Living with adult ADHD can feel like you’re in a constant battle with your brain.
Every day, you have to fight to stay in control, to meet your obligations, to not screw up—forget actually living up to your potential. But what you might not know about, and what’s even more damaging, is the constant, corrosive emotional stress of a lifetime spent wondering what the hell is wrong with you.
In Focused Forward: Navigating the Storms of Adult ADHD, author and self—proclaimed “ADHD-er“ James M. Ochoa, LPC goes beyond the management and scheduling techniques most ADHD books focus on to deal with what really holds so many ADHD-ers back—the emotional fallout of ADHD. He helps readers identify, manage and alleviate symptoms of a PTSD-like condition he calls the Emotional Distress Syndrome, with practical, proven advice including:
- Understanding the link between ADHD and emotional distress
- What Emotional Distress Syndrome (“EDS”) feels like
- How to construct an Emotional Safe Place
- How to recruit your own Mental Support Group
- Eight essential tools to help you cope
- And more...
With wisdom, humor, and plenty of (sometimes painful) empathy, Focused Forward will help adults with ADHD move past the pain and shame toward a future full of possibility, balance and joy.
"Focused Forward gets it! If you or someone you care about has the adult version of ADHD, read this book. Written by a man who's worked in the trenches his whole career, this book is full of practical tips as well as a deep understanding for what this widely misunderstood condition is truly like. A hugely valuable contribution to the treatment of adult ADHD." --Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. New York Times bestselling author of Driven to Distraction "James Ochoa's new book, Focused Forward: Navigating the Storms of Adult ADHD is very moving, easy to read, and reflects the obvious depth of the author's clinical experience. This book could only have been written by someone who has spent many years successfully guiding adults to navigate the complex storms of adult ADHD. This book is a rare combination of warmth, wisdom, and innovative tools that can sooth the ADHD soul! I have already started recommending this book to my clients! Mr. Ochoa's ground-breaking concept of the Emotional Distress Syndrome profoundly affects countless adults with adult ADHD and now gives clinicians and adults a previously missing but critical understanding that can lead to healing the wounds of the accumulated assaults of growing up with ADHD." --Sari Solden, MS, LMFT Psychotherapist and bestselling author of Women with Attention Deficit Disorder and Journeys Through ADDulthood "Finally, a book that gets to the heart of the matter! James Ochoa breaks the silence and brings a voice to possibly the most devastating and misunderstood aspect of ADHD-the emotional distress. He offers practical tools and coping strategies to help people with ADHD close the gap between surviving and thriving. This book is a must for people with ADHD, their loved ones and their helping professionals!" --Nancy A. Ratey, Ed.M., MCC Best-Selling Author of The Disorganized Mind "If you've struggled to make sense of your adult ADHD brain, Focused Forward: Navigating the Storms of Adult ADHD is the owner's manual you've been waiting for." --Christie Sprowls, Psy.D
