What is happening when people experience ADHD?
ADHD and neurodiversity are understood from the lived experiences through the whole nervous system, and not simply about focus, organisation or being easily distracted.
You may notice that your mind moves quickly, your attention shifts before you can catch it, or everyday tasks feel harder to organise than they ‘should’. At other times, you may feel emotionally overwhelmed, overstimulated, restless, exhausted from trying to keep up, or shut down.
For many people, ADHD is not just thinking differently. It can affect energy, emotion, motivations, sleep, decision making, self-confidence and relationships.
This is why therapy needs to be more than advice about routines or productivity. It needs to help you understand how your system responds, what helps it settle, and how to work with your own rhythms rather than constantly fighting against them.
Where people experience it
People often experience ADHD and neurodiversity across different areas of life:
In the body: restlessness, tension, sensory overwhelm, difficulty settling,
In the mind: racing thoughts, distractibility, rumination, difficulty prioritising
In emotions: intensity, frustration, rejection sensitivity, shame, sudden shifts in mood
In relationships: miscommunication, conflict, feeling misunderstood, withdrawal
In work or daily life: procrastination, overwhelm, burnout, difficulty starting or finishing tasks
Some people feel constantly switched on. Others describe long periods of freeze, avoidance or collapse after pushing themselves too hard.
Why they get stuck
ADHD and neurodivergent patterns can become stuck when the nervous system is repeatedly pushed beyond what it can process.
This might look like trying harder, masking, over-preparing, people-pleasing, avoiding, or moving between bursts of intense effort and periods of exhaustion.
Over time, these patterns can create shame and self-criticism, especially when you have been told you are not trying hard enough.
From a nervous-system perspective, this can begin to feel like a loop; pressure builds, the body activates, the mind races, tasks become harder, avoidance increases, and then the pressure returns.
Polyvagal-informed work can help make sense of these shifts─not as failure, but as changes in state. Sometimes the system is mobilised and urgent. Sometimes it is overloaded and shut down. The work is not to force one perfect state, but to notice the movement and begin to create more steadiness within it.
What changes through therapy
Through therapy, people often begin to notice subtle but meaningful changes:
a clearer understanding of how their attention, energy and emotions shift
less shame around patterns of procrastination, overwhelm or avoidance
more ability to pause before reacting or withdrawing
greater awareness of sensory and emotional overload
more workable routines that fit the person, rather than forcing rigid systems
improved self-trust, self compassion and steadier decision-making
Therapy does not aim to make a neurodivergent person become someone that follows models rigidly. It supports you in understanding how you work, what dysregulates you, and what helps you return to a more steady and connected way of living.
Integrative therapy approach
My work with ADHD and neurodiversity is calm, flexible and trauma-informed. It draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy(ACT), mindfulness, somatic awareness and nervous-system-informed practice.
ACT can be helpful because it supports people to notice thoughts and feelings without becoming completely caught up in them, and to reconnect with values and meaningful action.
Mindfulness can help build awareness of attention, emotion and body signals, especially when it is applied gently and not used as a ‘one practice fits all’.
Somatic work is important as it takes gentle observation of what is happening in the body before overwhelm becomes too much. This might include noticing activation, sensory overload, breath changes and tension held in the body.
Many people I work with initially describe feeling frustrated with themselves─as though they are made to feel they ‘should’ be able to manage more easily. As we begin to work together, you often notice that intensity shifts, as you come to understand and ‘befriend’ your nervous system.
The focus is on building self awareness and finding steadier ways to work with regulatory patterns at a pace that feels manageable. An integrated approach recognises the mind-body connection, with nervous system regulation and ‘stuck loop’ work to respond more compassionately to meeting your needs in relationships, work settings and your place in the world.
You are welcome to explore working together or get in touch to arrange an initial session.