The Power of Personalization: Customizing Your ADHD Game Plan with James Ochoa, LPC

In 1992, a struggling advertising executive in Manhattan walked into his Upper East Side doctor's office with what he thought might be a revelation. His boss had just been diagnosed with ADHD, and the symptoms—the scattered thinking, the time that evaporated, the constant feeling of running to catch up—sounded eerily familiar. The doctor listened, nodded, and delivered his professional opinion: "ADD is a myth created by the media. You just need to do more crossword puzzles."Alan Brown took that advice seriously. For five years, he became exceptional at the New York Times crossword puzzle—almost able to complete the notoriously difficult Saturday edition. His ADHD, however, remained completely uncured.This week on Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast, Alan Brown—now known as the ADD Crusher—returns after nine years to unpack a question that haunts nearly everyone with ADHD after diagnosis: Now what?Because here's what nobody tells you: getting diagnosed is the easy part. The hard part is learning to ask for what you need without drowning in shame. The hard part is figuring out how to advocate for yourself when the very act of asking feels like admitting defeat.Alan walks us through a discovery that transformed his career: the moment he refused a shared office space and, instead of being fired or labeled difficult, ended up with a private office overlooking lower Manhattan. It wasn't magic. It wasn't luck. It was understanding something fundamental about advocacy that most people miss entirely.The conversation reveals two deceptively simple mindset shifts that unlock the door to effective self-advocacy. The first: replacing "I suck at this" with "I'm trying." The second: swapping "I should be able to" with "I am willing to." These aren't just feel-good affirmations—they're the difference between staying stuck and making progress.But there's a deeper pattern here in the concept of "expansionist thinking"—the ADHD superpower of seeing connections and possibilities everywhere—and how it becomes weaponized against us. One small failure explodes into "I suck at everything." One unmet expectation spirals into complete self-doubt. Understanding this pattern is the first step to interrupting it.Throughout the conversation, a central question emerges: When are you at your best? Not when do you think you should be at your best. Not when does everyone else seem to be at their best. When are you actually, genuinely at your best? Answer that question honestly, and you've identified every accommodation you'll ever need.Alan shares his upcoming presentation at the ADHD conference in Kansas City—"Ten Simple Mindset Shifts for More Doing and Less Stressing"—and offers his free ebook at ADDCrusher.com: "Five Things We're Doing Every Day That Make Our ADHD Worse."Because it turns out the real question isn't whether you deserve accommodations. The real question is: what becomes possible when you finally ask for what you need?Links & NotesADDCrusher.comInternational Conference on ADHD 2025Support the Show on PatreonDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (02:24) - Support the show by becoming a Patron today! (03:22) - Introducing Alan Brown (03:54) - ADHD Advocacy (10:58) - The Meta Shame of Self-Advocacy (14:38) - Mindset (34:27) - How do you know what to ask for? (44:31) - Find Alan ---Conquer the Holiday Season with ADHD! Registration is Now Open!Navigate the holiday season without the burnout. This 4-week workshop series combines strategic planning, project management, and decluttering support with body doubling sessions that get things actually done. You'll build your holiday plan in October, execute it with support through November, and reset peacefully in January—all with a community that understands your ADHD brain. Register today at https://takecontroladhd.com/holidays. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Imagine this: one person spends ten minutes with their doctor, walks out with a prescription, and calls it an ADHD diagnosis. Another spends an entire day in a psychologist’s office, testing memory, attention, and executive function, only to arrive at the very same conclusion. Which one is “real”? Which one counts?In this episode, Pete Wright and Nikki Kinzer talk with psychologist Dr. Amie DeHarpporte, who has spent her career living at the intersection of these contradictions. Once a high school teacher and now a specialist in ADHD assessment, Dr. DeHarpporte has seen how elusive—and yet how desperately needed—a clear diagnosis can be. She explains why ADHD is simultaneously overdiagnosed and underdiagnosed, how TikTok has blurred the boundaries of what people think ADHD looks like, and why the process is as much art as it is science.But the story isn’t just about tests and checklists. At its heart, a diagnosis is about validation—about someone finally saying, yes, what you’ve been experiencing all these years is real. Dr. DeHarpporte takes us inside her practice, showing how thorough assessment