About Me

Why work with us?

Because we offer a unique combination of professional training in psychology and coaching, lived experience of neurodiversity, and years of working in leadership positions in large organisations.

We offer both lived experience and evidence-based support

We believe that both lived experience and immersion in up to date, evidence-based training is important when seeking out the best neuroaffirmative support. We have a truly holistic approach, which we are able to offer to community members, coaching clients and organisations wanting to support their neurodivergent staff members.

Kaye, who founded Positively ADHD, has lived experience of depression, anxiety, bulimia, psychiatric care, medication and hundreds of hours of neuronormative therapy to "treat" her "symptoms" and CPTSD (complex post traumatic stress disorder) - some of it helpful, some of it actively harmful.

She is therefore passionately committed to an inclusive, positive and hopeful approach to both coaching others and creating safe and brave communities so that people can uncover their creative brilliance.

What's in a name?

"Even when I realised I had ADHD at the ripe old age of 51, I spent many months resisting a formal diagnosis. The medical model which focused on my "symptoms" and all the things I couldn't do made me feel worse about myself, instead of better. I'd already spent my whole life feeling I was broken, I certainly didn't need the medical profession to confirm how broken I was too.

I was immersed in my positive psychology Masters at the time, so was reading papers on flourishing, thriving and the importance of meaning. It struck me that I hardly ever came across these concepts in the research I was doing on my newly discovered neurodivergence. From this positive psychology perspective, the language I was reading around ADHD felt so jarring. I didn't want to be seen as a "patient" with "deficits in attention" or "impairments" in my executive function.

Why should I have to switch from the language of "flourishing" to one of "symptoms" just because of my neurotype?

It helped me realise the huge power in the words and language we use when we talk about ourselves and others, both around things we find more difficult and the things which come more naturally to us. Positive psychology doesn't encourage us to focus only on our positive emotions but instead, sees the gifts in all of our emotions. In the same way, Positively ADHD acknowledges the reality that it is much harder living in a neuronormative world, that's not designed with us in mind."

Our Values:

Inclusive Language

We know that the words we use are incredibly powerful. We promise that we will use only neuroinclusive language and offer only neuroaffirmative support. This means we will never think of you as "less than", having executive function "deficits" or "symptoms" of ADHD or other neurotype. If we ever get this wrong, we encourage and value feedback on how to do better.

Intersectionality

Intersectionality recognises that people are part of multiple social categories that intersect with each other, creating experiences that are unique to us. We always include an intersectional lens because we know how important it is to fully understand how our unique neurotype intersects with our lived experience. This adds much more nuance to our understanding of ourselves and our path to self-acceptance. We'll help you navigate how your family history, culture, education, gender, sexuality, first language, other disabilities, trauma, and a whole host of other "stuff" intersects with your lifetime of not knowing about your neurodivergence. And then you get to decide how to make sense and talk about your story so far, as well as rewriting and creating your life story from here.

Ethical Marketing

We'll never lie - even white lie - in our marketing. We won't ever say "only two places left on this course" unless there really are. We won't rush or pressure you in to deciding to work with us, or make exaggerated claims. And if we benefit from a recommendation or a referral in some way, we will always let you know.

We promise to be ethical, authentic and transparent in our work and relationships with you. If we don't think we're the best people to work with you, we'll suggest someone who is a better fit.

Active Hope

We believe that transformation is possible through incremental change and the power of active hope.

Our approach supports you to increase the agency in your life so that you are actively bringing about the better world you hope for. And we are guided by our commitment to improve the world for all neurodivergent individuals, which will benefit everyone.

Courage

From "cor", the Latin for "heart", courage means to tell all one's heart. We know that it takes a big heart to open up and be vulnerable. And we also know that magic happens when we take that first step towards loving ourselves by uncovering what's in our heart.

We create brave, supportive and safe spaces so that you can start to trust yourself, connect to your mind, body, heart and soul, and stretch beyond what you ever thought possible. As Millicent Fawcett eloquently puts it, “Courage calls to courage everywhere”.

In Service of You

Positively ADHD was set up in service of you and the wider neurodivergent community. It's a huge blessing and joy to be able to have a sustainable business doing what we love and believe in. And that means everything.