Coach In Training

Seeking out positive change has been something that I have been really driven by my whole life. As a child it was fun, but with schooling life did not seem fun at all. It literally felt like a prison sentence from the day I started aged 4 until the day I left aged 19 for a year off to then embark with life at uni.

I have incredibly vivid early childhood memories but as adolescence kicked in and well under age all sorts of shenanigans my memory doesn't serve me so well. The thing is with incredible older parents I really loved learning and my Dad would often say, particularly through my adolescence, the best education he could give us was travel. And boy oh boy did we have fantastic travel experiences. My most memorable experiences have been embracing nature mostly on the sea and incredible islands. It was when I began my own adventures did I then seek out cultural city adventures.

My mum never accepted the status quo in terms of medicine and being bought up in South East Asia we were surrounded by complimentary and alternative Chinese medicine. Being the tropics and surrounded by disease I was very sick as a child and pumped full of antibiotics. It was mainly pneumonia that was the issue for me. And my mum leaving the clinic with yet another stash of antibiotics sought out a Chinese medicine and just never gave me the last dose of antibiotics. I recovered and my mum never told the doctor that she didn't give me that last round of antibiotics. I was totally unaware of this and honestly it was hell. The aches in my bones, not being able to breathe or sleep, sensitivity to light and sound. It was HORRIBLE. My mum just always was exploring alternative or complimentary health throughout my life. But you know what I also know the benefit of antibiotics on horrible infections. I am fully jabbed up as is our child. I have had the COVID vaccines, I get the flu vaccine every year. And my health is much better for it. Living through diseases didn't strengthen my immune system it made me weaker. I struggled a lot with physical activities but I have always LOVED dancing and still do. I love my daily walks with the dogs, as much as I can in the local forest, as it connects my mind to my body, more than the sensory overload of the gym.

When the major family crisis hit, and it came at a time of seeking out a diagnosis for our child, I very much wanted to make personal changes. So I sought out counselling but here's the thing, it did not tool me up. The best counselling that I had found after my Dad died was Transactional Analysis. The elderly guy delivering it was nearing the end of his qualification and our sessions were highly interactive where we would draw out the interactions I had in the week and look at the rackety behaviour between adult, parent and child. He walked me through how as adults we are seeking out the adult to adult interaction. This was the most helpful counselling I had ever had and I just kind of ended up making changes without thinking. And definitely shed any kind of false responsibility of others wounded behaviours. At least at one level.

This guy I had seen after my Dad died wasn't practicing anymore and the person I found with this training background, Transactional Analysis, just felt like talk therapy. Which was kind of OK but really didn't tool me up. So continuing to seek out some sort of scaffolding to help me build on changes I kind of stumbled on coaching and mentoring. And this my dear reader has been the most incredible journey of impactful change I have ever been on. So impactful that I want to do for others what has been done for me. So back in November 2022 I signed up to The Coaching Academy to gain my certification as a Life Coach specialising in Education. And in true ADHD flurry of activity I set up this website, booked on the course, did a few blog posts and well, look squirrel. I am sure that is pretty relatable to you if you are neurodivergent.

Fast forward a year to today, and I have left corporate life and no I can't put all my energy into a single thing to make it work as an entrepreneur. I thrive on variety but I do also need to pace myself. So I am returning to my aromatherapy practice, you can read about how and why here on this blog post, and I am focusing on my coaching practice and the podcast, Even The Dog Has ADHD where people share their own stories of what it is like living with diagnosed or undiagnosed ADHD and or autism within a family context.

Yes, I am feeling a bit of the fear and doing it anyway, but because this phase of my journey is from the heart, something is different. The personal work that I have done through coaching has helped to shift something and has really empowered me in ways that give me immense mental freedom.

I want to support other women who like me have bumped along trying to make impactful changes but still seem to be in some sort of circular cycle but are determined not to give up on themselves. So if that is you and you would like to work with me on my training journey to becoming certified as a Life Coach please contact me on eventhedoghasadhd@gmail.com and let's have a virtual coffee, and a chat and see it we can make something special happen for you too.

UPDATE: As of 2nd July 2024 I am now seeing clients via dianavhayes.com in addition to my Life Coaching Diploma I have also embarked on Somatic Trauma Informed Coaching & Leadership Certification & ICF, CPD and CIM Qualification at the School of Trauma Informed Positive Psychology