ADHD Therapy in Guelph, Ontario
Counselling for teens and adults with ADHD
ADHD-affirming therapy is counselling for adults and adolescents with diagnosed (or suspected) ADHD.
ADHD affects how your brain handles attention and time, and it can make it hard to start or finish something you want to do. ADHD therapy won’t change that wiring. What it can work on is everything that has grown up around it. Maybe that’s shame from being told you “don’t try hard enough,” or anxiety about having to work twice as hard to look like you’re keeping up.
Most people with ADHD have built a life out of workarounds by the time they find us, and a lot of those cost more than they give back. We’ll sort through them together, and work toward a kinder relationship with your ADHD.
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ADHD-affirming therapy can look at:
Shame from years of abandoned hobbies, late work, or distracted behaviour
Anxiety (which is common in people who also deal with ADHD)
Deadlines and last-minute panic
Getting started on things that matter to you
Relationships where forgetting feels to the other person like you don’t care
Burnout after years of forcing yourself to focus
Sorting out which parts are ADHD and which parts are just “you”
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We build sessions around the way your brain works. In other words, fidget all you like. Together, we might look at just one thing you’ve been stuck on, like an email you’ve been avoiding, and figure out what’s happening in the space between meaning to do it and getting it done.
If we land on something for you to try, we’ll keep it small enough to fit an ordinary week. Either way, you set the pace, every time.
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You may have tried the “miracle” apps and the planners already. Maybe some of them worked for a while, or maybe you just ended up frustrated again. Therapy isn’t another system to keep up with. It’s an hour a week with someone who understands what you’re dealing with, and accepts that your attention works the way it does.
Questions about therapy for ADHD in Guelph
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Some of the people we see were diagnosed decades ago, and some only suspect they have ADHD. Either way, we work with you, and we certainly don’t need a label to do that.
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No, we cannot diagnose or prescribe medication. We can point you in the direction of assessment and medication supports. Whether you take medication or want nothing to do with it, therapy works either way.
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Yes, and it’s a common situation. A late diagnosis can up-end your sense of who you are. Therapy can be the place you sort out what has changed and what it means to you.
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Yes, and for many people, that’s most of the work. All those years of being called lazy can create a cruel voice in your head, or a “story” about you that somebody else wrote. Our pages on therapy rooted in self-compassion and narrative therapy cover more.
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Yes, and they arrive as a pair often enough that we expect it. We won’t make you pick which one to work on. You can read our anxiety therapy page to explore more.
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), helps you decide what your attention is for, and then build your weeks around that. We might also draw on Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), to look at emotions and impulses.
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That depends on what we’re working on. Untangling years of shame takes longer than building a system to help you cope, and you might decide to do some of each. Whatever you choose, you’ll always book session by session, with no commitment beyond showing up for the next one.
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Sessions are 50 minutes. We book the full hour, and the last ten minutes are for the practical stuff, like payment and booking your next session.
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You can see us at 15 Surrey Street West in Guelph, or over video anywhere in Ontario or Alberta, and you don’t have to pick one for good.
