ADHD Coaching:
for Non-ADHD Partners, Caregivers, and Loved Ones
Do you feel like you are constantly forced to nag all the time in your relationship?
Living with ADHD presents challenges – not just to the person navigating life with an ADHD brain – but also to the partners, caregivers, and loved ones they are around on a daily basis. Having experienced this in my own life, I know that having support options is critical, especially if you are trying to make sense of living with or caring for someone with great intentions but inconsistent attention. Fortunately, as a partner, caregiver, or loved one of someone with ADHD – there are now coaching options for you as well.
1-on-1 Coaching for Non-ADHD Partners
As if relationships were not hard enough, when there is an invisible third wheel in your relationship (ADHD), it can put an unnecessary strain on things. Sometimes, these strains can make you feel like a state of impending doom is always lingering – like being on a cross-country flight and the plane starts experiencing turbulence. The good news is that you can learn to handle this turbulence and put the oxygen mask on yourself first so that you can then help the ADHD person in your life that you love and care about.
What to Expect with 1-on-1 Coaching for Non-ADHD Partners
When you are the non-ADHD partner, there are several obstacles that can stand in your way – especially in your daily relationship with an ADHD partner. During your 1-on-1 coaching for non-ADHD partners, you are in the driver seat of the coaching session. This type of coaching can help you (the non-ADHD partner) reconnect with what is important and create strategies to move forward in your relationship with less distress.
Some of the obstacles you might be encountering are:
Overhelping
and
Excessive
Caretaking
Overhelping and excessive caregiving occur when the non-ADHD partner is doing too many things without considering necessity. Overhelping can create an unhealthy dependency in the relationship – leading to resentment and excessive caretaking tendencies. Finding a happy medium in your relationship and thwarting the desire to overhelp or excessively caretake can be a part of your 1-on-1 coaching journey.
Learned
Helplessness
The tendency for you, as the non-ADHD partner, to take on too many jobs or tasks that would normally fall upon the ADHD partner – leaving them with the feeling that they cannot do anything and making you feel like you have to do it all, which is another form of unhealthy relationship dynamic. Silently, learned helplessness can create layers of resentment between you and your partner.
The
Parent
Trap
The term is used to describe an overly unhealthy relationship style, where the non-ADHD partner is like a critical, overbearing parent of a misbehaving child (the ADHD partner). The dynamic is rooted in exasperation and annoyance – but it creates relational distress, stemming from raised voices, emphatic intonation, backdoor messaging, and more.
The Emotional Fitness Bootcamp is for EVERYONE
Our greatest strengths, when overused, can also be our greatest weaknesses – these are our saboteurs. Whether you have ADHD or not, the Emotional Fitness Bootcamp gives you the tools you need to silence your inner critics, gain back confidence, and learn to understand your partner’s saboteurs as well.
Going through the program as an individual can help you add strength to your relationship...together.