can unravel years of shame, rewrite self-narratives, and reveal strengths hidden in plain sight.What you’ll discover is that ADHD diagnosis isn’t a binary. It’s a lens, a way of telling the story of your life with more clarity. And sometimes, that clarity is the most important prescription of all.Links & NotesDr. Amie DeHarpporte’s practice: Portage PsychologyUnapologetically ADHD paperback release October 28Support the Show on PatreonADHD Discord CommunityDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (03:14) - Support the Show! (05:43) - Introducing Dr. Amie DeHarpporte (07:24) - The Diagnosis Space (14:18) - What goes into a diagnosis ---Conquer the Holiday Season with ADHD! Registration is Now Open!Navigate the holiday season without the burnout. This 4-week workshop series combines strategic planning, project management, and decluttering support with body doubling sessions that get things actually done. You'll build your holiday plan in October, execute it with support through November, and reset peacefully in January—all with a community that understands your ADHD brain. Register today at https://takecontroladhd.com/holidays. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Here's a puzzle that will stop you cold: ADHD has exploded into public consciousness. More diagnoses than ever. More research. More conversations. And yet? Turn on your television. What stares back at you?The class clown. The scatterbrained sidekick. The walking punchline.Something doesn't add up.This disconnect—between lived reality and screen reality—forms the heart of this week’s conversation with Matthew Fox, whose passion for dissecting genre media runs as deep as their own neurodivergent experience. Fox hosts Superhero Ethics and other podcasts that examine the ethics woven through our most beloved stories. But today, they’re hunting bigger game.Consider this: Maria von Trapp. "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" Sound familiar? Fox argues she's ADHD incarnate. Flighty. Unpredictable. Out of focus. The nuns can't pin her down. Neither can we, apparently. Because nobody—not once—uses the words.That's the pattern. Characters burst with hyperactivity, impulsivity, attention challenges. Dennis the Menace in the '50s. Tigger bouncing through the Hundred Acre Wood. Calvin racing after imaginary adventures. All ADHD-coded. None explicitly labeled.Why does this matter? Because children search desperately for themselves in stories. Adults do too, though less consciously. When representation gets frozen in stereotype—or worse, buried in subtext—it shapes how teachers see students, how employers evaluate talent, how we see ourselves.The conversation zigzags through terrain both familiar and startling. Percy Jackson, where ADHD becomes a god-given power. Phil Dunphy, the endearing but scattered dad. Jake Peralta solving crimes through controlled chaos. Then the darker territory: Barney Stinson using ADHD as an excuse for predatory behavior.But here's where it gets interesting. Fox points out a part of the conversation that is too often forgotten: the gender patterns. Hyperactive male character? Meet his organized, grounding female partner. It's everywhere once you see it. Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Modern Family. New Girl. The narrative is always the same—love of a steady woman tames the chaotic man.And buried within all of this lies a more uncomfortable truth. In our hunger to see ourselves on screen, we claim characters who were never intended as representation. We read ADHD into Kirk and Spock, into Hiccup and his dragon, into anyone who shows even a glimmer of recognition.Is that enough? Should it be?Whether you're searching for positive examples for your children or trying to untangle how decades of media have shaped your own relationship with neurodivergence, this conversation might just shift how you watch ... everything.Links & NotesShows and MoviesModern Family - Phil Dunphy as ADHD-coded characterBrooklyn Nine-Nine - Jake Peralta as positive ADHD representationHow I Met Your Mother - Barney Stinson as problematic ADHD portrayalNew Girl - Nick and Jess relationship dynamicThe Simpsons - Bart Simpson and Ritalin episode (2000)Community - Abed Nadir as autism-coded characterParenthood (TV series) - Autism representationArrow - Felicity Smoak as ADHD-coded characterK-pop Demon Hunter - Zoe as positive ADHD representationThe Sound of Music - Maria von Trapp as ADHD-codedFinding Nemo/Finding Dory - Dory as ADHD representationHow to Train Your Dragon - Hiccup as ADHD-codedBooks and CharactersPercy Jackson series by Rick Riordan - ADHD as demigod traitCalvin and Hobbes - Calvin as ADHD-codedDennis the Menace - Classic hyperactive representationWinnie the Pooh characters as neurodivergent representationPodcasts by Matthew FoxThe Ethical PandaSuperhero EthicsStar Wars GenerationsMarvel Movie Minute (co-hosted with Pete Wright)The Once and Future Parent(Coming soon!)Links & NotesSupport the Show on PatreonDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (02:37) - Support the Show and Become a Patron! (03:13) - The ADHD Representation Paradox (04:03) - Introducing Matthew Fox ---Conquer the Holiday Season with ADHD! Registration is Now Open!Navigate the holiday season without the burnout. This 4-week workshop series combines strategic planning, project management, and decluttering support with body doubling sessions that get things actually done. You'll build your holiday plan in October, execute it with support through November, and reset peacefully in January—all with a community that understands your ADHD brain. Register today at https://takecontroladhd.com/holidays. