Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I successfully worked with 10 kids that were diagnosed with ADHD by psychiatrists (sometimes without seeing or talking to their patient ). Their parents had not purchased Ritalin and were looking for other avenues.
Over the past 20 years I have also successfully worked with a few unmedicated adults. I do not label myself as an expert in ADHD.
This “Deep Dive” is a 9-minute audio:
And yes, some therapists and coaches have explored ADHD through a “state elicitation” framework, though it’s still emerging and not yet mainstream. Here’s how it connects:
Framing ADHD as a State (or Set of States)
Rather than treating ADHD as a fixed disorder, you can view it as a recurring neuro-emotional state or strategy, involving:
- AD (Attention Deficit): often marked by dissociation, lack of internal structure, or hyper-association to distractions.
- HD (Hyperactivity/Hyperfocus/Hyperdrive): may involve urgency states, dopamine-seeking behaviors, or overclocked energy tied to anxiety or stimulation.
Eliciting ADHD States For Clients Not On ADHD Medications:
Using NLP, Clean Language, or somatic inquiry, you can guide a client to step into their ADHD-patterned state:
Prompts for Eliciting an “AD” State:
- “Think of a time when it was hard to stay on task. What was happening inside?”
- “What happens to your body and thoughts right before you lose focus?”
- “Where is your attention going when it’s not on the task?”
Prompts for Eliciting an “HD” State:
- “When you feel a rush to do everything at once, what’s that like?”
- “What does it feel like in your body when you’re moving too fast?”
- “What’s the emotion or image that comes just before you get restless?”
- ”What’s the emotion comes up when you have to remain still?”
What You Can Do With the Elicited State
- Map the structure (submodalities, physiology, language patterns).
- Interrupt or reframe the entry point (e.g., create a resource anchor, adjust submodalities).
- Access a more adaptive state (e.g., clarity, calm urgency, internal motivation).
- Use age regression if the ADHD state links to early unmet needs or protective responses.
Who’s Doing This?
- Some trauma-informed coaches are already doing this informally.
- Somatic-based therapies (like IFS or SE) may touch on similar patterns but don’t label them as ADHD states per se.
- The “Virtual Question Model” and state recovery methods are highly aligned with this view, even if not ADHD-specific. https://clintmatheny.com/the-one-question-you-cant-ignore/
- Brain Fog might be an AD state: https://clintmatheny.com/back-to-the-future-part-3-curing-brain-fog/
Eliciting_Shifting_ADHD_States_Framework 2
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