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About Dave (He/him)
Who is Dave (he/him) and why him?
I am a dad, an outdoor recreationist, a neuro-divergent and fallible human. I believe in equality, freedom of expression, freedom of choice, freedom of religion, and support the U.S. Constitution. I believe that people should be free to be themselves, free to love who they want, and free to make their own medical decisions.
I have ADHD and am neuro-divergent, some coaches and other mental health professionals will try and “treat” your neuro-divergent struggles with neuro-typical strategies, because they cannot truly understand what it's like. I get it, I live this life, I deal with and work through many of the same struggles. My struggles will not be exactly the same as yours, because we are humans and we perceive and process life through the unique filter that each of us create through our experiences.
My goal is to help you understand that you are NOT unique in over 90% of your challenges. This means that you are NOT ALONE. I want you to truly know that you have an advocate, an ally, someone on your team. I want to commiserate your challenges, celebrate your triumphs and successes, while also holding space to call you on your issues. I will work to help keep you accountable, and in the end, want to see you succeed.
Qualifications
What makes me qualified to do this:
I can share with you a number of things that don’t make me qualified. My degree is in mathematics, not psychology, psychiatry, or social work. I am not a licensed mental health professional. I don’t have countless hours of "documented" formal training for what I do.
I have made more mistakes in my life, in more categories and areas than many people think is possible. This often leads people to look at someone like me as a failure, because I didn’t get it right the first time. I am proud of my mistakes, I am proud of all of the times my ideas didn’t work, when things went wrong, because I didn't accept defeat. I instead chose to learn from each and every one of those “failures”, and kept going until I "won"!
I am now using all of those “failures” to hopefully help you find your success! We will find things that are not working in your life. There are behaviors in place that are obviously not working, that’s why you are here. You came to benefit from all of the things I have tried, that haven’t worked, so we can speed the process up for you.
My goal is to take what I learn from you, add it to the vast quantities of data already in my head, and then help solve the puzzle to find a winning strategy for you. I am certain that we will discuss things and try things that we find don't work as well as desired, that’s ok, we just keep trying until we find the ones that do.
Now the things that may help you see where I have unique qualifications. I have spent years in various roles like public school teacher, mentor, tutor, youth advocate and management. Each of those different roles gave me a unique perspective that I can leverage to help you or your loved ones.
How it's done here
Here is a quick overview of what to expect the process to look like:
When dealing with older teens and adults. I like to start with a conversation, where we discuss hobbies, passions, and how you move through your world. This will give me insights into how I might best relate to my client.
Now we start identifying the struggles that are having the greatest impact on your day to day life. If we look at this as a game, the first step in any game is getting an understanding of the board, the pieces, and the rules.
Once we know the foundations, we need to come up with our opening strategy, and the potential risks/rewards. As we go we will look into what rules can be bent, or manipulated to put you into the best position for your success.
I expect to act as a guide, mentor, someone who can offer a different perspective and understanding of the game as we go. I will point out where I think things went askew, and hold you accountable for the decisions you made. Reminding you each step of the way, that each of these decisions are yours to make, because it's your life.
When working with younger children, we start with child and parents, or just the child, then just the parents, then likely finish with another group conversation.
I talk with the kids about what their interests are, and what they think they need help with, offering them a safer space to just be themselves with as little judgment as possible.
After speaking with the child, I chat with the parents/guardians to get an understanding of what they are seeing as the strengths and weaknesses of their child.
We will close our session with group communication where I am advocating for and suggesting changes to help set the kiddo up for success, not just today, but hopefully for their future overall.