Living Beyond ADHD Dr B - Barbara A. Cohen, Ph.D., MFT, innovative educator, coach and psychot

How often do you do the prep work for your tasks?  Do you know what I mean by prep work?  Most people I know really dislike the prep work and just want to get down to doing the task.  They even feel that the prep work is a waste of their time because it isn’t getting the job done.  And, they are short on time as it is, so this is just a non-essential thing to do.  But is it really?  Everything in life needs prep work and maintenance.  If you are the cook in your family or home, you need to prep the meal before you can make it and then eat it.  If you are going to work on an art project, you need to prep and make sure you have all the supplies you need for your project before you embark or you’ll be running out to the store or aborting the project when you find out that you don’t have what you need.  What about leading a meeting at work?  Do you just show up and talk, or do you need to prep for the meeting so you stay on topic for the purpose of the meeting and are clear on what you will present?  Like I said, prep work and maintenance is just part of life.
Prep work can include many Executive Function skills or Executive Function pre-skills.  And, if you don’t have solid pre-skills, then building your Executive Function skills on a flimsy foundation isn’t going to get you sustainable results.  The 3 Executive Function pre-skills that I feel are essential are your relationship with time and how you manage yourself and time itself, procrastination and how you eliminate it from your life, and decision-making since you are making decisions every day, and sometimes all day long.  Do you trust yourself with time and the decisions you make?  Have you eliminated procrastination from your life?


In this episode, I talk about: 

Executive Function pre-skills development
The importance of developing a dynamic plan with a strong foundation
What it's like to work with Dr B
And more! 


Developing your Executive Function Skills and shifting your limiting beliefs is the fastest and most effective way to overcome ADHD limitations, find focus, gain confidence, and a newfound freedom in your life! 
 
My mission is to put an end to the worldwide needless suffering of adults with ADHD and those with under-developed Executive Function Skills - whether from ADHD, chronic depression or anxiety, trauma, addictions, or chronic illnesses.  And, you don't need a formal diagnosis to know you need help developing these executive function skills in order to greatly reduce your suffering.   

Episode Resources: 

Get Sh*t Done Fundamentals + Essentials (GSD-FE) Program Information:  (previously known as the ADDventures In Achievement [AIA-FS] program) 
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/gsdprogram

Grant assistance page for help with funding for GSD-FE program: 
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/financial-assistance   
Book your complimentary discovery call with Dr B to get your questions answered, and determine together if GSD-FE is right for you or not: 
https://calendly.com/d/ywy-j5t-4jk   


The Transformation Club (TTC) – if time or money commitments have been holding you back - the affordable membership program for Executive Function skills development: 
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/ttcprogram  
Free PDF - 13 Signs Weak Executive Functioning Is Holding You Back: 
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/Executive-Function  
Book your complimentary discovery call to get your questions answered and determine if TTC is right for you or not: 
https://calendly.com/amygellerux/ttcdiscoverycall     
Follow me on Dr B Facebook Page and enjoy live videos and more 
Follow me on Instagram and enjoy relevant resources 


 To Help The Show: 
Subscribe at your favorite listening spot and my podcast player has social media links (icons) in the episode player so you can share episodes you love with oth

Do you have the blueprints to build a new model of yourself?  One of my favorite quotes is by Buckminster Fuller, who said, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”  Thinking along the same lines as Fuller, I realized years ago that with so much that happens on our journey from birth to adulthood, unless we build a new model of ourselves and then move into that new model, we will be fighting the existing reality and model of our earlier life and selves forever, and trying to “fix” the dysfunctional, rather than create anew. 
If changing the outcomes in your life was as easy as learning some new skills or moving to a new place to start over again, then everyone who does it that way would be happy with their new outcomes.  It doesn’t work that way.  Wherever you go, there you are.  You are taking the existing model of who you have become up to now and attempting to shove new tools into that existing, dysfunctional model of you, and there is no room for this to happen.  You are a closed system that has what it has and functions as it does within that closed system.  You have to be willing to build a new model of yourself, for who you need to be or want to be, take the best from your existing model and move it over into your new model, and then release the rest of that original model because it is obsolete.  My phrase for that release is borrowed from Star Trek and is “beam me up Scottie.”  Since energy never dies, I don’t want to leave anything from the previous model of me, that is now obsolete, for me to slide back into at some point in time.  I am clear that model is obsolete and I have built a new healthy model and I want to live from the place of that new model, not the old, dysfunctional one.  This means we have to be able to let go of the old and embrace the new, and many have difficulty letting go of anything; especially the previous, outdated and dysfunction model of who they have been.
In this episode, I talk about:
Building a blueprint for a new model of yourself Why change is not just as easy as learning new skills Common barriers to transformation And more! Developing your Executive Function Skills and shifting your limiting beliefs is the fastest and most effective way to overcome ADHD limitations, find focus, gain confidence, and a newfound freedom in your life!

