ADHD Coaching
Practical, one-on-one support to build the routines, systems and follow-through that make everyday life with ADHD easier. Coaching is future-focused and non-clinical, and it works alongside the rest of your care.
What ADHD coaching is
In ADHD coaching, you work with a coach on the practical side of daily life. You set the direction, and together you build the skills, routines and systems that help. It combines learning about ADHD with hands-on skills coaching, and it is about what happens next, not what went wrong.
What coaching is
- Practical, structured and future-focused
- Collaborative and led by your goals
- Focused on skills, routines and systems
- Delivered online, across Australia
What coaching is not
- Not therapy or counselling
- Not a diagnosis or an assessment
- Not medical treatment or medication
- Not a replacement for clinical care
Coaching does not diagnose or treat ADHD, and it is not a substitute for medical care. If you are looking for a clinical assessment or ongoing treatment, that is a separate pathway. You can read how Kantoko's ADHD assessment works.
Who it is for and what you can work on
Coaching suits adults who want practical help with the day-to-day. You do not need a diagnosis to start. Many people begin while they are on a waitlist, still working out whether ADHD fits, or already diagnosed and looking for structure. Here are some of the areas coaching can focus on.
Planning and follow-through
Turn vague intentions into concrete next steps, and build ways to actually finish what you start.
Time and task management
Work with time blindness, not against it. Practical systems for prioritising, estimating and getting started.
Focus and organisation
Set up your space, tools and reminders so the important things are harder to lose track of.
Routines and habits
Build routines that fit how your attention actually works, and rebuild them when life changes.
Motivation and accountability
Regular check-ins give you the external structure that willpower alone often cannot.
Managing overwhelm
Break big, stuck feelings into smaller, workable pieces, and notice what helps you reset.
How coaching works
A clear, collaborative process. You set the direction, and your coach helps you build the systems to get there.
Start with a conversation
Many coaches begin with a short intro or discovery call so you can check the fit before you commit to anything.
Set your goals
You and your coach agree on what you want to work on, from daily routines to a specific project or transition.
Build skills and systems
Sessions are usually weekly or fortnightly, 30 to 60 minutes, and often ease to monthly check-ins. You leave each one with a clear, practical plan to try.
Review and adjust
You look at what worked and what did not, keep the useful parts, and change the rest. Setbacks are part of the process, not a failure.
The styles of ADHD coaching
Coaching is not one fixed thing. Coaches tend to specialise in a particular part of life, and they draw on different approaches. Most blend a few. Knowing the landscape helps you ask for what fits you.
What a coach might focus on
Everyday life coaching
The broad form. Routines, time, organisation and follow-through across work, home and study.
Executive-function coaching
Targets the mental skills ADHD affects most: planning, starting tasks, working memory and prioritising.
Student and academic coaching
Study systems, assignments and self-management. This is where the research evidence is strongest.
Workplace and career coaching
Performance, workflows and workplace adjustments for working adults.
Parent coaching
Coaches the parent or carer to set up support at home. For younger children, coaching often works through the parent.
Group coaching
Small-group sessions, which can be more affordable and add a sense of shared experience.
Approaches they draw on
Skills and systems
Concrete scaffolding: planners, reminders, routines and accountability that take load off memory and willpower.
Strengths-based
Starts from what you are already good at and builds strategies around it, treating ADHD as a difference to work with.
Client-led (co-active)
The coach asks questions and helps you find your own answers rather than giving instructions. You set the agenda.
Cognitive behavioural (CBT-informed)
Borrows practical techniques from CBT, like spotting unhelpful patterns and building workable routines. It shares tools with therapy but is not therapy.
Body doubling
Working alongside someone else, in person or on a video call, to help you start and stay on a task. Widely used, though formal research on it is limited.
Sources: CHADD and the Australian ADHD Clinical Practice Guideline (AADPA) .
Coaching alongside your ADHD care
Coaching and clinical care do different jobs, and many people use both. Australia's ADHD Clinical Practice Guideline, developed by AADPA, includes coaching as something that can form part of a treatment plan, while noting the research is still developing.
Medication and therapy are clinical decisions made with a clinician. Coaching adds a practical dimension: turning what you learn into habits and systems that hold up in real life. It works whether you are medicated, unmedicated, or waiting on an assessment.
Cost and funding
Private ADHD coaching in Australia usually runs from about $80 to $200 or more per hour, depending on the coach's experience and the format. A few things are worth knowing before you budget for it.
Medicare
Coaching is not rebated by Medicare. Medicare can rebate a registered psychologist under a Mental Health Treatment Plan, but that is therapy, not coaching.
NDIS
ADHD alone rarely meets NDIS criteria. Existing participants may be able to fund coaching-style support under Capacity Building.
Workplace
The Australian Government's Employment Assistance Fund may help cover work-related support if you are eligible.
Coaching fees are separate from Kantoko's assessment and care fees. For those, see pricing .
Choosing a coach
ADHD coaching is not a regulated profession in Australia, and there is no protected title. That makes a coach's training and experience worth checking. Recognised credentials come from bodies like the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the Professional Association of ADHD Coaches (PAAC). It is fair to ask any coach about their training, their experience with ADHD, and how they work before you start.
