Together, we’ll work to break that cycle by creating personalized strategies that help you regain control of your day. Our sessions focus on building practical routines and systems that work for you, so you can move from overwhelm to organization.
Let’s turn overwhelm into action together
Whether it’s managing tasks, tackling procrastination, or building habits that stick, we’ll take small, meaningful steps to help you feel more in control of your life.
People with ADHD experience a range of challenges that affect how they feel day to day. Racing thoughts, difficulty focusing, emotional intensity, and physical restlessness are common experiences. Understanding what you’re dealing with is the first step toward building strategies that actually help.
The mind won’t slow down. Thoughts jump from one thing to another, ideas pile up faster than they can be processed, and it feels impossible to quiet the head even when rest is wanted. This constant mental noise is exhausting. Starting to think about one thing and suddenly being three topics away, unable to remember how it happened, is common. At night, when trying to sleep, the brain is still going.
During conversations, thoughts come up before the other person finishes talking. This mental speed can feel like an asset in moments of creativity or problem-solving, but it becomes overwhelming when focus or calm is needed. Many people with ADHD describe it as having fifty browser tabs open at once in their minds.
Attention drifts easily. Starting something is possible, but staying with it feels harder. Distractions pull away constantly, even when the task matters deeply. This isn’t laziness or lack of interest. The brain naturally filters information differently. There might be intense hyperfocus on something that genuinely captures attention, but tasks that don’t inherently engage require enormous mental effort to stay with.
Someone sits down to work on something important, and five minutes in, attention has wandered to something else entirely. Or the mind keeps pulling toward other tasks, notifications, or random thoughts. This makes it hard to complete things, meet deadlines, or feel like trusting oneself to follow through, even when something genuinely matters.
Emotions feel bigger and shift more quickly than others seem to experience. Frustration one moment and sadness the next creates unpredictability in how someone feels or how others respond. Something that would annoy another person sends someone into genuine anger. Something small that goes wrong feels like a catastrophe. Emotions aren’t just stronger. They shift rapidly, sometimes within minutes.
Someone might feel fine, and then something small happens, and suddenly they’re overwhelmed. This emotional intensity is real and valid, not something that’s being overreacted about. The nervous system processes emotions more intensely, which can make daily life feel more volatile than it is for others.
People in someone’s life might not understand why they’re so affected by things that seem minor to them. There might be frustration or shame about the intensity of reactions.
Sitting still feels impossible. The body needs to move, fidget, or find an outlet for the energy that builds up inside. This restlessness makes settling into routines or focusing on one thing difficult. There’s often constant movement: jiggling a leg, tapping fingers, or needing to pace while thinking or talking.
In meetings or situations where sitting still is expected, discomfort and anxiety increase. The physical energy needs an outlet, and without it, the mind becomes more scattered and unfocused. Fidgeting isn’t a distraction or bad behavior. It’s often what allows someone to actually focus and regulate themselves. When movement isn’t possible, the discomfort builds, and concentration becomes harder.
Reactions happen quickly without pausing to think through consequences. Words come out before realization. Decisions get made in the moment that might be regretted later. The brain processes and responds faster than the ability to pause and consider. In conversations, interrupting happens without meaning to. In moments of emotion, things get said that weren’t planned.
Quick decisions get made, and then the implications become clear later. This is about how the executive functioning system works. Impulse control is like having fewer steps between thought and action. There might be shame or regret about things said or done impulsively, even though harm wasn’t intended. Working with occupational therapy for anxiety and ADHD helps develop that pause between impulse and action.
Time gets lost. Plans fall apart. Space becomes disorganized despite efforts to keep it together. The brain processes time and organization differently. It’s easy to lose track of hours when engaged in something, then suddenly realize being late. Or someone plans to do something,g and then it completely slips their mind.
Organizing physical space requires sustained mental effort that doesn’t come naturally. Starting to organize and getting distracted halfway through is common. Or setting up a system that feels perfect and then not being able to maintain it. The frustration is real because someone genuinely cares about these things.
