Beyond the “no brainers” listed above are the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, aspects of ADHD that are more difficult to talk about. They are difficult to talk about because they are not as understood and possibly hold more shame for therapists with ADHD. 

Working Memory: “Working memory is a limited capacity store for retaining information for a brief period while performing mental operations on that information” (Simply Psychology). Basically, the brain holds short-term member information on deck to return to later. Working memory can be challenging for a therapist with ADHD, especially when working with a client who has ADHD, who processes outwardly.

An example of this is working with a client who talks for long periods during the session, which is a “normal” experience in therapy. Clients could be outward, or external, processors or circumstantial thought processors. This means that they answer and explain their experiences with details that aren’t always the “meaty” pieces. This leads to the therapist gaining understanding of how the client conceptualizes their place in the world.

Sometimes a therapist with ADHD might find it difficult to hold all the “golden nuggets” or important parts in their mind to “pin” as a place to return to, where we can ask questions to expand the therapist’s understanding of client challenges, or go back to and explore further because that is the working memory piece.

It is difficult to hold that spot in your mind when you are also listening to more important details that are moving fast in the conversation. Oftentimes, I see this showing up where a client shares 15 minutes of very important information entwined with unimportant details and then stops and looks at me, waiting for me to respond. I can imagine that at times I have a blank look as my brain is uploading all the information the client shared while trying to address the places in the conversation to explore in order for the client to process and gain insights.

As a therapist with ADHD, I find it much easier to be able to “interject” or for clients to pause and wait for my responses, as my working memory is not as taxed. If this happens, I’m not trying to hold on to important aspects because I can add them throughout the conversation vs holding them to the end. Sometimes I might not hear all the details because I’m trying to write down the pieces to return to or I become overwhelmed and go blank.

Now, I’ve learned how to interject appropriately. I sometimes disrupt using my curiosity or excitement stating, “oh this sounds really important can we stop here and explore.” As a beginner therapist, I would sometimes interrupt and then I would get understandably frustrated looks from the client because I am cutting them off and most likely disrupting their own working memory.