For a fuller guide to what coaching involves, what the evidence says and when it may not be the right fit, read our article on ADHD coaching .
Finding an ADHD coach in Australia
Kantoko does not currently provide ADHD coaching, so this is a starting point for finding an independent coach. Coaching is not a regulated profession in Australia and there is no official register, so the list below is not ranked or exhaustive.
- ADHD Coaches Sydney
One-on-one ADHD coaching for individuals, couples and parents, in Sydney and online.
- ADHD Coaching Australia
ADHD coaching for adults, teens and families, online and in person nationwide.
- ADHD Partners
ADHD coaching and education for adults and parents, in Melbourne and online nationwide.
- The ADDvocacy Project
ADHD and executive-function coaching for adults, parents and students, online and in Sydney.
- Focus Collective
Goal-focused ADHD coaching to build everyday skills and strategies, in Perth and online.
- Heidi Healy ADHD Coach
ADHD coaching for teens, young adults, parents and professionals, in Sydney and online.
- Into Focus Coaching
ADHD and career-focused coaching for adults, young adults and parents, in Sydney and online.
- Liz Welshman
ADHD and executive-function coaching for adults and students, online across Australia.
- NeuroInclusive Coaching
Executive-function coaching for ADHD and autistic adults, in Melbourne and online nationwide.
Support organisations
These national charities do not provide coaching themselves, but they offer information and can point you towards support.
- ADHD Australia
A national ADHD charity focused on awareness, advocacy and connecting people to support.
- ADHD Foundation
A national ADHD charity running a helpline and support and education programs.
Please note: Kantoko does not currently provide ADHD coaching services. We do not endorse, recommend or have any affiliation with the providers and organisations listed here, and we receive nothing for listing them. The list is not ranked or exhaustive, and inclusion is not a recommendation. Because ADHD coaching is unregulated in Australia, check a coach's training, experience and fit yourself before you commit. Links open external sites we do not control. Last reviewed July 2026.
ADHD coaching across Australia
Coaching is delivered online, so where you live does not limit access. It reaches capital cities, regional towns and remote areas alike. Here is a little local context, with the clinical pathway for each area if you want it.
ADHD coaching in Sydney
Between long commutes and demanding roles, Sydney days fill up fast. Coaching is online, so you can fit it around work in the CBD, the inner west or the outer suburbs, without another trip across the city. If you also want a clinical pathway, see how assessment works in New South Wales.
ADHD assessment in New South WalesADHD coaching in Melbourne
Study, shift work and juggling more than one job are part of life for many Melburnians. Online coaching works around your timetable, whether you are near the university belt, in the north or out towards the bay. For the clinical side, read about assessment in Victoria.
ADHD assessment in VictoriaADHD coaching in Brisbane
Demand for ADHD support has grown quickly across South East Queensland. Because coaching is delivered online, it reaches you whether you are in Brisbane, on the Gold Coast or further north. If you are looking for assessment too, see the Queensland pathway.
ADHD assessment in QueenslandADHD coaching in Perth
Perth's time zone can make east-coast appointments awkward, and online coaching sidesteps that by working to your schedule. Note that Kantoko has paused new assessment intake in Western Australia for now. You can still read the Western Australia information while intake is paused.
ADHD assessment in Western AustraliaADHD coaching in Canberra
Knowledge work and public service roles come with a lot of planning, deadlines and context-switching. Coaching gives you practical systems for that kind of work, online and around your hours. For the clinical pathway, see assessment in the ACT.
ADHD assessment in the ACTA short history of ADHD coaching
ADHD coaching is younger than you might think. It grew out of the adult-ADHD movement of the early 1990s, when clinicians and early coaches realised that practical, external structure helped people put what they knew into action.
- 1994
The idea of ADHD coaching first appears in print in Driven to Distraction by Dr Edward Hallowell and Dr John Ratey. The same year, Madelyn Griffith-Haynie starts the first ADHD-specific coach training, and the National Coaching Network is founded by Sue Sussman and Nancy Ratey.
- 1995
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is founded, setting standards for coaching in general.
- 1998
David Giwerc founds the ADD Coach Academy, which becomes a major ADHD coach training program.
- 2002
A subcommittee of the Attention Deficit Disorder Association publishes the first guiding principles for coaching people with ADHD.
- 2005 onwards
Dedicated professional bodies for ADHD coaching form, including the ADHD Coaches Organization and, later, the Professional Association of ADHD Coaches (PAAC).
- Today
ADHD coaching is practised worldwide. In Australia it remains an unregulated title, so a coach’s training and experience are worth checking.
Sources: ADHD Coaches Organization , ADDA and the International Coaching Federation .
Common questions about ADHD coaching
Straight answers about how coaching works, what it costs and how it fits with clinical care.
If you need urgent help
Kantoko is not an emergency service. If you need urgent help, call 000 for life-threatening emergencies, or Lifeline on 13 11 14 for 24/7 crisis support. The Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511 offers 24/7 professional advice.
Want to talk it through?
Get in touch and we will help you work out the right next step, whether that is an assessment, ongoing care, or finding the right coach.