The desire is there to be organized and on time. But the systems that work for other people don’t account for how the ADHD brain works. Therapy for daily routines and executive functioning builds systems that work with the brain instead of against it.
Knowing what needs to be done doesn’t make starting any easier. Waiting until the last minute, then rushing, is the pattern. Beginning tasks often feel harder than completing them. Starting is the friction point. When it’s time to actually start, something inside resists. The task feels overwhelming, even though intellectually it’s manageable.
The pull toward later becomes very late, which creates urgency that finally makes starting possible. This creates a cycle where functioning happens under pressure, which is exhausting and prevents getting ahead. Many people feel broken because they can accomplish things when there’s a deadline, but they can’t seem to start without that pressure. This is how ADHD task initiation works. The brain needs either urgency or genuine interest to activate.
ADHD affects relationships. Social cues get missed, interruptions happen unintentionally, important details about others slip away, and expectations in close relationships feel hard to manage. Interrupting conversations happens without realizing it. Important things people shared get forgotten, even though there’s genuine care. In relationships, impulsivity or emotional intensity might create friction.
Things get said without filtering. Following up on commitments becomes difficult. People feel hurt or neglected even though that wasn’t the intention. ADHD doesn’t make someone a bad friend or partner. It means the brain works differently in social contexts. More conscious effort might be needed for things that feel automatic for others. There might be a feeling of being misunderstood because people see the behaviors without understanding the ADHD underneath them.
Our therapists are occupational therapy providers who focus on mental health and ADHD. We work in real-world settings at home, in the community, or online to help build the skills ADHD has made difficult. Our approach to neurodivergent therapy for adults with ADHD centers on understanding how your brain works and building practical strategies that fit your life.
For Healthcare Providers: We work with doctors, therapists, and other providers to coordinate care.
We work with people across SE Portland, including the Belmont District and Inner Southeast. We come to you, whether that’s at home, somewhere in the community, or online.
Areas we serve: Sunnyside, Hosford-Abernethy, Kerns, Laurelhurst, Richmond, Brooklyn, and Mt. Tabor.
Session options:
We meet you where you are, literally.
Please note that we only offer home, community-based, and virtual sessions. We do not provide in-office services.
ADHD shows up differently for each person. Racing thoughts, difficulty sustaining focus on tasks that don’t capture interest, and a sense of time moving differently are common experiences. For some people, the internal experience is the most noticeable part. For others, the external signs are clearer.
This is the most common ADHD presentation, requiring strategies that address both attention and impulse control.
Internal Experience
External Signs
Burnout is what happens over time when you’re constantly pushing against the ADHD experience without adequate support. This is deep fatigue from working twice as hard to accomplish what feels effortless to others.
What Burnout Feels Like
Why Burnout Happens
Without proper systems and support, ADHD requires constant willpower and mental effort. Over time, this exhausts your emotional and mental resources. The frustration builds. The shame accumulates. Eventually, you hit a wall.
Recognizing burnout isn’t about blame. It’s about understanding that ADHD without adequate support is genuinely exhausting. The goal of occupational therapy for adult mental health is to build systems and routines that reduce this exhaustion by working with your ADHD brain, not against it.
ADHD responds best to therapists who understand how it affects daily life and routines. Unlike talk therapy alone, which focuses on processing emotions, practical ADHD support focuses on building the systems that help you manage time, energy, and tasks.
Talk therapy can help process emotions related to ADHD. However, ADHD isn’t primarily a thinking problem. It’s a neurodevelopmental difference in how your executive functioning systems work. It responds best to practical, action-oriented support.
What Talk Therapy Alone Misses
The right fit helps you build systems and routines. This might be an occupational therapist, a therapist trained in ADHD-specific strategies, or an ADHD coach.
Essential Qualifications
Occupational therapy focuses on building practical routines and systems that work with your ADHD brain, not against it.
