ADHD Coach Pete Quily Profiled In The Georgia Straight

I was profiled in this week’s Georgia Straight Newspaper, based in my hometown of Vancouver on page 31, April 16th, 2009 by health reporter Gail Johnson.

The title of the article is ADHD Coach Improves Focus.

After he learned he had the disorder, Quily researched approaches to managing it and found many that worked for him, including exercise, personal coaching, talk therapy, support groups, and spiritual exploration. He’s come a long way since the early ’90s, when he was diagnosed.

What helped Quily the most was personal coaching. He got so much out of the one-on-one sessions, in fact, that he became a coach himself. Now he specializes in helping adults with ADD who, like him, have a natural curiosity but who might be overwhelmed by paper clutter or unable to finish tasks, or find it hard to handle stress.

Quily helps others focus on the positive aspects of ADD. “People with ADD are creative; they think out of the box,” he says.

“The thing that bothers me is that ADD is a mixed bag. It can really drag people down if you don’t know how to manage it, but it can propel you to great heights if you do manage it.…Coaching helps with the practical, day-to-day challenges: work, relationships, social things…time management, underemployment, job-hopping.…But there has to be an openness to change.”

“You’re getting people who are distractible, forgetful, to take meds three times a day? Isn’t that sadistic?” Quily says. “We’re pretty backward here in B.C.

“And what about people who need more than meds, who can’t afford coaching or don’t have extended benefits for psychologists?”¦It’s a condition that the government, the health-care system, doesn’t take seriously.”