I'm Tara. I have lived with ADHD my whole life. I just didn’t know it until 2015. Since then I have learned so much about myself and how ADHD has affected how I walk through the world. That diagnosis was life changing. ADHD coaching added even more to my understanding of myself and my quality of life.
Hey there!
My story...
The first twenty years of my working life were spent in offices navigating a lot of things that did not come naturally to me. In 1996, right after I graduated law school and passed the bar exam, I met a woman studying massage and thought - that is what I should have done. A few years later I left my job overseeing environmental policy and compliance to study massage.
And I never looked back. Practicing massage eliminated many of the challenges ADHD presented in an office setting. But there were plenty of other ways ADHD affected my life.
Getting my ADHD diagnosis was like having someone shine a spotlight on everything in my past, all of a sudden I understood why I never fit in, why I was so socially awkward, why I struggled to be on time, why I went through bankruptcy (twice!).
The eight years since I discovered I live with ADHD have been quite an adventure. I noticed the scaffolding I built to help with some of my limitations - I have a set of hooks by my door, all keys go there immediately upon entering, it’s been a long time since I lost my keys and had a meltdown. I have learned that some things I have considered moral failings are a result of how my brain is wired, enabling me to build supports so that I can get to my office before my clients arrive, among other things.
What do I bring to the coaching table?
My own experience as a person with undiagnosed ADHD. My experience as a person diagnosed late in life, dealing with the grief surrounding what my life could have been had I known at 20 instead of 52. Twenty years as a massage therapist, a job that has taught me how to listen, deeply, to my client, to hear between their words to what they aren’t saying. My deep desire to help people find their path to their best life with ADHD.