Live Happy ADHD Coaching
Welcome.
Are you ready for a change but keep hitting roadblocks?
I can help you move from survival mode to thriving and reconnecting to the joy of life. I help my clients stay on track, create calm, and bring out the best in themselves. I invite you to learn how to enhance the way your unique ADHD brain works, instead of working against it.
Meet your Coach
I used to struggle with exactly the same thing.
Dorsey McFadden currently lives in Richmond with her husband and pets. She earned a double BA degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Political Science & Communications and International Security Studies & Rhetoric.
In her previous life, Dorsey worked in digital marketing for over 20 years. Now she’s building a career as an ADHD coach, educator, and advocate.
She also cofounded FlexYourADHD.com as a platform with a significant community of adults eager to learn about their ADHD.
As the founder and coach of Live Happy ADHD Coaching, Dorsey is passionate about coaching adults living with ADHD and parents of children with ADHD to help them live happy and healthy lives.
Together, she works with her clients to develop techniques and approaches to better understand how to support themselves and their children.
Dorsey aims to empower those with ADHD to work with their unique brain, not against it.
Meet your Coach
I used to struggle with exactly the same thing.
Dorsey McFadden is a certified ADHD coach, educator, and advocate through training from the ADD Coach Academy (ADDCA), holding credentials from both ADDCA and the Professional Association of ADHD Coaches (PAAC). Based in Richmond, she lives with her husband and pets. With over 20 years of experience in digital marketing, she brings a wealth of strategic insight to her coaching practice. Dorsey holds a double BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Political Science & Communications and International Security Studies & Rhetoric.
As the founder of Live Happy ADHD Coaching and FlexYourADHD.com, Dorsey is passionate about helping adults with ADHD and parents of children with ADHD build happier, more fulfilling lives. She partners with her clients to create personalized strategies that harness the strengths of the ADHD brain, focusing on empowerment, self-understanding, and practical support systems.
Dorsey's mission is simple: to help people stop fighting against their ADHD and start thriving with it.
While there's no magic solution in life, the supportive, practical, concrete, and collaborative process of coaching can help to bridge the gap between where you are right now and where you want to be.
Do any of these sound familiar?
difficulty with planning and prioritizing
feeling unfulfilled and unsuccessful
impaired communication or social skills
trouble getting started/lack of initiative
difficulty maintaining focus
poor self-care (exercising, getting to bed, etc.)
difficulty explaining their ADHD to others
getting easily distracted and overwhelmed
challenges with working memory
poor time and energy management
lack of organizational skills
trouble harnessing motivation and interest
impulsivity/lack of inhibition
procrastination (sometimes extreme and high stakes)
poor communication skills
difficulty with planning and prioritizing
feeling unfulfilled and unsuccessful
impaired communication or social skills
trouble getting started/lack of initiative
difficulty maintaining focus
poor self-care (exercising, getting to bed, etc.)
difficulty explaining their ADHD to others
getting easily distracted and overwhelmed
challenges with working memory
poor time and energy management
lack of organizational skills
trouble harnessing motivation and interest
impulsivity/lack of inhibition
procrastination (sometimes extreme and high stakes)
poor communication skills
Testimonials
What Does Success Look Like?
That depends on the client.
For some it will look like completion of a project while, for others, it may be development of self compassion and self
awareness which enriches all areas of their life.
What Is Coaching?
Coaching is the facilitation of growth and change. A coaching partnership helps close the gap between who you are, what's important to you, and what you're doing. so that you can lead a more satisfying and effective life. Coaches support our client's understanding of their ADHD brain and its related challenges. As well as how it impacts your personal and professional life so that you can utilize practical, realistic strategies to shift from chaos to calm.
What Does Success Look Like?
That depends on the client.
For some it will look like completion of a project while, for others, it may be development of self compassion and self
awareness which enriches all areas of their life.
What Is Coaching?
