But some symptoms are the exact opposite, like hyperfocus,

00:52the ability to lock into a subject to the exclusion of everything else for hours,

00:56like forgetting to eat or use the bathroom.

00:59So many ADHD's like, no, I like to work for six hours.

01:03It's like, that's where we end up with burnout.

01:06Kirsten says there's a huge variety in the patients she supports.

01:10Kids at school, uni students, students that are doing PhDs or honours.

01:15So as we know, ADHD doesn't impact our actual intelligence.

01:19And then I'll see anything through to an adult that's struggling just to do life skills,

01:27through to an adult that is a lawyer, a CEO, a GP.

01:32Understanding the symptoms and learning how to explain our ADHD to friends and family is key.

01:38Most people that are in our world actually really do love us.

01:41They just don't quite understand us.

01:43It's unclear how many Australians are living with ADHD because not all are diagnosed.

01:48But as public awareness increases, more people are accessing support.

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