Mighty Oaks Counseling, PLLC

"If I had known then what I know now, I would have parented differently." It's something I hear from parents all the time after their daughter is diagnosed with ADHD. Not because they didn't love her. Not because they weren't trying. But because they were responding to behaviors they could see without understanding what was happening beneath the surface. They saw forgotten homework. Messy bedrooms. Emotional outbursts. Lost jackets. Incomplete chores. What they couldn't see w

"She's so smart…if she would just apply herself." It's a phrase many girls with ADHD hear throughout childhood. Teachers say it. Parents wonder it. Eventually, girls begin saying it to themselves. "If I'm really smart, why can't I remember my homework?" "Why can I write an amazing essay but forget to turn it in?" "Why does everyone else seem to keep up so much more easily?" For many girls, these questions become part of their identity long before anyone considers ADHD. The tr

"I've always felt like everyone else got a friendship handbook that I somehow missed." It's a sentence I hear often from girls and women with ADHD. Many can tell you exactly when they began feeling different. Maybe it was elementary school when friendships suddenly became more complicated. Maybe it was middle school, when social groups became less forgiving. Or maybe it wasn't until adulthood, when maintaining friendships started to feel overwhelming. While ADHD is often asso

"I can handle forgetting my keys. What I can't handle is feeling like every emotion is turned up to full volume." When most people think about ADHD, they think about distractibility. They picture someone who loses their phone, forgets appointments, interrupts conversations, or struggles to finish projects. What they don't see is what many girls and women experience internally every single day. The overwhelming emotions. The intense self-doubt. The shame that lingers after a s

For many years, ADHD was thought of as something that primarily affected young boys—children who couldn't sit still, blurted out answers, and had endless energy. As a result, countless girls grew up believing they were simply "too emotional," "too sensitive," "too talkative," "too messy," or "not trying hard enough." Today, we know better. ADHD in girls and women often looks different than the stereotypes we've been taught. Instead of outward hyperactivity, many girls experie