Access to Work ADHD Support: Real Help for Real Life (and Work)

If you have ADHD and you’re trying to work, grow a business, or simply keep your head above water, you might already know this truth:

You’re not lazy. You’re not broken. And you’re definitely not incapable.

But the way your brain works can make work feel exhausting, overwhelming, and at times impossible especially when you’re expected to function in systems that weren’t built with neurodivergent minds in mind.

This is where Access to Work can make a real difference.

What is Access to Work?

Access to Work is a UK government scheme that provides funding to support people with disabilities and neurodivergence, including ADHD, to stay in work, return to work, or set up and grow their own business.

For many people with ADHD, this funding can be used for a set number of sessions that include:

• Practical, solution-focused ADHD support

• Counselling support for emotional wellbeing

• Help with overwhelm, burnout, confidence, and regulation

• Support with work structures, routines, boundaries, and sustainability

This isn’t about fixing you.

It’s about supporting how you work.

Why ADHD Makes Work So Hard (Even When You’re Capable)

Many of the people I work with look like they’re coping just fine from the outside.

They’re running businesses.

Holding down jobs.

Showing up for clients, staff, or family.

Inside, it can feel very different.

Common struggles I hear every week include:

• Constant overwhelm and mental clutter

• Brilliant ideas but no clear way to start or finish

• Time blindness and missed deadlines

• Perfectionism mixed with procrastination

• Emotional overwhelm, shame, and self-criticism

• Difficulty prioritising or saying no

• Burnout from masking and pushing through

• Fear of failing or being “found out”

ADHD doesn’t just affect attention.

It affects emotions, self-worth, nervous system regulation, and confidence.

And when those aren’t supported, work becomes unsustainable.

How I Work (And Why It’s Different)

I offer Access to Work–funded support that combines practical, solution-focused work with counselling support, because ADHD is never just one or the other. I get when an idea or question comes in it can be hard to hold so whats app and email is available between sessions.

I’m ADHD myself. I run a successful business.

So I get it.

This means:

• No judgement

• No rigid systems that don’t fit real life

• No “just try harder” nonsense

Instead, we work with your brain, not against it.

What We Can Work On Together

Our sessions are shaped around you and what’s getting in the way right now.

This might include:

• Breaking work and business goals into realistic, achievable steps

• Creating structures that actually stick

• Managing overwhelm and emotional shutdown

• Working with motivation (not shaming yourself for losing it)

• Reducing burnout and people-pleasing

• Building confidence and self-trust

• Understanding your nervous system and stress responses

• Letting go of years of shame around “not being enough”

The focus is always on practical change, emotional safety, and long-term sustainability, not quick fixes that fall apart.

Counselling

and

Practical Support…. Not Either/Or

Many people with ADHD have years of:

• Being misunderstood

• Being criticised or corrected

• Feeling like they’re always behind

• Pushing themselves past breaking point

That takes a toll.

Access to Work allows space for both:

• Practical support for work and productivity

• Counselling support for confidence, regulation, trauma, and self-worth

Because you don’t leave your emotions at the door when you sit down to work.

Who This Support Is For

This work is particularly helpful if you:

• Have ADHD (diagnosed or self-identified)

• Are employed, self-employed, or setting up a business

• Feel overwhelmed, stuck, or burnt out

• Want support that is flexible, human, and realistic

• Have Access to Work funding approved (or are applying)

Sessions are available online, and I meet you where you are, literally and emotionally.

You Don’t Have to Keep Doing This Alone

ADHD can make you feel like the problem.

You’re not.

The problem is unsupported neurodivergence in systems that demand consistency, regulation, and performance without care.

Access to Work exists because support matters.

And the right support can change everything.

Get in Touch

If you’d like to explore working together using Access to Work funding, you’re very welcome to reach out.

📧 louisemalyancounselling@gmail.com

🌐 www.wildfirecounsellingtherapy.co.uk

I offer a free, no-obligation introductory chat, just to see if we’re the right fit.

Down to earth. Flexible. Real.

Support that works with you, not against you.

Take gentle care

Louise

Wildfire Counselling & Therapy