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Money is rarely just about math—it’s about stories, habits, emotions, and, for ADHDers, often a deep sense of shame. In this episode, Pete and Nikki sit down with Nicole Stanley, financial coach and founder of Arise Financial Coaching, to unpack the hidden ways ADHD intersects with our finances—and how we can finally start to build a healthier, ADHD-friendly relationship with money.Nicole shares her own diagnosis journey and the challenges of postpartum depression, financial anxiety, and feeling “not enough” as a new mom. From there, she walks us through how our early experiences shape money beliefs (most of us make up our financial mindset by age seven!), and why traditional budgeting advice so often fails the ADHD brain.This conversation is a blueprint for anyone who’s ever felt overwhelmed, behind, or just exhausted trying to “do money right.” Nicole reframes key concepts: how to spot the real root of your financial stress, why automating your systems might be better than trying to “budget harder,” and how to emotionally connect to your goals so you’re actually excited to follow through.Plus: what financial coaches really do, how ADHDers can leverage dopamine to create a positive money loop, and the five core financial problems that every person needs to identify before they can move forward. Whether you’re in credit card debt, unsure where your money’s going, or just sick of feeling behind—this episode is your permission to drop the shame and start where you are.Links & NotesArise Financial CoachingYNAB (You Need A Budget)Become a Supporting MemberJoin the ADHD Discord CommunityDig into the podcast Shownotes DatabaseBooks Mentioned in This Episode:The Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. CollinsYour Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin & Joe DominguezI Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit SethiHappy Money by Ken HondaYou mean I’m Not Lazy, Stupid, or Crazy?! by Kate Kelly & Peggy RamundoDie with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins (00:00) - Introducing Nicole Stanley (03:10) - Nicole's ADHD Journey (05:58) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (08:45) - ADHD Money Assumptions (14:32) - The Areas of our Financial Lives (19:12) - What does it mean to "retire well?" (34:37) - The Five Potential Problems in Your Financial Life (41:52) - Coaching, Counseling, Advising, Accounting ---Conquer the Holiday Season with ADHD! Registration is Now Open!Navigate the holiday season without the burnout. This 4-week workshop series combines strategic planning, project management, and decluttering support with body doubling sessions that get things actually done. You'll build your holiday plan in October, execute it with support through November, and reset peacefully in January—all with a community that understands your ADHD brain. Register today at https://takecontroladhd.com/holidays. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Money and ADHD: two words that often stir up stress, shame, or avoidance. But what if we stopped thinking of planning as punishment and instead saw it as a path to clarity, confidence, and even peace of mind? This week, Pete and Nikki welcome Ben Barlowe and Ernie Reppe—the Budget Nerds of YNAB—to talk about why the word budgeting is going out of style and how we’re still all-in on the money mindset.They share how to build a money mindset that’s about purpose, not restriction, and why giving every dollar a job is the simple shift that makes all the difference. From impulse spending and forgotten bills to shame spirals and the fear of facing financial reality, this conversation gets real about the unique challenges ADHD brings to money management—and how to take the sting out of them.Whether you’re brand new to planning your finances or you’ve tried before and burned out, this is your invitation to make peace with your money and take back control.Links & NotesGetting Started with YNAB with Ben and ErnieYNAB for High Income EarnersGet your 34-day Trial of YNABSupport the Show on PatreonDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (03:08) - Become a Patron at patreon.com/theadhdpodcast (03:29) - ADHD and Money with Ben Barlow and Ernie Reppe from the Budget Nerds (13:48) - The Budgeting Mindset: Give Every Dollar a Job (24:00) - What are the big questions to help you start your money plan? ---Conquer the Holiday Season with ADHD! Registration is Now Open!Navigate the holiday season without the burnout. This 4-week workshop series combines strategic planning, project management, and decluttering support with body doubling sessions that get things actually done. You'll build your holiday plan in October, execute it with support through November, and reset peacefully in January—all with a community that understands your ADHD brain. Register today at https://takecontroladhd.com/holidays. