Therapy for ADHD

ADHD can affect people in many different ways. For some, it may show up as difficulty concentrating, feeling restless, struggling with organisation or finding it hard to complete tasks. For others, it may feel more like emotional overwhelm, racing thoughts, procrastination, low confidence, sensitivity to criticism or feeling constantly behind.

You may recognise experiences such as:

• Feeling easily overwhelmed

• Difficulty starting or finishing tasks

• Procrastination, even with things that matter to you

• Racing thoughts or mental restlessness
  Difficulty with organisation, planning or time management

• Struggling to maintain routines

• Feeling easily distracted or mentally overloaded

• Emotional sensitivity or intense reactions
  Feeling easily criticised or rejected
  Low self-esteem or feeling “not good enough”

• Periods of high productivity followed by burnout

• Difficulty switching off or relaxing

• Anxiety linked to feeling behind, disorganised or overloaded

ADHD can affect work, study, relationships, parenting, friendships, home life and emotional wellbeing. It can also overlap with anxiety, low mood, trauma, stress, self-criticism and relationship difficulties.

Therapy for ADHD is not about trying to force you to fit into a way of living that does not work for you. It is about understanding your needs, reducing shame, recognising your strengths and finding more compassionate, realistic ways to manage life.

Therapy may help you:

• Understand how ADHD affects you personally

• Explore emotional overwhelm and self-criticism

• Build confidence and self-esteem

• Develop emotional regulation strategies

• Improve boundaries and communication

• Understand patterns in relationships

• Explore links between ADHD, anxiety, trauma or low mood

• Develop more supportive routines and coping strategies

• Reconnect with your strengths, values and identity

You do not need to have a formal diagnosis to come to therapy. You may already have a diagnosis, be waiting for an assessment, be exploring whether ADHD fits, or simply recognise some of the experiences described here.

Therapy is not a diagnostic assessment, and I do not diagnose ADHD. However, I can offer a supportive space to explore your experiences, understand patterns and consider what support may be helpful.

I have a special interest in supporting women who are exploring or adjusting to a late diagnosis of ADHD.

Many women reach adulthood before recognising that ADHD may help explain years of feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, anxious, emotionally sensitive, disorganised, perfectionistic or somehow “different”.

For some women, ADHD has been missed because they learned to mask, overcompensate or work extremely hard to appear organised and capable. On the outside, things may look fine. Inside, it can feel exhausting trying to keep up, manage responsibilities, meet expectations and hold everything together.

A late diagnosis, or the possibility of ADHD, can bring many emotions. You may feel relief, grief, sadness, anger, confusion or a new sense of understanding. You may find yourself looking back and wondering why nobody noticed sooner, or grieving for the younger version of yourself who struggled without the right support.

In women, ADHD can often be more internal, hidden or masked. It may show up as:

• Perfectionism and fear of getting things wrong

• People-pleasing or difficulty saying no
  Feeling emotionally sensitive or easily overwhelmed

• Masking difficulties to appear organised or capable

• Over-preparing, overworking or constantly trying harder

• Feeling exhausted from holding everything together

• Low self-esteem or years of self-blame

• Anxiety linked to being overloaded or misunderstood

• Difficulty resting without guilt

• A sense of being “too much”, “not enough” or different from others

• Periods of coping well followed by burnout

Therapy can help you make sense of these experiences with compassion. It can also offer space to explore identity after diagnosis, the impact of masking, confidence, relationships, boundaries, emotional regulation and the process of working with yourself rather than against yourself.

This process is not about labelling everything as ADHD. It is about understanding yourself more fully and making space for compassion, clarity and change.

As a psychotherapist with specialist experience in trauma, abuse, EMDR and emotional wellbeing, I offer a compassionate space to explore the whole picture, not just the ADHD label. Where appropriate, therapy may include exploring past experiences, emotional patterns, coping strategies, relationships, nervous system responses and the impact of trauma or chronic stress.