Helen James

My path into ADHD-focused Occupational Therapy and Coaching has been winding, unexpected - and ultimately life changing.​

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Like many women in the UK, I didn’t receive my ADHD diagnosis until my early thirties, after a significant burnout. Until then, I had spent much of my life feeling like there was a difference there that I couldn’t quite name. I often felt driven, creative and passionate… yet also overwhelmed, inconsistent, and stuck in self-defeating patterns. 

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After burnout, I sought therapy with another Occupational Therapist. Within 10 minutes of meeting me, she asked a question that changed my life: “Have you ever considered that you might have ADHD?” In that moment, something clicked.

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This is what I love about our profession - the ability to truly see the whole person and, like detectives, put the pieces together. There is something profoundly healing about being deeply listened to- about someone holding all the parts of you in mind and making sense of them with you. This is what I strive to offer in my own practice. 

 

Within weeks I had a formal diagnoses and I can't say it was a complete surprise. I had related deeply to the neurodivergent colleagues and patients I worked with. The words had echoed quietly in my mind for years. But hearing them reflected back to me gave me the courage to take the next steps.

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Following my diagnosis, my partner and I moved back to the UK. I chose to deepen my work by training in ADHD Coaching. I wanted to walk alongside adult women who, like me, may have spent years not knowing and subsequently facing burnout. 

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Today, I combine Occupational Therapy and ADHD Coaching to help people understand their brain, recognise their strengths, and build lives that feel aligned, sustainable and genuinely fulfilling.

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Because sometimes it only takes one conversation to change everything.