You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?!
by Kate Kelly and Peggy Ramundo
Publisher: Scribner (2006)
Sixteen years ago there was almost nothing written about ADD in adulthood, so Peggy Ramundo and I got to work writing what has been referred to as the encyclopedia of adult ADD. We wrote such a long and comprehensive book because we felt compelled to single-handedly fill up that information gap.
The Lazy Crazy book (most people can't remember the whole title) was the first self-help book by and for ADDers. The second edition came out in April of this year. It has 25% new material, with updates throughout the book. There are chapters on sexuality and gender issues, ADD friendly ways to meditate, mental hygiene, updated medications and moving forward. Much of the new material has a strong coaching focus, with numerous shameless plugs for ADD coaching throughout. Yes, we still use the ADD label, because it is hard for us old dogs to learn new tricks, or acronyms. We also like it because it is more inclusive of inattentive types.
Be sure to buy the new edition and recommend it to your clients.
The new edition of "The Lazy Crazy Book" and
an utterly shameless bit of self-promotion by Kate Kelly, www.addcoaching.com
Coaching College Students with AD/HD: Issues and Answers
by Patricia O. Quinn, M.D., Nancy A. Ratey, Ed.M., MCC, Theresa L. Maitland, Ph.D.
Forward by Sue Sussmann, M.Ed.
Publisher: Advantage Books (2000)
There are a number of the things I love about coaching young ADDults, but in particular, this is definitely a client group where the benefits of coaching can play out in lifetimes of success.
Armed with this new book by Quinn, Ratey and Maitland, it’s easy to win over students and to persuade parents and educational services directors that coaching is what their ADHD students really need -- not yet-another-session on how to write a term paper.
The second half of the book addresses various issues faced by college students grouped by type of activity: daily, social, academic, and personal skills. Arranged in an "issues and answers" format, the chapters are thorough without being tedious. If you are in this coaching niche, or interested in it, this book is worth reading.
Reviewed by Sarah Wright, MS, ACT www.swcc.biz
Change Your Questions Change Your Life
By Marilee G. Adams
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler (2004)
Every day we ask ourselves hundreds of questions from "What should I wear today?" to "What should I be doing with my life?". Real choice begins when you are conscious in your own mind. If you can't manage your own thinking how can you manage anything else? In her book Change Your Questions Change Your Life, Marilee Adams illustrates how these internal questions can profoundly affect your life, your relationships and your career. She shares seven tools to help you ask better questions and make better decisions. She also offers tools for transforming your inner dialogue, modeling a process to affect lasting change.
I have found the information and tools in this small book hugely helpful to me in my personal relationships as well as with clients. In addition, clients have found great results using these tools in there own lives.
Reviewed by Michelle B. Friedman www.transcendinglimitations.com
Taming Your Gremlin:
A Surprisingly Simple Method for Getting Out of Your Own Way
by Rick Carson
Publisher: Collins; Revised edition (2003)
My very favorite book, both personally and professionally, is Taming Your Gremlin: A Surprisingly Simple Method for Getting Out of Your Own Way by Rick Carson. Since I first discovered this relatively short book in 1998, I have given it as a gift to every one of my clients, colleagues, family members and friends because I'm passionate about the life I am learning to live without my own gremlin bugging me.
The majority of my clients are adults with ADHD. Without exception, every one of them has said that the most powerful part of our work together was learning to tame their gremlin. Knowing that they have a choice of where to point their awareness in any breath’s worth of time has made it easier not only to quiet that monster of the mind but also to choose to focus on things like a spouse’s words, a project with multiple steps or a beautiful walk in the woods.
Massengill review: all thumbs and fingers UP!
Reviewed by Jane Massengill, LCSW/ MCC www.tamingyourgremlin.com
Living With ADD
When You're Not the One Who Has It:
A Self-Care Workbook For Partners
by Mimi Handlin, MSW
Publisher: Wasteland Press (2005)
People with ADD are often creative, gifted, generous, and warm. Those positive traits attract others to them and can make for a loving and exciting relationship. The difficult traits, however, can profoundly and negatively impact those who love them.
Many people who do not have ADD are frustrated, angry, hurt or confused by their partner's ADD related behaviors. Some of this stress could be alleviated if non-ADD partners had the opportunity to get support, information and validation for their experiences. Although they are a population group in desperate need of resources, there is little out there for them.
The book, Living With ADD When You're Not the One Who Has It is a valuable resource.
Reviewed by Mimi Handlin, MSW
www.addfamilycoaching.com
HOW IT'S DONE 101:
The Definitive Primer of Coaching Practice Development
by Ken Zaretzky
HOW IT'S DONE 101: The Definitive Primer of Coaching Practice Development is a no-frills, let's-get-it-going guide for success. Rather than hold your hand step by step as you create your coaching practice, Master Certified Coach Ken Zaretzky tells you how to accomplish the business of your dreams. Or not - he actually has the audacity to suggest that you might want to quit your business if it's not working. Definitely not a book for the timid or uncertain!
The good news is that a successful coaching practice is possible. The bad news is that there are no magic wands, just a lot of hard work, but this little gem of a book puts you light-years ahead of the competition.
