“It’s best to have failure happen early in life.
It wakes up the Phoenix Bird in you
So you rise from the ashes.”

— Anne Baxter

Dumb Birds deserve so much more respect. But just a word of warning: Caution! Don’t be offended if you are 85 or a therapist.

Today, I was reminded of my eldest client who was 85 years old when I worked with her. She was a beautiful and fun lady who attended one of my ADHD small group workshops back in 2010 with four other adults in their 40s and 50s. We started talking about the emotional side of ADHD and how best to manage it.

Several times during our second and third session, she mumbled the phrase ‘those dumb birds.’ Finally, someone asked her why she used the phrase, “dumb birds” and what did it mean? Our 85-year-old friend explained that in her day therapists were referred to as “dumb birds” because they never seem to get it.

Now that may sound a little harsh but taking care of mental health was not exactly an everyday conversation when she was younger; nor was ADHD even known about.

My client was born in the 1920s, when mental health was not a topic about which you just started talking and others simply joined in.

I’m so glad it’s 2025!

My years of working with ADHD clients have taught me that they often need the help of a therapist to overcome their negative emotional thought processes that built up over years of living with ADHD. As an ADHD Coach, my goal is to discuss the challenges which my clients are presented with and to build the right strategies and structures using my lens of having ADHD so they can deal with them and move forward.

Whether it’s an individual or a couple with ADHD, both therapy and ADHD Coaching may be necessary to make change in their lives. ADHD Coaching does not replace any other form of mental therapy, but rather serves as an important aspect of multi-modal treatment.

Oh, BTW, today “Bird Brain” is increasingly being offered as a compliment in recognition of the complex cognitive abilities being scientifically observed in our feathered friends.

So there.

JOYCE

“God gives every bird its food, but
He does not throw it into its nest.”

— Josiah Gilbert Holland