Is this a legal term? Is there any real qualification, proven behind this? Or is it like in Germany, where anyone could call themself a "credentialed coach" and "help" other people.
Because professional help from a therapist would surely be called such, wouldn't it?
Especially from a platform that allows racist hatred onto their comment section.
ADHD 'coaches' are such a predatory scam. It's so prevalent and it's just revolting imo.
If someone is using the term 'coach' it's because they have no credentials thus can't use a term protected for use by only qualified professionals, so like you said anyone can just call themselves a coach.
Additionally, like OP says, as they're 'coaches' they're not actually qualified health professionals of any kind thus won't be covered by insurance. Here in Australia our socialised healthcare system doesn't cover them (nor should it! See a psychologist, which our healthcare system needs to really increase its funding of)
Inappropriate, harmful, or unethical behaviour by these people goes unreported because they're not covered under our national regulatory body for healthcare as well.
It's not just an expensive scam, there's absolutely no protections at all. I really hate it.
I'm genuinely happy for people who have an ADHD coach who isn't terrible but the problem is that there's so many gaps in care and filling them with totally unqualified randos with no registration or regulation who charge at least as much as an actual qualified professional on top of that is just horrendous, abysmal, and not at all a solution to these problems.
The 2 credentialing bodies we hire from are International Coaching Federation (ICF) and National Board Health & Wellness Coaches (NBC-HWC).
But yes, anyone can call themselves a coach. They would not be credentialed though.
That's one of the challenges I personally felt when I was looking for a coach when I was diagnosed and couldn't really figure out what was legit and what wasn't. That's part of the mission behind Shimmer too, so that members know that if they come to Shimmer, they're getting a qualified coach who has went through a robust screening process, and undergo ongoing supervision, training, and community! Actually only 3.7% of qualified coaches who apply actually get through our 4-step process.
While ICF and NBC-HWC provide some structure, these certifications are inadequate for supporting individuals with ADHD and mental health conditions.
ICF requires only 60-125 hours of general coaching training and NBC-HWC, while more health-focused, still lacks deep mental health and neurodiversity education.
For comparison, mental health professionals complete 4-8 years of specialized education, thousands of supervised clinical hours, and must maintain state licenses.
The risk isn't just about qualification inflation - it's about potentially harmful advice. Coaches without extensive mental health training may miss red flags, misinterpret symptoms, or suggest strategies that conflict with evidence-based treatments. While coaches can provide supplementary support, positioning them as primary mental health support for ADHD individuals, even with these certifications, could delay proper treatment and worsen outcomes.
A 4-step screening process is good, but the baseline credentials still fall short for mental health care.
The focus should be on integration with licensed healthcare providers rather than positioning coaching as a standalone solution.
I'd argue, that given the right hardware (I'd go with a Framework anytime again) and the right setup in terms ox *nix, I am happy to never touch a MB Pro (or any Mac) again in my life.
Absolutely. Framework laptop and a custom-built desktop each running Fedora, has been a wonderful experience. If I could have any setup I wanted with no consideration of cost, I would choose this one.
I couldn't agree more. Given how much frigging hoops I had to jump through to get my Obsidian over syncthing setup to sync with my company iPhone - I nearly gave up.
I grew up when computers didn't babysit me and tried to act like the good old GDR, knowing every thing better than their citicens.
Nowadays, I feel more and more hindered by computers, not enabled. Computers used to be a production device (I could create things with them).
Phones are not a computer - phones are a just "consume like we want you to" device.
The problem is, I want my phone to be a creation device. A device that allows me to create content, text, to do lists, shopping lists, ideas and store them. And(!) sync them using the tools I decide to use. And not force me to use tools I friggin hate, because they just don't get the job done.
I gave up. My phone now is just a communication and utility device, and thus I don’t feel the urge to upgrade until it can’t do those tasks. I went back to computers (and Linux) to be able to just use them as a computer.
Same. I wish there were an alternative (a practical pocket computer), but there really isn't. So I too gave up on fighting my phone, and have also completely stopped doing mobile development. I now treat my phone essentially as an untrusted, prepackaged walled garden with limited utility. :-/
How did you get iPhone Syncthing + Obsidian working? I was under the impression that it was basically impossible to share Möbius Sync's directory with Obsidian.
Got it working myself. I set up a share inside of Mobius Sync that reaches into the Obsidian folder. (note the entire thing, just one vault). I think there was a popup saying it was unsupported but I haven't had any problems yet.
I‘d recommend 'the right it' by Alberto Savoia [1].
> Pretotyping is a set of tools, techniques, and tactics designed to help you validate any idea for a new product quickly, objectively, and accurately. The goal of pretotyping is to help you make sure that you are building The Right It before you build It right.
