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Coaching: Frequently Asked Questions
If you don't find the answer to your question below, contact me.
Do I need a diagnosis to work with you?
No. A formal diagnosis is not required to work with me.
Many of the adults I work with are undiagnosed - some are on waiting lists, some have chosen not to pursue a formal assessment, and some are simply at the beginning of working out whether neurodivergence is part of their picture. What matters is not a label on a piece of paper, but whether the challenges you're experiencing are getting in the way of your life.
If you're struggling with focus, organisation, emotional regulation, or the kind of persistent exhaustion that comes from holding everything together without enough support, coaching can help - wherever you are in your journey.
Coaching / therapy - what's the difference?
Both are valuable, but they do different things.
Therapy - whether that's CBT, counselling, or another approach - tends to focus on emotional processing, past experiences, and underlying mental health. It's the right choice when you're working through severe burnout, trauma, anxiety, depression, or significant emotional distress.
Coaching is forward-focused and practical. We're not looking back to understand how you got here; we're looking at where you are right now, what's getting in the way, and what needs to change. The work is grounded in your actual daily life - your routines, your responsibilities, the specific points where things keep breaking down - and we build strategies that hold in real situations.
Many people find that coaching and therapy complement each other well. Some of my clients work with a therapist at the same time. If anything comes up in our work together that would be better addressed therapeutically, I'll say so honestly. Read my blog for more on this.
I've tried things before and nothing has stuck. Why would this be different?
That's one of the most common things I hear - and it makes complete sense to feel sceptical.
Most advice isn't designed for neurodivergent brains. Productivity systems, self-help frameworks, time management tools - they're generally built on assumptions that don't hold for people with ADHD, autism, or dyslexia. When they don't work, the tendency is to blame yourself rather than the system.
What I do is different in a few specific ways. I take time to understand how your life works before we build anything. Strategies are tested in real situations and adjusted when they don't hold - because the first version rarely does, and that's expected, not a failure. Missed days and difficult weeks are built into the model, not treated as evidence that you're beyond help.
The goal isn't to make you more disciplined. It's to build something that works with how your brain functions.
Can I use Access to Work funding to pay for coaching?
Possibly - and it's worth investigating, because it's one of the most underused forms of support available to neurodivergent adults in the UK.
Access to Work is a UK government grant scheme that funds practical support for people whose disability or health condition makes some aspect of work harder. It's open to anyone in the UK with a disability, health condition, or neurodivergent profile that makes work harder than it should be - including ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. Fewer than 1% of eligible people ever use it.
Importantly, you do not need a formal diagnosis, but it helps to have evidence that you are affected in a way that meets the Equality Act definition of disability - that is, a condition that has a substantial and long-term impact on your ability to carry out normal daily activities.
To be eligible, you need to be currently employed, self-employed, or about to start a new role. Coaching is typically funded in packages of around 12 sessions, with the option to extend.
You can find out more and apply directly on the UK Government website. If you'd like to discuss whether this might apply to your situation before getting in touch with them, I'm happy to talk it through.
How many sessions will I need?
There's no fixed answer to this, because it depends what you're working on and how quickly things shift.
Most clients start to notice meaningful change within the first few weeks - fewer strong reactions, more ability to get started on things, a bit more self-compassion when things don't go to plan. Deeper, more structural change - steadier routines, less friction at work and at home, more genuine self-trust - tends to build over months rather than weeks.
Some people work with me intensively for a defined period, then take a break and return when something new comes up. Others prefer ongoing, lighter-touch support. We work out what makes sense based on your situation and your goals.
The best way to get a realistic picture is to have a conversation. You can ask a question HERE, or book a discovery call HERE.
What does an executive function coach help with?
Executive function is the brain's management system - the set of mental processes that handle things like getting started on tasks, staying organised, managing time, shifting between priorities, regulating emotions, and following through on plans.
For many neurodivergent adults, these are exactly the areas that cause the most difficulty - not because of a lack of intelligence or effort, but because of how the brain is wired. You might know exactly what you need to do and still find it nearly impossible to start. You might be highly capable in some areas and completely overwhelmed in others.
Executive function coaching works on the practical, real-world level. We look at where the friction is - mornings, task initiation, managing deadlines, recovering after difficult days - and build specific, workable strategies for those points. The aim is not to fix you, but to build systems that work with your brain rather than against it.
Is the coaching online or in person?
All coaching is delivered online, via video call.
This is a deliberate choice, not a compromise. Online sessions remove the logistical pressure of travel, allow you to work from a familiar and comfortable environment, and make it easier to integrate coaching into a busy life. Many neurodivergent adults find online sessions less demanding than in-person ones - particularly those who find transitions, new environments, or commuting depleting.
I've just been diagnosed as an adult. Where do I even start?
Take a breath. You don't need to have it all figured out immediately.
A late diagnosis often brings a complicated mix of feelings - relief, grief, anger, clarity, and sometimes an overwhelming urge to fix everything at once. All of that is completely normal. The diagnosis explains a great deal, but it doesn't mean you have to overhaul your entire life overnight.
The most useful starting point, in my experience, is understanding - before strategy. Understanding which specific areas of daily life are hardest for you, what's been driving the difficulty, and what has helped in the past (even if it didn't seem like much). From there, we build something grounded and realistic, rather than trying to implement a system designed for a neurotypical brain.
Late diagnosis can feel liberating, but it also brings grief for lost years. Both things are true, and both are worth space. If you'd like to talk about where to start, please get in touch.
Who do you work with?
I work with adults across a range of neurodivergent profiles - including ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and combinations of these.
In practice, many people I work with don't fit neatly into one category. ADHD and autism frequently co-occur, and the overlap between different profiles - in terms of executive function challenges, sensory sensitivities, emotional regulation, and masking - means that the same coaching approaches are often helpful across different diagnoses.
I don't require a specific diagnosis to work together, and I don't work from a single-condition framework. I work with the person in front of me - their specific challenges, their specific strengths, and what's actually getting in the way of their life.
What happens in a first session?
The first session is primarily about understanding your situation - not a formal assessment, just a real conversation.
I'll want to know what's been going on, what you've already tried, what's driving the difficulty, and what you're hoping changes. I'll ask about your day-to-day life in some detail, because the work we do together will be grounded in the specifics of how you live and work, not in generic frameworks.
By the end of that first session, we'll usually have a clearer picture of where the most important pressure points are and an initial sense of where to start. Things are expected to evolve as we go - the first plan is rarely the final one, and that's completely normal.