My mission is to put an end to the worldwide needless suffering of adults with ADHD and those with under-developed Executive Function Skills - whether from ADHD, chronic depression or anxiety, trauma, addictions, or chronic illnesses.  And, you don't need a formal diagnosis to know you need help developing these executive function skills in order to greatly reduce your suffering.  
Episode Resources:
Get Sh*t Done Fundamentals + Essentials (GSD-FE) Program Information:  (previously known as the ADDventures In Achievement [AIA-FS] program)
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/gsdprogram
Grant assistance page for help with funding for GSD-FE program:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/financial-assistance 
Book your complimentary discovery call with Dr B to get your questions answered, and determine together if GSD-FE is right for you or not:
https://calendly.com/d/ywy-j5t-4jk  

The Transformation Club (TTC) – if time or money commitments have been holding you back - the affordable membership program for Executive Function skills development:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/ttcprogram 


Free PDF - 13 Signs Weak Executive Functioning Is Holding You Back:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/Executive-Function 


Book your complimentary discovery call to get your questions answered and determine if TTC is right for you or not:
https://calendly.com/amygellerux/ttcdiscoverycall    

Follow me on Dr B Facebook Page and enjoy live videos and more Follow me on Instagram and enjoy rele

Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria or RSD is a hot topic these days.  It is one manifestation of emotional dysregulation, which is a common but misunderstood and under-researched symptom of ADHD in adults.  Individuals with RSD feel unbearable pain (physical and emotional) as a result of actual or perceived rejection, teasing, or criticism.  And, this symptom is not alleviated with cognitive or dialectical behavior therapy.  I’ve read that this symptom is attributed to a different brain structure, a sensitivity that is different than just being a highly sensitive person, and as with the treatment of ADHD itself, medications such as ADHD medications or antidepressants are often given in the hopes that they will lessen the pain. 
 
A significant percentage of adults never find any effective ways to manage or cope with the pain.  So, what do adults do when they are in unbearable pain?  What comes to mind is self-medicate the pain so they can at least do what needs doing in their life.  This could be drink, drug, spend, eat, etc., to escape the pain.
When I read about rejection, it appears to be the intentional act of refusing to accept, approve or support something or someone such as refusal to show someone love or kindness; refusal to accept someone.  Rejection is the act of not giving someone the love and attention they want and/or expect.
In this episode, I talk about:
The unbearable physical or emotional pain of rejection The difference between RSD and ADHD What it takes to transform from the inside out And more!  
Developing your Executive Function Skills and shifting your limiting beliefs is the fastest and most effective way to overcome ADHD limitations, find focus, gain confidence, and a newfound freedom in your life!


My mission is to put an end to the worldwide needless suffering of adults with ADHD and those with under-developed Executive Function Skills - whether from ADHD, chronic depression or anxiety, trauma, addictions, or chronic illnesses.  And, you don't need a formal diagnosis to know you need help developing these executive function skills in order to greatly reduce your suffering.
 