Coaching is the facilitation of growth and change. A coaching partnership helps close the gap between who you are, what's important to you, and what you're doing. so that you can lead a more satisfying and effective life. Coaches support our client's understanding of their ADHD brain and its related challenges. As well as how it impacts your personal and professional life so that you can utilize practical, realistic strategies to shift from chaos to calm.
More Topics to explore
Something for every reader
How the Stages of Grief Can Explain the ADHD Diagnosis Journey
After you’ve been diagnosed, the real work begins. Not only for you, but your family as well. One can compare the journey most of us go through after diagnosis to the stages of grief.
According to Healthline there are 7 stages of grief:
Shock and denial. This is a state of disbelief and numbed feelings.
Pain and guilt. You may feel that the loss is unbearable and that you’re making other people’s lives harder because of your feelings and needs.
Anger and bargaining. You may lash out, telling God or a higher power that you’ll do anything they ask if they’ll only grant you relief from these feelings.
Depression. This may be a period of isolation and loneliness during which you process and reflect on the loss.
The upward turn. At this point, the stages of grief like anger and pain have died down, and you’re left in a more calm and relaxed state.
Reconstruction and working through. You can begin to put pieces of your life back together and carry forward.
Acceptance and hope. This is a very gradual acceptance of the new way of life and a feeling of possibility in the future.
While it’s true that grief is universal, ADHD is not, but the stages a person goes through to get over loss can be compared to the stages we’ll all go through after our ADHD diagnosis. The timeline of your progress through those stages can be months, or years, even. I was diagnosed at age 6, but I wouldn’t say I truly accepted it until recently, at 40.
There are countless articles across the web that can tell you how the stages of grief apply to this area. I’m going to share my own experience so it might shed some light on your own.
How Does Coaching Work And How Does It Help You?
Coaching sessions create space away from day to day demands for a dialogue between the coach and client. The client determines the long-term direction of coaching and is responsible for bringing a topic/issue/question to each session. Together, the coach and client explore who the client is, who they think they are, and who they want to be in order to clarify desired outcomes and actions to further the client’s agenda.
As a coach, I will ensure we make the most of your time. My role is to be your sounding board, mirror, and champion your efforts. I will provide models and structure to help you organize your thoughts, beliefs, and values. I will help you to bring details into focus to reach a deeper understanding and appreciation of yourself. I will hold you accountable for your decisions and actions and challenge you to be compassionate with yourself while setting realistic and achievable goals.
However, I will never tell you what to do. Coaching sessions offer an opportunity for you to learn something new about yourself, a different way of thinking about a situation, or uncover a belief that was limiting the options you thought were available to you. The “work” to apply this learning toward changing your life continues beyond the coaching session.
Welcoming clients of all races, cultures, identities and orientation
Disclaimer: Coaching is not to be used as a substitute for professional advice by legal, medical, financial, business, spiritual or other qualified professionals. We encourage our clients to seek independent professional guidance for legal, medical, financial, business, spiritual, or other matters. With Coaching, all decisions in these areas are exclusively the responsibility of the client who acknowledges that decisions and actions as a result of coaching are their sole responsibility.
Example Topics for Coaching
ADHD Life skills & Executive Functioning
Relationship Skills
Friendship and Support System
Parenting Children with ADHD
Organizing Skills
Addiction Dangers
Emotional Regulation
Mindset Improvement
Work/Life Balance
Communication Skills
Self Awareness
Self Compassion & Mindfulness
Study Skills
Self Care Skills
Time Management
Task Management
Advocating Skills
Routines and Systems
Healthy Boundaries
Managing your life
Planning & prioritizing
Putting plans into action, task initiation
Goal-directed persistence
Taking actions that align with your physical & emotional needs
Learning new strategies to manage executive functioning
Navigating neurodivergent relationships
Self-regulation & interoceptive-awareness
Emotional impulsivity
Communication strategies
Physical health and wellness
ADHD Coaching & Consulting by Dorsey McFadden
Located in Richmond, VA
Accepting clients Worldwide
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