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Side hustles can be exciting, creative, and empowering—especially when you have ADHD. But they can also be overwhelming, unsustainable, and, let’s be real, joy-draining if you’re not careful. In this kickoff to our new series on ADHD and money, we’re talking all things side gig—from handmade crafts and tutoring gigs to late-night freelance projects and full-on mini-businesses. We break down the benefits and challenges of turning your interests into income, while exploring the emotional and executive function landmines that too often get left out of the conversation.We look at the upsides: hyperfocus, creativity, independence, and the opportunity to build something meaningful on your own terms. And we also name the hard stuff: shiny object syndrome, burnout, disorganization, and the pressure to monetize every hobby. Whether you’re side hustling by choice or necessity, we’ve got practical strategies to help you stay on track—planning tools, body doubling, automation tips, and pacing ideas that won’t crush your ADHD brain.So before you burn the midnight oil trying to ship Etsy orders and do your day job, take a breath and join us for a real talk about protecting your energy, your time, and your joy. (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (03:42) - Side Hustles ---Conquer the Holiday Season with ADHD! Registration is Now Open!Navigate the holiday season without the burnout. This 4-week workshop series combines strategic planning, project management, and decluttering support with body doubling sessions that get things actually done. You'll build your holiday plan in October, execute it with support through November, and reset peacefully in January—all with a community that understands your ADHD brain. Register today at https://takecontroladhd.com/holidays. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Music isn’t just background noise—it can be a tool. This week, we’re joined by Dr. Kevin J.P. Woods, cognitive neuroscientist and Director of Science at Brain.fm, to explore the science behind audio designed to do something: improve focus, enhance rest, and support attention regulation, especially for ADHD brains.Dr. Woods breaks down the neuroscience of “functional music,” explaining how Brain.fm uses phase-locking, neural oscillations, and lab-validated protocols to guide your brain toward desired cognitive states. We dig into why ADHD brains might respond especially well to this kind of auditory support—and how students and adults alike can use it to manage study sessions, reduce overwhelm, and even fall asleep more easily.If you’ve ever tried to study to lo-fi beats, felt overwhelmed by silence, or needed a reliable way to shift your brain into focus mode, this one’s for you.Links & Notes🎧 Brain.fm – Get a special 30-day free trial to give it a real spin!🧠 Follow Dr. Kevin J.P. Woods on LinkedIn📝 Learn more about how we support students with ADHD at Take Control ADHDSupport the Show on PatreonDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (03:48) - Introducing Kevin Woods, Ph.D. and Brain FM (04:44) - The Cavalier Setup (11:38) - Entrainment (16:50) - Audio and the ADHD Brain (20:10) - Audio and Emotional Regulation (21:58) - Expectation Affect (24:06) - Realistic Expectations and Use (27:12) - Context Switching and Friction (30:00) - Who makes the music? (33:35) - One more thing on Context Switching (39:40) - How are people using it? (43:43) - Yet to come... (46:36) - Get Brain.FM ---Conquer the Holiday Season with ADHD! Registration is Now Open!Navigate the holiday season without the burnout. This 4-week workshop series combines strategic planning, project management, and decluttering support with body doubling sessions that get things actually done. You'll build your holiday plan in October, execute it with support through November, and reset peacefully in January—all with a community that understands your ADHD brain. Register today at https://takecontroladhd.com/holidays. