ADHD

I work with adults with ADHD who have difficulty with focus, procrastination, and follow through.

A man with curly dark hair sitting at a desk in a Chicago office, holding a smartphone in one hand and a pencil balanced in his mouth. He appears to be distracted from work and is looking at his phone.

ADHD can impact emotional, physical, and mental functioning

  • You might notice:

    • Organization: trouble with time, losing things, things piling up faster than you expect

    • Getting started: procrastination, putting things off even when you know they matter

    • Focus: jumping from topic to topic, getting distracted, difficulty returning to the task at hand

    • Stimulation seeking: impulsivity, thrill seeking, sometimes turning to things like substances to change how you feel

    • Self-beliefs: feeling frustrated with yourself or carrying a sense that you are not meeting expectations

    • At the same time: creativity, curiosity, periods of deep focus, and the ability to adapt in high pressure situations


How Therapy Can Help

Therapy cannot change the neurobiological aspects of ADHD. What it can do is help you work with how your mind operates, rather than feeling like you are constantly fighting against it.

Part of the work is building skills that may not have come easily. This can include noticing and challenging unhelpful thinking patterns, and making sense of the frustration, anger, or shame that often builds over time and can make focus or impulse control harder. We also look at how this shows up in your day to day life. What gets in the way of starting, following through, or staying with something when it becomes less interesting.

At the same time, we pay attention to what is already working. Many people with ADHD have real strengths, and part of the process is learning how to use those more intentionally.

We can also look at related concerns like anxiety or depression, which often show up alongside ADHD and can make things feel more complicated.

  • Getting started can be one of the most frustrating parts of ADHD. Tasks that feel overwhelming, unclear, or not immediately rewarding are easier to put off, even when they are important.

  • ADHD can take a lot of effort to manage. Trying to stay organized, focused, and on track throughout the day can be mentally draining. Even if it looks like you are getting through things, it often comes with a level of effort that is easy to miss from the outside.

    Over time, that can lead to feeling worn down or burned out.

  • ADHD can show up in relationships in ways that are easy to misunderstand. Difficulty staying focused, forgetting things, or struggling with follow through can come across as not caring or not being present, even when that is not the intention.

    Over time, this can lead to frustration on both sides. Making sense of these patterns and finding different ways to respond to them can help things feel a bit less stuck.

If you are thinking about starting therapy, feel free to reach out.