Do you struggle with organizing time, details, and paperwork? When people expect you to do things in a linear (successive, direct, straight) fashion, do you have trouble? What works for me is to keep all related project papers in piles stacked in left-to-right (or right-to-left) tiers, overlapping 50% so you can see half of the [...]

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of all the stigma surrounding Attention Deficit Disorder. After all, we all experience a little distractibility, impulsivity, memory lapse, and disorganization every now and then.  I propose that we consider ADD a diversity issue rather than a deficiency.

Well, ACA blog readers…you would not believe what happened to me last week. On Friday afternoon, I received a call from a very panicked administrative director. I’d just begun working as a Clinical Supervisor at this agency. So, you can imagine my surprise. Apparently, she had just discovered that one of the counselors had not [...]

Do you think your work as a counselor is stressful? Most would answer a resounding “YES!” I’ve heard stress leads to memory problems and I believe it! I’ve always been so forgetful that my mom had ME hide the Easter eggs! I still have to put “hello my name is” stickers on my spouse, kids [...]

During my first several years as a co-occurring disorder therapist, I paid little attention to clinical supervision. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I sought supervision on a regular basis. I showed up to clinical staffings with a tower of charts in hand. I asked questions, sought advice, and received feedback gracefully. However, at some level, [...]

Last week, I wrote a blog containing several suggestions to improve client retention. This week, I thought I’d put the horse after the cart by talking about why we should be concerned about retention in the first place. First of all, improving retention decreases paperwork. And, we all love to reduce the paperwork in our [...]

One of the main things I teach my students in my Professional Readiness and Ethics classes is the concept of client retention. Here are some points that I feel are critical: • Admit clients when they are in crisis. Job loss, eviction, arrest, domestic dispute, illness, injury, financial trouble, and other crises tend to motivate [...]

As you may know, coaching is emerging as another way of helping people with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). But, what exactly is this “coaching”? Generally, ADD coaching involves a collaborative relationship that is very goal-driven, structured, and focused on helping the client create practical strategies to accomplish specific goals. Highly individualized, the relationship focuses on [...]