About
At the Edge Foundation we believe that professional coaching is a critical and highly effective support mechanism for young people to learn to live well with the challenges of ADD/ADHD. People all over the world are recognizing the benefits of life coaching in their pursuit of career and life goals. Many CEOs and top business executives find that executive coaches can give them the edge necessary to manage successfully and effectively when the stakes are very high. At the Edge Foundation we believe that if CEOs rely on coaching to help them succeed, then coaching will help our young people who are learning to succeed with ADD/ADHD.
More Coaching FAQs:
- What Is ADD/ADHD Coaching?
- How Coaching Helps
- The Edge Coaching Program
- Program Fee
- About Online Coaching
- What Our Clients Are Saying
What Is ADD/ADHD Coaching?
ADD/ADHD coaching is a lot like any other kind of coaching. For instance, if you want to learn how to play tennis better, you go to a tennis coach. The coach will work with you on your ground strokes and serve, your volley and your game strategy. Over time, through your hard work and the skill of your coach, you will get better and playing tennis will become even more fun.
ADD/ADHD coaching is the same way, only the game is life. Your coach will work with you on missing skills and your game strategy, and over time, you will get better at all the things that are hard for you right now. Things like planning, prioritizing, time management, and organization. Your Edge coach will also help you apply these new skills to achieving the things you want most. Check out some of our testimonials to hear how coaching has helped people just like you.
How Coaching Helps
Coaching is particularly well-suited to helping people with ADD/ADHD live better with the challenges of this disorder. When self management, time management, and organization don’t come naturally, an Edge coach can help you develop these skills. Here are seven areas that Edge coaches frequently work on with their clients:
- scheduling,
- goal setting,
- confidence building,
- organizing,
- focusing,
- prioritizing, and
- persisting at tasks.
The Edge Coaching Program
The Edge Coaching Program starts with a get-to-know you chat with an Edge coach. These are no charge and take about 20 minutes. In this session, you and the coach get your questions answered about each other, and get a sense of whether you’d like to work together. Once you and your coach have decided to proceed, you log into your online account, purchase the coaching that’s right for you, and schedule with your coach.
The first session is a lengthy one and is sometimes called the discovery or intake session. During this discussion, you and your coach talk about what’s working and what’s not, what’s frustrating, and where you’d like to see progress. If you are under 18 years of age, your parents will participate in some of it. By the end of this session you and your coach will know what you are going to be working on and how you are going to work on it.
This is followed by weekly 30-minute sessions with additional check-ins in between sessions to help you keep on track with your weekly goals. Check-ins are usually preplanned and can happen as often as daily. Most students choose to suspend coaching during exams and holidays, but we strongly encourage you not to go more than two weeks without a session or at least a check-in.
Although you will be able to purchase coaching on a month-to-month basis, we strongly encourage you to stay with coaching for two full terms. The first term, you’re just learning the skills. The second term you’re learning how to apply them on your own with the support of your coach. By the end of the second term, most students have internalized what they’ve learned and are ready to graduate from coaching! Even though we encourage a nine-month commitment for optimal results, you can just try it for a month and see if really is the thing that will make the difference.
When you sign up for Edge coaching, this is what you get:
- The initial session in which client and coach get to know each other and learn what’s working and what’s not, what’s frustrating, and where improvement needs to be made. The end result of this is a client-specific plan and a personalized coaching agreement for what you will be working on with your coach over the course of the program.
- Weekly 30-minute sessions with your Edge coach.
- Additional check-ins via phone and email to keep you on track.
- Additional coaching resources and exercises provided by your Edge coach as appropriate.
- Knowing your coach is one of the best ADD/ADHD coaches in the business; and
- Having someone who gets you who is there every day to advocate for you and help you succeed.
Compare the above to some common (costly) things that definitely won’t help you succeed:
- A daily Starbucks habit (sugar and caffeine are not the best way to stay alert–your coach can help you develop healthier habits);
- A few bounced checks or credit card problems (your coach can help you manage your money and avoid these problems);
- A speeding ticket or parking ticket or fender bender, and the increased insurance premiums that will result (your coach can help educate you about the issues ADHD teens face when driving and encourage safe driving habits); and
- Failing a class (there goes that tuition! Your coach can help you stay on track so you’ll not only not fail, you’ll do well).
Program Fee
By now it’s probably clear that working with a personal coach is unlike any thing else you’ve ever tried. Because of the additional check-ins in between sessions, working with your coach isn’t just a once-a-week thing: the interactions support you all week long. This is why we talk about coaching in terms of a weekly fee.
The fee for the coaching, for the full, ongoing support of your Edge-trained coach including the regular 30-minute coaching session, up to daily check-ins between sessions, and additional resources as needed, is $100/week. Notice this is less than $15/day to get you back on track and give you the tools you need to succeed long term.
The fee for the initial session, including the set up time plus the full two-hour intake plus a complete review of client data, is $400. The time and effort involved in conducting the intake is four times as much as for the weekly session, so it’s four times as much. It’s that simple.
About Online Coaching
For many people the idea of working online, instead of meeting in an office, is just strange. All of our coaches are trained to work online. We do this for several reasons:
- There are just not that many ADD/ADHD Coaches. By working online, you still have access to coaching, even if there isn’t a coach in your community. And, you can “take your coach with you” where ever you go.
- It takes transportation issues right out of the equation. A student can get to their appointment just by getting online.
- A 30-minute appointment takes exactly 30 minutes. No commuting to and from the appointment, or waiting in the waiting room. Coaching appointments are therefore easy to fit into a busy schedule.
- A coach and client can stay in much closer touch online than they can if they only connected in an office. It is this extra contact that very often makes the difference in being able to stay on task and follow through.
What Our Clients Are Saying…
“The coaching our son received, without exaggeration, changed his life!”
“The coaching techniques taught him to structure his activities and get them done. He is now a successful associate at a private equity fund in New York City. In our experience with helping our son cope with Attention Deficit Disorder, we found that the coaching component was an absolutely essential element.”
“I was extremely unorganized…”
“I started falling behind, especially in math classes. My trouble in school caused me to avoid work in difficult classes. I saw a specialist who suggested that a coach could help me with organization and prepare me to succeed in college. With the help of my coach, I became noticeably more organized. I went from constantly missing homework assignments my first three years of high school to missing no homework assignments my senior year. I could easily find worksheets and packets in folders instead of looking around in my backpack or my room. I got into my first choice college. I believe the study and organization skills I learned with my coach have helped immensely in my first semester of college. I now feel more in control of my schoolwork and grades.”