Elizabeth Ahmann & Micah Saviet: How cli...

Episode 216 with Elizabeth Ahmann & Micah Saviet

Elizabeth Ahmann, ScD, RN, PCC, NBC-HWC is an ADHD and health and wellness coach, professor, researcher, and Micah Saviet, LCSW-C, NBC-HWC is a trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming clinician.

Their book, Flourishing with Adult ADHD, offers a research-informed, strengths-based, and trauma-informed framework for supporting adults with ADHD beyond symptom management. Grounded in neuroscience, psychology, public health, and wellness research, the book challenges deficit-based models and provides practical, affirming guidance for professionals supporting adults with ADHD.

Rather than focusing solely on coping strategies, this book centers flourishing — supporting adults with ADHD in developing self-trust, self-compassion, emotional regulation, clarity, and lives aligned with their values.

We talk about how coaching and therapy can work together, why Liz and Micah originally wrote the book for clinicians but found it resonated with adults with ADHD, and their hopes for the future of ADHD care, from better training to broader acceptance.

Key topics:

• Micah shares that he was diagnosed with ADHD at age 11 and describes how his hyperactivity was noticeable early on.
• Liz explains that she has not been diagnosed with ADHD, but family experience, especially with her husband, led her into ADHD coaching.
• The conversation reframes ADHD as a difference in attention and regulation, not simply a deficit.
• Micah and Liz explain that their book grew out of research on ADHD coaching and focus groups with experienced coaches.
• Shame comes up repeatedly as one of the biggest barriers to growth, self-understanding, and flourishing for adults with ADHD.
• They emphasize that many therapists and coaches still lack meaningful training in ADHD, especially adult ADHD, masking, and neurodivergence.
• The episode draws a clear distinction between a deficit-based medical model and a client-centered, strengths-based approach.
• They discuss how coaching and therapy can complement each other rather than compete, especially when grief, trauma, and executive functioning challenges overlap.
• Validation, self-compassion, psychoeducation, and mindfulness are presented as foundational tools for helping clients move away from self-criticism.
• The conversation also addresses diagnosis, stigma, trauma, education trauma, and the social conditions that can make ADHD feel more impairing than it is in isolation.

Website: https://www.pathways-ahead.com/ ;  https://www.adulttraumaandadhdsolutions.com

Instagram: @adulttrauma_adhdsolutions

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micah-saviet/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizahmann/

Links & Resources:

• Flourishing with Adult ADHD: The Evidence-Based Guide to Well-Being for Therapists, Coaches & Clients
• Kristin Neff’s self-compassion resources

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Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

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