Available only at www.howitsdone101.com
Reviewed by Laurie Lawson,
www.eljnyc.com
Healing ADD:
The Breakthrough Program That Allows You to See and Heal the 6 Types of ADD
by Daniel G. Amen, MD
Publisher: Berkley Trade; Reprint edition (2002)
Three years ago, on a cruise to the Western Caribbean, sitting in a deck chair and soaking up the sun, was I reading a romantic novel? No, I was reading Healing ADD by Dr. Daniel G. Amen. I was trying to learn more about ADD and I just could not put this book down! I kept nudging my husband and saying "listen to this".
Amen breaks ADD into six types and explains each one in clear, concise terms. (see the online version of this review for the six types) A questionnaire is included that helps you to determine your ADD type. He talks about the myths and facts of ADD, gives real life stories and explains the process of using SPECT Imaging for diagnosis.
Nearly every aspect of ADD is covered, including diagnosis issues, how it affects lives, medications, impact on families, substance abuse, the importance of the role of nutrition and learning to eliminate what Dr. Amen calls ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts). There is also one very positive chapter on the benefits of coaching. I often recommend this book to clients and others who have questions about ADD and refer to it for answers in my practice.
Reviewed by Sharon Howell, ACG
www.coachingaddwithsharon.com
Until Today!
Daily Devotions for Spiritual Growth and Peace of Mind
Iyanla VanZant
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (2000)
In Until Today!, VanZant divides the lessons of love, life, forgiveness, and other virtues into twelve months of reading. Each month has its own theme. Each theme emphasizes the notion that if we behave ourselves into a situation, we can behave ourselves out of it. The subtext is that the higher power will create powerful changes in the circumstances of your life -- circumstances that you perceived as holding you back in some way, until today!
The book also includes a convenient index of entries so that the reader may quickly locate a specific lesson in living. Due to its broad range of topics, my clients easily locate something specific to their own interests and needs.
Reviewed by Brenda Murphy, MA www.parentcoachingcenter.com
Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom.
by John O'Donohue
Publisher: Cliff Street Books, an imprint of Harper/Collins Publishers (1997)
Anam Cara means soul friend in Gaelic. In this work John O’Donohue gently guides the reader through the spiritual landscape as experienced by his Irish imagination. His writing creates a luminous and lovely link between what's human and what's divine. This timeless wisdom can bring an amazing understanding about ourselves and the world around us. Clients love the prose and themes of redemption, forgiveness, and grace as we seek to find our place in the circle of belonging.
Reviewed by Brenda Murphy, MA www.parentcoachingcenter.com
The Wizard of Oz and other Narcissists:
Coping with the One-Way Relationship in Work, Love, and Family.
Eleanor D. Payson, M.S.W.
Publisher: Julian Day Publications (2002)
From time to time, I reach for an old stand-by: The Wizard of Oz and other Narcissists
This book is an invaluable resource for those clients who must deal with a one-way relationship. This could include a family member, a romantic partner, or senior management. Payson deftly explains the pain and confusion that comes with the interaction of someone who is consumed with self-love or extreme self-absorption. She offers sound advice and practical wisdom in managing such difficult relationships including how to let go of destructive ones. Her reassurance about the reader's ability to heal the underlying wounds that made them vulnerable in the first place is based on empirical research and also best practices currently employed in psychotherapeutic techniques. I highly recommend this very easy-to-read book based on the well known and beloved characters from The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy is the vulnerable seeker in the land of another. The Wizard proves to be the ultimate narcissist.
Reviewed by Brenda Murphy, MA www.parentcoachingcenter.com
The Floor is not an Option!
Simple Solutions to Eliminate Clutter
by Sheila G. McCurdy
Publisher: Sheila G. McCurdy (2002)
I keep referring my clients to my own book The Floor is not an Option! -- a basic how-to book for getting your home and papers organized. It includes special instructions for those with ADHD, dyslexia and hoarding issues. It is an easy read with lots of anecdotes, affirmations, humor, and summary statements.
The Floor is not an Option! takes you through your home starting at the front door. Each chapter deals with one room and everything that you might find there. What is that room being used for? What do you really want to use it for?
Children and their organizing issues are broadly covered in one chapter. Another deals with the woes of closets - what we put in them, keep in them and lose in them!
Papers are discussed in detail, including step-by-step instructions on how to set up a filing system that will work for you.
This is a one-stop book for all residential and paper organizing needs.
Reviewed by Sheila G. McCurdy www.clutterstop.com
Fidget to Focus – Outwit your Boredom:
Sensory Strategies for living with ADD
by Roland Rotz, Ph.D., and Sarah D. Wright, M.S., A.C.T.
Publisher: iUniverse (2005)
Fidgeting is not just some annoying wiggling. It is any mindless sensory-motor activity that you choose to keep half your brain occupied so the other half can do what it’s supposed to do. Every one should be aware of the valuable role that fidgeting plays in the ability of a person to get in -- and stay in -- in the zone of optimum production. The book lays this all out and includes a workbook so readers can discover their own best fidget strategies.