Episode Resources:
Get Sh*t Done Fundamentals + Essentials (GSD-FE) Program Information:  (previously known as the ADDventures In Achievement [AIA-FS] program)
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/gsdprogram

Grant assistance page for help with funding for GSD-FE program:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/financial-assistance  
Book your complimentary discovery call with Dr B to get your questions answered, and determine together if GSD-FE is right for you or not:
https://calendly.com/d/ywy-j5t-4jk  

The Transformation Club (TTC) – if time or money commitments have been holding you back - the affordable membership program for Executive Function skills development:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/ttcprogram 


Free PDF - 13 Signs Weak Executive Functioning Is Holding You Back:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/Executive-Function 


Book your complimentary discovery call to get your questions answered and determine if TTC is right for you or not:
https://calendly.com/amygellerux/ttcdiscoverycall    

Follow me on Dr B Facebook Page and enjoy live videos and more

Follow me on Instagram and enjoy relevant resources  
To Help The Show:
Subscribe at your favorite listening spot and my podcast player has social media links (icons) in the episode player so you can share episodes you love with others!
Please rate the show and leave a thoughtful review on iTunes so I know you're benefiting from the episodes.  The greater the number of reviews, the higher the ranking, and the easier it will be for others to find the show; people who also need this information. 
Let's put an end to the worldwide needless suffering together!  We can do this! 

I often hear from many accomplished adults that they feel like imposters.  They have been able to hold things together and advance in their career, yet the toll on them is huge.  They have created workarounds to get the job done but fear being found out.  Work takes so much time and leaves little if any time for pursuing their dreams, hobbies or even cherished time with family and friends.  Over time, their self-confidence and happiness has disappeared.  Enter… imposter syndrome.    In order to feel confident, you need to be competent in those areas of life you created workarounds for.  In other words, competence  confidence. 
 
Many adults ramble when they speak.  I used to.  I didn’t have a target; I just started talking and hoped I would make sense to those listening if I just said enough.  To ramble on is to speak or write at length and with many digressions, such as rambling on for a couple of hours and your listeners become restless.  Rambling uses up a lot of time, effort and energy – whether talking or writing.  Rambling on is an expression of disorganization or confusion in thinking.
 
Does it take you a while to get to the point in a conversation or presentation?  Do you feel the need to provide all the details you can possibly think of when you are explaining something to someone?  Have you ever thought your rambling or excessive explaining was a sign of executive function skill deficits? 

In this episode, I talk about:
Excessive rambling Strategies to improve your communication How to develop organized thinking and an organized mind And more! Developing your Executive Function Skills and shifting your limiting beliefs is the fastest and most effective way to overcome ADHD limitations, find focus, gain confidence, and a newfound freedom in your life! 

 

My mission is to put an end to the worldwide needless suffering of adults with ADHD and those with under-developed Executive Function Skills - whether from ADHD, chronic depression or anxiety, trauma, addictions, or chronic illnesses.  And, you don't need a formal diagnosis to know you need help developing these executive function skills in order to greatly reduce your suffering. 


Developing your Executive Function Skills and shifting your limiting beliefs is the fastest and most effective way to overcome ADHD limitations, find focus, gain confidence, and a newfound freedom in your life!
 
My mission is to put an end to the worldwide needless suffering of adults with ADHD and those with under-developed Executive Function Skills - whether from ADHD, chronic depression or anxiety, trauma, addictions, or chronic illnesses.  And, you don't need a formal diagnosis to know you need help developing these executive function skills in order to greatly reduce your suffering.
 
Episode Resources:

Get Sh*t Done Fundamentals + Essentials (GSD-FE) Program Information:
(previously known as the ADDventures In Achievement [AIA-FS] program)
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/gsdprogram

Grant assistance page for help with funding for GSD-FE program:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/financial-assistance  
  Book your complimentary discovery call with Dr B to get your questions answered, and determine together if GSD-FE is right for you or not:
https://calendly.com/d/ywy-j5t-4jk  

The Transformation Club (TTC) – if time or money commitments have been holding you back - the affordable membership program for Executive Function skills development:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/ttcprogram 


Free PDF - 13 Signs Weak Executive Functioning Is Holding You Back:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/Executive-Function 
 
Book your complimentary discovery call to get your questions answered and determine if TTC is right for you or not: coming soon

