🌟 ADHD Awareness Month: Understanding Minds That Work Differently

October is ADHD Awareness Month — a time to increase understanding, reduce stigma, and recognise the many ways ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) shows up in people’s lives.

At Sea Change Therapies, we often meet clients who are only beginning to explore the possibility that they may have ADHD, or who are learning to live more comfortably with a diagnosis. For many, simply having their experiences understood and named can be a turning point.

Seeing Beyond the Stereotypes

ADHD is still widely misunderstood. It’s often associated only with restlessness or distraction — but it’s much more complex than that. People with ADHD can experience challenges with focus, time management, emotional regulation, organisation, and self-esteem. Yet they are also often creative, intuitive, energetic thinkers who bring huge insight and innovation to the world around them.

In adults, ADHD can look like:

• Feeling constantly “on the go” or mentally busy

• Difficulty managing time, focus, or priorities

• Periods of hyperfocus and bursts of productivity

• Emotional highs and lows that feel hard to regulate

• Self-criticism or guilt from years of feeling “not good enough”

  
  

The Emotional Impact

Living with ADHD — diagnosed or not — can be exhausting. Many people grow up internalising the message that they are lazy, chaotic, or incapable, when in fact they’ve been trying to function in systems not built for the way their brains work. This can lead to anxiety, low self-esteem, burnout, or shame.

Therapy can help by offering a space to make sense of your experiences, understand your patterns, and learn strategies that work for you, rather than against you. It’s also about rebuilding self-compassion — recognising that difference is not deficiency.

ADHD and Counselling

In a therapeutic setting, counsellors can help clients with ADHD explore:

• The emotional impact of living with ADHD traits

• Relationship or work challenges that stem from misunderstanding or masking

• Ways to manage overwhelm and self-criticism

• Tools for grounding, organisation, and self-care

• How to communicate needs and boundaries more clearly

At Sea Change Therapies, our counsellors work in a trauma-informed, person-centred way — which means we see each person as unique, with their own history, context, and strengths. For clients with ADHD, this can mean slowing down the pace, using creative approaches, and working collaboratively to find what feels most helpful.

Building Awareness and Acceptance

ADHD Awareness Month is a reminder that understanding makes a difference. Whether you have ADHD yourself, think you might, or care about someone who does, taking the time to learn and listen can open doors to greater empathy and connection.

Neurodiversity isn’t something to be “fixed” — i

t’s part of the rich variety of how human minds work. With the right support and understanding, people with ADHD can thrive, not just survive.

🌱 If you’d like to talk with someone about ADHD, overwhelm, or how therapy might help you navigate life differently, Sea Change Therapies is here to listen.