What OT Actually Does
The key difference is that occupational therapy isn’t just talk. It’s practice in real contexts.
Effective ADHD care combines multiple approaches tailored to your specific needs and life circumstances.
ADHD and autism are both neurodivergent conditions, but they work differently. Understanding this distinction matters because strategies that work for ADHD might not help autism, and vice versa. Some people have both conditions.
ADHD Focus
ADHD primarily affects executive functioning systems and how your brain’s regulatory systems work.
Autism Focus
Autism primarily affects social communication and sensory processing.
Executive Functioning Challenges
Attention and Impulse Regulation
Social Communication Differences
Sensory Processing Differences
Some people experience ADHD and autism together. A therapist experienced with both conditions can help distinguish which strategies support which part.
This is a medication question that depends on your specific medication and your prescriber’s recommendations. It’s important to ask your psychiatrist, doctor, or medication prescriber directly about coffee, caffeine, and your specific medication.
The interaction between caffeine and ADHD medication is real and significant. Caffeine is a stimulant, and ADHD medications are also stimulants. Combining them can affect your heart rate, blood pressure, sleep, anxiety levels, and overall well-being.
The Variables
Many people with ADHD experiment with what helps or hurts their ability to focus. Caffeine affects everyone differently.
Signs Caffeine Might Be Affecting You Negatively
Many other daily habits significantly affect focus and energy. Therapy for daily routines and executive functioning focuses on these foundational habits.
Daily Habits That Support ADHD
Calmness for someone with ADHD often comes from structure and clarity. It comes from knowing what needs to happen and when, from having systems in place so you’re not constantly figuring things out.
Most adults with ADHD find relief when they have clear routines, reduced decision fatigue, and strategies that work with their brains.
Structural Elements That Support Calm
Immediate Calming Tools
Environmental Supports
What works for one person might not work for another. In working with occupational therapy, we help you discover what creates genuine calm for your specific ADHD brain.
The Process of Finding Your Calm
What Calm Actually Looks Like
The 4 C’s of ADHD are Curious, Creative, Capable, and Chaotic. This framework helps move away from shame and toward understanding. People with ADHD bring remarkable strengths alongside real challenges.
Curious
Creative
Capable
Chaotic
The Chaos Isn’t Intentional
The work is creating systems and routines that let your curious, creative, capable self operate without being derailed by disorganization. This is where occupational therapy services in Portland help.
What Working Together Means
Maintaining progress requires ongoing support and the right tools as your life evolves.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition related to differences in how your brain is wired and how it functions. It’s not caused by parenting, trauma, or character flaws. Research shows ADHD has strong genetic components and involves differences in the brain’s executive functioning systems.
Understanding that ADHD is neurological, not personal, matters tremendously. Shame is one of the biggest barriers to people getting support. When you move from shame-based thinking to understanding-based thinking, everything changes.
The Shame Barrier
Shame leads to:
Understanding leads to:
A Neurodevelopmental Difference
The Neurological Basis
Research suggests ADHD involves:
Understanding ADHD as neurological changes in how you approach managing it. Instead of “Why can’t I just focus?”, the question becomes “What systems work with my brain?” This shift from shame to problem-solving is where real change happens.
Finding the right ADHD therapist in Portland involves looking for someone with specific training and real experience in ADHD. You want a therapist who understands how ADHD affects executive functioning and daily life and takes a practical, action-oriented approach.
A good fit means someone who understands that ADHD therapy isn’t just talking through feelings. It’s about building concrete systems, creating sustainable routines, and developing practical strategies. You want someone who works in real-world settings where you actually need the skills.
Essential Qualities
Red Flags to Avoid
About Their Experience
About Their Services
About Their Philosophy
For additional resources, guidance, and answers to more common questions, visit our FAQs page to explore further insights on managing adhd in daily life.
Please note – we only offer home, community-based, and virtual sessions. We do not provide in-office services.
