** TL;DR; **
Vidya's ADHD Coaching programs have helped educate me on ADHD, worked with me to build executive functioning skills, and finally, tools to understand how to manage the emotional impacts that may have been developing because of ADHD. It was life-changing, and I wish I had this knowledge years earlier.

** What does ADHD look like for me? **
About a year ago, I discovered that I had been struggling with ADHD at age 35. What it looked like for me:

1. Unable to plan, start, and finish projects, whether for school or work. I often have difficulty prioritizing among something that is "important," "urgent," and "interesting." If I know how to "finish" the project in my mind, then doing the action to "finish" is problematic because it just becomes tedious.
2. Unintentionally blackout during meaningful conversations while actively attempting to listen. Typically I'm listening, and I hear something that unintentionally triggers a thought tangent.
3. I can learn, but it takes significantly longer if the content is less than super interesting to trigger hyper-focus. I can start reading a page, flip through the pages, and realize I have absorbed nothing since the first sentence a few pages ago.
4. I must study or work more than 70 to 80 hours a week to keep up. Since middle school, I have built a pattern of burning the midnight oil to work to feel the looming urgency of a deadline.
5. I have bouts of motivational paralysis. Mentally I want to work; I want to get things done, but I can sit in front of my desk, and the most straightforward task is impossible.
6. I am successful. I graduated from one of the best high schools and earned a bachelor's in engineering and a masters in robotics. I have worked at top tech companies.
7. I have imposter syndrome. I worry about my outward appearance as someone who may be lazy, someone who can't lead/finish projects, or someone who is not competent.

** How did Vidya’s ADHD Coaching help me? **
I did three different types of coaching with Vidya.
1-on-1 ADHD Coaching. This type of coaching is where Vidya will work with me to understand my goals, how I can get myself motivated, and how to leverage those innate abilities to my advantage to get what I need to get done. In my opinion, this type of coaching works best if you have a goal in mind. Specifically, my goal was to build skills to plan, act, and deliver on work projects.
ADHD Webinar. This was a 6-week course where Vidya went into the science of ADHD. What is ADHD? Why does it influence our patterns, motivations, and focus? What are general strategies that leverage your innate abilities to your advantage?
Being Me. I realized having untreated ADHD did more than just influence my work-life balance; it also impacted my ability to feel confident. I am highly skilled technically, but I always felt like an imposter. I would ruminate over situations and hypothetical scenarios and build narratives that deter me from experiencing the best life I can. This was group-based coaching where you will listen to others who have ADHD as well. It was so validating to know that I am not alone with these feelings and struggles.

** What do I recommend? **
I think the courses/coaching programs have morphed into a combination of all three for group settings. I would personally recommend doing that first. It is like a class, where you’ll get a short presentation on a topic, the group gets to discuss it and how it makes to feel, what they think about it, what they learned, etc.

If you’re like me and cannot accomplish mid to long-term goals effectively because it is impossible to plan and action your way there, then I recommend doing a 1-on-1 style coach. I think in 1 to 2 weeks out, and anything further out is infinitely far away, so the sense of urgency is lost.

I was diagnosed with ADHD in my 40's and while medication really helped with mental fatigue and concentration I found that I was needing help to work through so many unhelpful habits, thoughts and behaviours that I had developed to cope with the chaos that ADHD caused in my life. I noticed how often coaching, shadowing and buddying is recommended in the adult ADHD literature but there is very few practitioners in Australia. Once I saw the name "calm seas coaching" on the ADDitude website I knew that was exactly the service I was looking for.
Over the last 12 months I have engaged in regular individual ADHD specialised coaching with Vidya and also participated in weekly accountably groups, and the procrastination to productivity 6 week group seminar. The flexibility of the coaching was great with no lock in contract and I was able to adjust the number of monthly session from intensive to maintenance to suit my needs, progress and availability. Calm Seas was very accomodating with the time difference and I was always offered sessions at suitable times.
Vidya is so engaging, interested and positive in her interpersonal approach. I felt that she really understood my own individual experience and needs. I set my own goals for coaching and always steered the direction as I reflected on my progress, changing needs and new goals.
Vidya also kept me grounded, motivated and hopeful when I felt I was failing, lost, frustrated or helpless.
Vidya was able to put across the the complexities of ADHD into simple concepts and provided additional worksheets, fact sheets and presentations that were accessible, concise and useful both during sessions to build my understanding and help as a reminder both before and after future sessions. The group sessions were recorded for later viewing when I couldn't make a session and all the resources were accessible online.
Vidya's approach is a fantastic balance of reframing ADHD as a positive and powerful personal strength, building my knowledge, confidence and embracing accountability rather than feeling hammered by it.
Vidya provided such as safe and supportive learning environment that I was able to try new approaches, throw away many of my beliefs about how I "should" be doing things and adopted a new more nurturing and accepting attitude to doing things the way that works for me.
I now have a new job and career that is a much better match for me. I feel comfortable in my own skin for the first time in my life.

I just finished a 6-month group with Vidya, and I feel more in control of my executive functioning than I ever thought I could be. Her group was validating, educational, and extremely helpful! She has a kind, calming presence, and she put all of us at ease. I took away beneficial things from day one and, as I continue to implement the things I've learned in this group, I continue to feel more grounded and confident.

I was recommended Calm Seas Coaching as part of my journey of learning about my ADHD diagnosis and signed up for the group sessions after a short chat with Vidya. To be honest I was never quite sure what to expect as I have a pretty limited social battery and preferred a one on one approach to therapy but I knew after the first group session that it was going to be a memorable experience.

