ADHD support for adults

Sleep and winding down

It’s after midnight. You’re exhausted, but your mind is busy, or this is the first time all day that has felt like yours.

It can look like:

• Lying awake with racing thoughts
• Staying up late to get time for yourself, even when you’re tired
• Finding it hard to get up and start the day
• Sleep that gets worse during stressful periods

We look at what happens in the hours before bed and build a wind-down routine that is realistic for you. If sleep problems are severe or ongoing, we’ll talk about seeing your GP, as some sleep conditions need medical assessment.

Attention and jumping between ideas

Ten tabs open, three half-started projects, and a new idea that feels more exciting than all of them.

It can look like:

• Drifting off during conversations or reading
• Losing track of a task when something else catches your attention
• Starting new ideas before finishing old ones
• Losing things or forgetting appointments

We explore when your attention works well and when it doesn’t, then try small structures: somewhere to capture ideas so they don’t have to be acted on now, a workspace that helps, and reminders you will actually notice.

Starting and finishing tasks

You know what needs doing. You still can’t make yourself start, and the longer it waits, the heavier it feels.

It can look like:

• Freezing in front of a task that seems simple
• Getting most of the way through, then stalling
• Putting off emails, forms or admin until they become urgent
• Feeling ashamed about unfinished things

We break tasks into first steps small enough to begin, look at what makes starting hard for you, and work on the self-criticism that often grows around unfinished things.

Planning and time

Monday’s plan looked sensible. By Wednesday, it has gone.

It can look like:

• Underestimating how long things take
• Running late, or arriving very early to avoid it
• Weekly plans that don’t survive the first disruption
• Deadlines that seem to arrive suddenly

We try planning methods that suit how you think: visual schedules, shorter planning windows, buffers between tasks, and regular review rather than one perfect plan.

Impulsivity and emotions

You said yes before you’d thought it through, or the reaction came faster than you could catch it.

It can look like:

• Interrupting, or saying things before you mean to
• Impulsive spending or decisions you regret later
• Strong reactions to criticism or rejection
• Frustration that builds quickly

We notice what happens in the moments before an impulsive choice or a strong reaction, practise ways to create a pause, and look at how stress, sleep and relationships affect it.

How we work together

Sessions are collaborative. We start with what matters most to you and set goals together. Movement, fidgeting and breaks are welcome.

Depending on what fits, I draw on cognitive-behavioural strategies, which the Australian ADHD guideline recommends for adults; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and mindfulness; and body-based regulation for times when stress or overwhelm takes over.

Where useful, we agree on a manageable step to try between sessions, and review what worked rather than what you “should” have done.

Diagnosis, medication and who does what

You don’t need a formal diagnosis to start. ADHD is usually diagnosed by a psychiatrist or paediatrician, and Victoria is training GPs to diagnose ADHD and prescribe medication, subject to regulatory changes.

I provide therapy and skills support. I don’t diagnose ADHD or prescribe medication, and I work alongside the GP, psychiatrist or paediatrician who does. If you’re considering an assessment, we can talk through your options. If you take ADHD medication, therapy can sit alongside it.