Adela Baker is something of a pioneer in New Orleans. She was the first Certified ADHD Coach Practitioner in the state of Louisiana, and she has a passion for helping teenagers and adults with executive functioning issues reach their highest potential.
ADHD in Louisiana
At her company Mind Coach NOLA, Baker collaborates with mental health professionals, educators, and families to help meet the needs of Louisiana’s neurodiverse population. Louisiana currently has the highest rate of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder diagnoses among children ages 2-11 in the nation. Over sixty percent of those children receive treatment solely through medication, with no behavioral therapy or intervention. According to Mind Coach NOLA, that results in an average cost-per-patient of $15,036 per year (including indirect costs such as respite for caregivers and costs related to behaviors).
Mind Coach NOLA’s Mission
Baker and the Mind Coach NOLA team provide access to services for teenagers and adults with ADHD, ADD, and other executive functioning issues to help them harness their strengths and overcome their weaknesses. According to Baker, neurodiversity is a gift – if you can learn how to harness it. She refers to her son and those like him as “turbo thinkers,” because of their ability to hyper-focus at times, quickly grasp concepts and ideas they find interesting, and their passion and their unwavering dedication to projects they feel passionate about.
In August, Mind Coach NOLA added several additional trained ADHD coaches, bringing their total coaching staff to nine. They are Louisiana’s first team of certified coaches that specialize in developing executive function skills. Clients can meet with their coaches in person, via phone, or through a video conferencing platform dedicated to helping them feel confident, accomplished, and driven rather than overwhelmed and unmotivated.
Why Coaching?
Coaching is only one treatment. Some patients choose to tackle their ADHD through medication only, but others prefer a more holistic approach – what Baker calls “pills and skills.”
“Some people need pills, but everyone needs skills,” Baker says. In her view, while therapy is more analytical, focusing on the past, coaching is goal-focused and more action-oriented towards the future. Rather than a doctor/patient relationship with rigid boundaries, the coach-client relationship is a collaborative partnership based on accountability. As a coach, Baker and the Mind Coach NOLA team help their clients learn to recognize and harness their strengths and advantages using internal and external tools and queues to find confidence, happiness, balance, and fulfillment.
For more information, or to schedule a 20-minute consultation with Mind Coach NOLA, you can reach them through their website.