Through the course I was able to learn about the mechanics of how our brains worked differently and was able to be given strategies and tools to help some of the more challenging aspects of my daily life. The course is structured in such a way that the material is easily to absorb and there is no real pressure to attend as we were always given the opportunity to catch up afterwards.

The most important of all is the feeling of community and understanding that I was able to have with the group. For so much of my life, I have felt that I was different in so many ways and with ADHD it seemed like it was just one more way that I didn't quite fit in with the neurotypical society. From this course I was able to feel a great sense of connection and closeness with people who were in many ways just like me which allowed me to feel more open to be who I am and express myself without fear of judgement. That is what I am going to miss the most after 6 months.

Overall the work done with Vidya and the group has greatly enhanced both my ability to function as well as curate a deeper sense of self love and understanding. If you or someone you know is ADHD and would like to explore options for coaching, I can recommend with no higher praise than Vidya and Calm Seas.

Good luck on your journey!

Vidya is the best — she helped me understand my brain in a totally new way.

She deeply understands the struggles ADHD-ers face, and you can tell she's seen everything. She generates really specific strategies to manage your unique symptoms, whatever those might be, from RSD to procrastination to time blindness -- it's all very bespoke to your brain. I could not have asked for a better coach and will use the tools she’s given me for the rest of my life. She always comes off as calm, collected, and completely invested in your growth and well being. I can’t recommend her enough.

Also, she works over Zoom, so you can meet up with her in any time zone, which is great. I’m on the East Coast and found it super easy to find time with her. A good ADHD coach is rare so I am glad we can all work with Vidya, no matter where we’re based!

To say that working with Vidya has been life changing would be an understatement. Before I became her client, my life was a mess. I could barely do more than two hours of work a day, my apartment was a disaster, and I spent my nights eating bad takeout and staying up way too late. Now I can easily get all my work done in a day (sometimes before the end of the day, too!), my apartment is clean, and…well, I still sometimes stay up too late, lol, but I can hardly remember the last time I ate take out because I now have the energy and foresight to plan dinners for myself every night. There was also a big personal project outside of work that I had been struggling to finish for TWO YEARS and I honestly resigned myself to never completing it, but while working with Vidya, I was able to get it done in a few months (and have continued to complete personal projects on a monthly basis since then!)

I seriously thought I would never be able to do ANY of this, ever, in my life. I’ve read and watched so many self-help articles and books and YouTube videos that claimed they were going to help me change, but they didn’t. I went to multiple therapists, and while they were very helpful in other aspects of my mental health, they couldn’t help me get a solid handle on my ADHD. I could never maintain the habits that I was told “should” work, but Vidya’s response to that has always been, “Well, ’should’ doesn’t seem to work for you. So let’s figure out what does.” A lot of the ways I take care of myself now and achieve goals in my life probably wouldn’t work for most people, but they work well for ME. And I know for a fact, I wouldn’t have been able to figure out any of this if I hadn’t met Vidya.

I could talk on and on about her, but I’ll end it with this: if you’re looking for an *amazing* ADHD coach, go with Vidya!

I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 42. My untreated ADHD was impacting my life in serious and negative ways and I needed help. I didn't fully understand that much of what had been considered "depression" and "anxiety" along with emotional regulation and low threshold for stress was much more related to ADHD and my brain's wiring than it was my fault or indications that I was lazy and dysfunctional. My confidence had plummeted. My life started to feel like it was unraveling. I needed help. Since I started working with Vidya, I understand myself so much better, I am starting to like myself again, I forgive myself more easily, and my marriage has gotten stronger. I am not yet the parent that I want to be, but Vidya is helping me in ways that I didn't anticipate when I thought I was 'just' signing up with an ADHD coach. She is compassionate, smart, gets down to business, and also lets me talk when I need to. I highly recommend Vidya to anyone of any age, and even family members who want to understand and support a loved one with this often misunderstood (and poorly named!) "disorder." I am grateful I finally have clear answers and direction from Vidya.

I want to thank Vidya from Calm Seas Coaching for her support and partnership as I addressed ADHD behaviors to make improvements in my life.
I can’t say enough about Vidya’s knowledge of ADHD or her consultative approach to guiding her clients. My ADHD was diagnosed later in life (late 40’s) and I was eager to learn more about ADHD, and about any tools that I could leverage to my benefit. Vidya took time to educate me on the ADHD nervous system and then worked with me to address areas of my life to improve. In a short time, my wife and saw improvements in my ability to self-regulate in the areas of focus.
Vidya’s approach made it easy to engage, and I was quickly able to share my challenges with her. She worked with me to identify areas of my life to focus on, first to understand what my brain was doing in these areas, then to review recommendations about how to work differently. Vidya understood that I learn best from visuals, and used these to help me understand the concepts she was sharing.
I’m so thankful to Vidya for sharing her knowledge and coaching techniques. My life is better because of her partnership with me.

Coaching with Vidya has truly been life altering. Her compassion comes through her coaching in a way that relaxes your inner mind enough to target the complexities of whatever is challenging you. Her warmth invites full disclosure without regret. She made me realize my potential. I didn't realize my strength until she reintroduced me to my possibilities. At the apex of our coaching, I was able to let go of my defenses and soar. I am now on an unstoppable trajectory of endless limits. Hands down one of the best coaches!

Vidya is kind, patient, and insightful. She helped me work through the challenges of being a first-time mom and find greater balance in my life. Highly recommend!