Professional coaching is not a substitute for traditional, multimodal treatment for ADHD such as medication, diet, exercise, and therapy. But at the Edge Foundation we believe it is a critical and highly effective support mechanism for young people to learn to live well with the challenges of ADD/ADHD.
People all over the world are recognizing the benefits of life coaching in their pursuit of career and life goals. Many CEOs and top business executives find that executive coaches can give them the edge necessary to manage successfully and effectively when the stakes are very high.
At the Edge Foundation we believe that if a coach is good enough for CEOs, then it is good enough for our young people who are learning to succeed with ADD/ADHD.
To learn more about coaching, watch this video, or just keep reading!
More Coaching FAQs:
What Is ADD/ADHD Coaching?
ADD/ADHD coaching is a lot like any other kind of coaching. For instance, if you want to learn how to play tennis better, you go to a tennis coach. The coach first finds out what aspects of tennis you want to get better at, because he or she will coach you differently if you want to eventually play tournaments than if you just want to be able to rally on the weekends with your friends. Then the coach will work with you on your ground strokes and serve, your volley and your game strategy. Over time, through your hard work and the skill of your coach, you will get better, and hopefully you will start to enjoy playing tennis even more.
ADD/ADHD coaching is the same way, only the game is life. Your coach will work with you on missing skills and your game strategy, and over time, you will get better at all the things that are hard for you right now. Things like planning, prioritizing, time management, and organization. Your Edge coach will also help you apply these new skills to achieving the things you want most. Check out some of our testimonials to hear how coaching has helped people just like you.
How Coaching Helps
Coaching is particularly well-suited to helping people with ADD/ADHD live better with the challenges of this disorder. Many of the strategies coaches offer are precisely the ones that are needed most. When self management, time management, and organization don’t come naturally, an Edge coach can help you develop these skills. Here are seven major ADD/ADHD challenge areas that most coaches work on with their clients:
- scheduling,
- goal setting,
- confidence building,
- organizing,
- focusing,
- prioritizing, and
- persisting at tasks.
In addition, the focused and personalized one-on-one approach of coaching works really well for young people with ADHD.
The Edge Coaching Program
The Edge Coaching Program starts with a get-to-know you chat with an Edge coach. These are no charge and take about 20 minutes. In this call, you and the coach get your questions answered about each other, and get a sense of whether you’d like to work together. Once you and your coach have decided to proceed, you sign a contract and begin.
The first session is a lengthy one and is sometimes called the discovery session. During this discussion that usually lasts about two hours, you and your coach talk about what’s working and what’s not, what’s frustrating, and where you’d like to see progress. If you are under 18 years of age, your parents will participate in some of it. By the end of this session you and your coach will know what you are going to be working on and how you are going to work on it.
This is followed by weekly 30-minute sessions with additional check-ins in between. Check-ins are usually preplanned and can happen as often as daily. Most students choose to suspend coaching during exams and holidays, but we strongly encourage you not to go more than two weeks without a session or at least a check-in.
The Edge program is designed to last for up to 36 weeks, basically one 30-minute session for every week of a nine month academic school year. Although the coaching contracts are month-to-month, we strongly encourage you to stay with coaching for two full terms. The first term, you’re just learning the skills. The second term you’re learning how to apply them on your own with the support of your coach. By the end of the second term, most students have internalized what they’ve learned and are ready to graduate from coaching! If you want to keep coaching, however, your coach will be happy to work something out with you.
About Phone Coaching
For many people the idea of working on the phone, instead of meeting in an office, is just strange. Although there is no prohibition against meeting in person, all of our coaches are trained to work on the phone. We do this for several reasons:
- There are just not that many ADD/ADHD Coaches. By working on the phone, you still have access to coaching, even if there isn’t a coach in your community. And, you can “take your coach with you” where ever you go.
- It takes transportation issues right out of the equation. A student can get to their appointment just by picking up the phone.
- A 30-minute appointment takes exactly 30 minutes. No commuting to and from the appointment, or waiting in the waiting room. Coaching appointments are therefore easy to fit into a busy schedule.
- A coach and client can stay in much closer touch through the phone and email than they can if they only connected in an office. It is this extra contact that very often makes the difference in being able to stay on task and follow through.
If you have more questions about coaching, please feel free to contact us. Click on the “Get More Info!” button at the top of the page and fill in the form. Someone will get back to you by the end of the next working day.