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Memory isn’t just about recall — it’s about learning, encoding, storing, and retrieving information in ways that actually work with your brain. In this conversation, Pete Wright and Nikki Kinzer continue the ADHD in College series with returning guest Dr. Daniella Karidi, diving deep into the practical study strategies that help students and adults build lasting memory.From note-taking that actually supports learning, to strategies for sleep, nutrition, and asking for help, Daniella lays out a roadmap that makes studying less overwhelming and more effective. Whether you’re heading into a new semester, studying for certification, or just trying to remember what’s in that self-help book you just read, this episode gives you tools that can help you work with your ADHD brain — not against it.Links & NotesJoin Focus on ADHD Books | BookclubsSupport the Show on PatreonDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (03:04) - Daniella Karidi, Ph.D. (05:56) - Predicting Success in College (22:17) - The Classroom Experience (29:48) - Repetition and Finding Distinction in Information (41:22) - Energy (46:08) - Asking for Help ---Conquer the Holiday Season with ADHD! Registration is Now Open!Navigate the holiday season without the burnout. This 4-week workshop series combines strategic planning, project management, and decluttering support with body doubling sessions that get things actually done. You'll build your holiday plan in October, execute it with support through November, and reset peacefully in January—all with a community that understands your ADHD brain. Register today at https://takecontroladhd.com/holidays. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Welcome to Season 31 of Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast! In this episode, Pete and Nikki kick off the Back-to-School Series for college students with ADHD by tackling one of the most essential—and overwhelming—skills for academic success: planning. From understanding the logic of a syllabus to building an ADHD-friendly workflow using calendars, task managers, and learning management systems, this episode is packed with practical, real-world strategies to help students plan smarter, not harder.You’ll learn how to create your “College Workbox,” build semester-overview tools, and develop weekly and daily habits that support executive function and reduce academic stress. Pete also brings in insights from his experience as a former university faculty member to help students understand what instructors actually notice—and what they don’t. Whether you’re starting your first year or returning to campus as an adult student, this is your guide to planning a semester that works for your brain.Links & NotesSupport the Show on PatreonDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (02:53) - College Planning (05:35) - The College Workbox (15:01) - The Syllabus ---Conquer the Holiday Season with ADHD! Registration is Now Open!Navigate the holiday season without the burnout. This 4-week workshop series combines strategic planning, project management, and decluttering support with body doubling sessions that get things actually done. You'll build your holiday plan in October, execute it with support through November, and reset peacefully in January—all with a community that understands your ADHD brain. Register today at https://takecontroladhd.com/holidays. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this bonus drop for all listeners, Pete and Melissa peel back the curtain on their personal email habits—and how ADHD continues to complicate even the simplest message. This is the fifth installment in the ongoing email challenge (the first four were re-released to Patreon earlier this year), and it’s a rich mix of confession, coaching, and curiosity.We recap where the challenge began in 2018 and what we’ve learned since then:How triage habits evolve (and fail) over timeThe mental and emotional load of email procrastinationThe shame spiral of watching your unread count climb into oblivionThen we shift into what’s new:Melissa’s accidental inbox apocalypsePete’s haunted January shame projectTools that actually reduce friction: Gmail + Gemini, Superhuman, Spark, and a candid look at MailbirdAI’s promise in cutting through clutter without replacing your brainThe challenge of confusing your workbox with your inboxMelissa is launching a personal email rehab project and will be posting updates in Patreon for Deluxe members and above. Pete’s committing to finally clearing out that January shame stack. And together, they’re setting the stage for a December follow-up episode—because this work isn’t one-and-done, it’s ongoing.🧠 Key Takeaways:Triage isn’t the problem—action is.Email should be emotion-free (but often isn’t).AI isn’t the enemy—it might just be the assistant we’ve always needed.If you feel bad about your email habits, you’re not alone—and that doesn’t mean you’re broken.📌 Links Mentioned:SuperhumanSpark EmailMailbirdGmail + Gemini (00:00) - The Email 2025 Update! (05:24) - The Season Recap (07:36) - Where are you now? (16:02) - What did we not tackle? (28:48) - The Inbox and The Workbox ---Conquer the Holiday Season with ADHD! Registration is Now Open!Navigate the holiday season without the burnout. This 4-week workshop series combines strategic planning, project management, and decluttering support with body doubling sessions that get things actually done. You'll build your holiday plan in October, execute it with support through November, and reset peacefully in January—all with a community that understands your ADHD brain. Register today at https://takecontroladhd.com/holidays. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★