Follow me on Dr B Facebook Page and enjoy live videos and more

Follow me on Instagram and enjoy relevant resources  
To Help The Sho

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what is commonly believed to be the process we adults need to go through if we suspect ADHD.  That process takes time and money.  And depending on what part of the world you live in, your access to a specialist may be limited.  For that reason or others, many adults are self-diagnosing these days.  Some are questioning what having an official diagnosis will give them that a self-diagnosis won’t. 
The answer to that question is simple – potentially a lot of valuable information beyond just ADHD since by the time you are an adult, ADHD typically doesn’t occur by itself.  There could be depression, anxiety, codependency, addictions, learning differences or challenges, Irlen syndrome, underdeveloped executive function skills, sensory challenges and more.  Medication may be appropriate for some of these additional conditions as well as for ADHD if the main ADHD challenges are inattention, hyperactivity and/or impulsivity.  If the main challenges are executive function skill challenges due to underdevelopment, I haven’t seen medication alone be the answer without EF skill training.
I have worked with many adults over the years who haven’t sought an official diagnosis because they knew that their executive function skills were lacking development for various reasons, and they knew they could do something about that without waiting for a diagnosis... 
 
If you’re loving the podcast, you can get even more support by checking out the links in the show notes for free resources and transformative opportunities that are waiting for you.

GSD or “Get Sh*t Done”, Because Your Life Won’t Wait Forever Executive Function Skills Training & Coaching Program Information: https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/AIA Free PDF - 13 Signs Weak Executive Functioning Is Holding You Back:  https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/Executive-Function The Transformation Club – the affordable community for EF training:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/ttcprogram
An assortment of Free Resources, depending on your needs:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/free-resources Grant assistance page:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/financial-assistance Subscribe & Review in Apple Podcasts
If you found value in this episode, please leave me a review on Apple Podcasts! Our mission is to help as many people as possible transform their lives, and when you leave a positive review, more people can find this podcast! Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and tell me what your favorite part of the podcast is.  Thank you!
Personal transformation is waiting for you, if it’s your time.  There are real solutions to the challenges you are experiencing, and they are available now.  Time is our most precious asset, and none of us have time to waste on solutions that don’t work.  I would love to help you realize a new freedom, that is…if that’s of interest to you.  Thanks for listening…  Until the next time…  Bye for now…

This episode is a little different than most.  It’s kind of a public service announcement - a message in the public interest that is meant to raise awareness about an important issue and change behavior.  This episode is dedicated to you, my listeners.
The topic was inspired by a few emails I received this week, and they brought back the strong feelings I have about what I have been called to do and why I continue to pour my heart and soul into this calling.  Every day someone emails me with information about their challenges, how hard their life is, and the help they are looking for.
This worldwide pain and suffering must stop!  I know I talk about executive function skills a lot and point to them as the solution – and that is because they are.  The multitude of symptoms that you all are experiencing are coming from your underdeveloped EF skills and pre-skills plus your limiting beliefs and your outdated identities, and typically a mixture of all of this.  I say this with absolute conviction of this truth...
Developing your Executive Function Skills and shifting your limiting beliefs is the fastest and most effective way to overcome ADHD limitations, find focus, gain confidence, and a newfound freedom in your life!
My mission is to put an end to the worldwide needless suffering of adults with ADHD and those with under-developed Executive Function Skills - whether from ADHD, chronic depression or anxiety, trauma, addictions, or chronic illnesses. And, you don't need a formal diagnosis to know you need help developing these executive function skills in order to greatly reduce your suffering.
If you’re loving the podcast, here’s how to get even more support:  check out the links in the show notes for transformative opportunities that are waiting for you.

AIA-FS Executive Function Program Information: https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/AIA Free PDF - 13 Signs Weak Executive Functioning Is Holding You Back:  https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/Executive-Function The Transformation Club – the affordable community for EF training:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/ttcprogram
Grant assistance page:
https://www.drbarbaracohen.com/financial-assistance Book your strategy call or call to get your questions answered:
https://go.oncehub.com/AIAStrategyCall