I use the material in Fidget to Focus all the time in my coaching. Clients like these techniques because they work and are self-empowering. It’s a great book for parents to give to teachers, because it will help the teachers help the kids. It’s also a good book to give to family members who might be judgmental or having trouble understanding or tolerating ADHD behaviors. So, buy it or borrow it, but read it! And pass it on.
Reviewed by Sarah Wright www.swcc.biz
Co-Active Coaching
by Laura Whitworth, Henry Kimsey-House and Phil Sandahla
Publisher: Davies-Black Publishing (1998)
(a new and second edition of this book is scheduled for release in Feb 2007)
Co-Active Coaching is a wonderful general handbook for coaching. I keep it near my coaching chair and pick it up often to read about a particular structure, process or guided meditation. Sometimes I randomly turn to a page and read to reinforce my learning.
This book enhances relationships with my clients by reminding me to always focus on them and to follow their lead in the dance. It offers many sample dialogues representing different situations. These are particularly helpful when the client – or I – feel stuck. I appreciate the tool kit in the back of the book which contains worksheets, templates, lists and other helpful resources.
I love the tone, the gentleness, the kindness implied in the book’s introduction… "imagine a relationship where the focus is on you…imagine someone listening, not only to your words, but also to what’s behind them – who listens to the spaces between the words…". This book models the kind of coach I want to be.
Reviewed by Viveca Monahan www.coachviv.com
Shadow Syndromes:
Recognizing and Coping with the Hidden Psychological Disorders
That Can Influence Your Behavior and Silently Determine the Course of Your Life.
John Ratey and Catherine Johnson
Publisher: Pantheon (1997)
I have recommended this book consistently since it came out -- to clients, coaches, organizers and friends. It addresses the phenomenon of sub-clinical or mild levels of the spectrum of disorders we work with: ADHD, depression, bi-polar, anxiety, Aspergers, etc. The authors describe what life is like when these brain styles don't reach diagnosable levels -- perhaps for decades of a person's life.
We are certainly aware when clients tell us they have a co-morbid or co-existing condition. But what if it's just a mild version of a condition? This book provides insights and language to support a client with a tendency that will likely exacerbate over time. Very readable with a chapter on each condition.
Reviewed by Denslow Brown, CPO-CD, MCC www.organizercoach.com
AD/HD Teens Distracted or Defiant?
Coaching Helps!:
Coaching Strategies for Adolescents, Parents, Teachers and Coaches
by Joyce Walker, MCC
Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (2006)
Inevitably when I ask new student clients what they know about their own AD/HD, I get silence or a few parroted responses that they've heard from other students or from the media. Generally, they just do not have a good grasp of the scope of AD/HD and its neurobiological basis.
In this short book, Joyce Walker presents the most important aspects of AD/HD in teens (with many references to adults and children)
With humanity, understanding and a sense of a mission, she explains how multi-modal treatments work. She also highlights the central role that coaches have in the process.
There are more detailed books about AD/HD but this book captures the essence of all of them. It is a great starting point to the ADHD picture -- from diagnosis, to choosing a doctor and treatment, to coaching, to improving interactions with, and at, school or work.
This is a great book to give to a new student client, especially teens, young adults living at home or away at college.
Reviewed by Glen Hogard addcoach@cox.net
Playing Ball on Running Water:
The Japanese Way to Building a Better Life
by David K. Reynolds, Ph.D.
Publisher: Quill (1984)
ADHD guru, Dr. Ned Hallowell said something like: For people with ADHD, time exists in two states -- "now" and "not now." If Hallowell is right, then key to success in an ADHD life is accepting what is and doing what must be done. The options are much more clearly defined and easier to consider.
I love the books about Morita philosophy of life because the stories so clearly define situations in real life. Coaching, forwarding the action, is a balance of planning and deciding with doing. I don't have many, probably any clients who come for help thinking about stuff. Actually, come to think of it, that’s probably therapy.
Reviewed by Kerch McConlogue, PCC www.mapthefuture.com
Attention Deficit Disorder:
The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults
by Thomas E. Brown
Publisher: Yale University Press (2005)
Affectionately referred to as "the goldfish book," this is, in my opinon, the very best of books about ADHD -- what it is and how it affects people. In addition, the book includes the clearest explanation I have ever seen of how the brain uses its proteins to move thoughts around and how different medications affect that process. Just what does it mean to be a reuptake inhibitor?
Read this book and you, too, will know!
 If you are a member you can read more on line.
Reviewed by Kerch McConlogue, PCC www.mapthefuture.com
Thanks for reading
Next issue of Circle will be ruminations. How do you help your clients who ruminate? What has worked for you? Let me know. Drop me a note. editor@adhdcoaches.org
At this time we can't pay writers who submit articles to this newsletter, but we'll give you credit and links as appropriate. Articles received by the 15th of the month will be considered for the upcoming issue. Sometimes we'll elect to hold an article for later publication.
Writers' guidelines are available on line at this minute at newsletter.adhdcoaches.org/writersguidelines.html
I'm looking forward to making this publication top notch. So if you've got any questions, comments, concerns or gripes, please drop me a note. It does no good to grumble alone!
Onward and upward!
Kerch McConlogue, CPCC, PCC
Editor
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