Stephanie Camilleri, founder of The ADHD Advocate, shares how working with an ADHD coach can help you take control of your life, ambitions and understand your strengths
There’s an issue with the term ADHD, Stephanie Camilleri shares. In particular, the ‘attention deficit’ part. “That’s not the ‘problem’,” she explains. “We have a surplus of attention, we often have too many ideas. The reason why someone with ADHD doesn’t appear to be listening, or has zoned out, is probably because they are consumed with a multitude of thoughts, ideas and imaginations. It’s not that we don’t have attention. We have it in spades!”
ADHD Coach Stephanie is passionate about supporting people with life and career development, working with clients to discover their strengths, rather than focus on perceived challenges associated with ADHD. As a result, she founded The ADHD Advocate five years ago to build momentum around coaching and advocacy, drawing upon her own experiences and expertise.
When Stephanie joins Happiful’s podcast, she’s keen to bust some myths and share her knowledge about ADHD. She begins by explaining that ADHD is situationally variable, meaning that different situations may elicit different responses for people and the presentation of ADHD attributes will not always be consistent.
“For example, I could do very well at work because I had systems in place,” she shares, referencing her former career as a lawyer. “I knew what I needed to do, I was authentically interested in doing well and performing and there was a lot at stake for me.
“But at home, being a mother, having to manage my children, remember what was going on for them as well and manage my own stress and anxiety levels, it could become too much. So there could be areas of life that you are not doing so well in as an ADHD'er that other people don’t see, so they assume that nothing is going on with you.”
How ADHD coaching helps
A consistent theme with Stephanie is the importance of spending time focusing on yourself, understanding what you might need, want and what you value, in order to plan your life and career in a way that works for you.
“What we’ve found through ADHD coaching is that when you help someone understand their unique brain wiring and that ADHD is situationally variable, and when they’ve identified what their strengths are, they can start designing their lives around their ADHD to leverage those strengths and change their internal narrative.”
It’s about helping ADHD’ers increase their confidence and look at evidence of where they’ve been able to succeed in different work environments
A focus on values is also a crucial part of the ADHD coaching process. “We do a lot of work around uncovering values. We’ve seen from clients that they don’t often stop to think about these things, maybe because they think they’re not going to get what they want anyway, so they don’t give themselves permission. We change all that in coaching.”
This can be both transformational and illuminating. “It’s about helping ADHD’ers increase their confidence, look at evidence of where they’ve been able to succeed in different work environments and getting them to start to build a heartfelt vision of where they want to be in the future.”
Coaching can lead to changes large, small and completely life-changing. “A lot of people realise that the workplace they’re in might not be right for them and they want to start a business where they can do things the way they want them done and they can lean into areas of interest without getting stuck into bureaucratic processes.”
Keep learning
The key to Stephanie’s work is assisted self-enquiry and showing clients that there’s a way forward that is positive and meant for them.
“I love to help,” Stephanie concludes. “I love to reinstall hope and the ability to look through a strengths-based lens to redesign your life. Instead of being a passenger, ADHD coaching can help to get you in that driving seat and to the places you want to be. And you can get there.”
Next steps
Listen to the episode with Stephanie
Find out more about The ADHD Advocate
Contact Stephanie Camilleri
Read about ADHD coaching on Life Coach Directory
Stephanie Camilleri
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