PODCAST · health
Something Shiny: ADHD!
by David Kessler & Isabelle Richards
How many times have you tried to understand ADHD...and were left feeling more misunderstood? We get it and we're here to help you build a shiny new relationship with ADHD. We are two therapists (David Kessler & Isabelle Richards) who not only work with people with ADHD, but we also have ADHD ourselves and have been where you are. Every other week on Something Shiny, you'll hear (real) vulnerable conversations, truth bombs from the world of psychology, and have WHOA moments that leave you feeling seen, understood, and...dare we say...knowing you are something shiny, just as you are.
Episodes
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Why Writing Can Feel Impossible with ADHD (and How to Make It Finally Work)
If you have ADHD, odds are you love consuming books. But if the thought of writing one ever came up, you probably shut it down fast. I could never do that. Maybe you were taught there’s only one way to write. Maybe the sheer amount of structure you thought it required overwhelmed you before you...
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SUMMER REPLAY: Why "Back to School" Wrecks ADHD Brains (and the Reframe That Helps!)
If you have ADHD, the back to school season hits from every direction at once. The end of summer. The end of freedom, staying up late, seeing your people. Then the start of everything: school, homework, earlier mornings, packed schedules. David calls it two oceans slamming together. If you're a...
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SUMMER REPLAY: What Systems Believe ADHD Looks Like vs. Who You Really Are
If you have ADHD, there's a good chance somebody labeled you before anybody actually saw you. Maybe you were the kid making commotion, so everyone knew, and what they knew was that you were a problem. Maybe you were quiet about it, so nobody knew at all, and you disappeared to the nurse's office...
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SUMMER REPLAY: You're a Champion Shame Spiraler. Here's How to Retire.
If you have ADHD, there's a decent chance the way you motivate yourself is by beating yourself up. The internal spiral that goes: if I mess this up, no one's gonna like me, then I lose the job, then everything falls apart. It works, kind of. Things get done. So you keep doing it, and it costs you...
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SUMMER REPLAY: You Don't Need to Stop Procrastinating. You Need to Get Better at It.
If you have ADHD, you've spent your whole life being told to stop procrastinating. And you've tried. But starting two weeks early feels like nothing. No pressure, no relief, no reward. Just the nagging sense you wasted an afternoon. So you wait. The deadline gets close, the stress kicks in, and...
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Summer Stole Your Structure. Here's What to Do About It.
Remember when summer meant you got to just... whatevs? No school, nowhere to be, just go. But then as an adult with ADHD, summer shows up and the structure just evaporates. Your kiddos are out of school. Friends are on vacation. Meetings get pushed, projects stall, and everyone who used to be...
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Why Grief Keeps Finding You at 2 AM
If you have ADHD and grief shows up, do you stay busy? Keep moving? Find something else to do? Stay ahead of the quiet? And then through it all does it find you anyway? Waking up at 2 AM, out of nowhere, when you thought you were past it? That's not you doing grief wrong. That's just how ADHD...
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Why You Couldn't Cry at the Funeral But Sobbed Over an IKEA Table — The Truth About ADHD and Grief
If you have ADHD, you might already know this particular kind of shame. You held it together at a super sad event (let's say a funeral). Dry-eyed, composed, functioning. And then weeks later you completely lost it over something small like a scratch in a piece of furniture, a voicemail you…
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"I've Had ADHD My Whole Life. I Just Didn't Know It Yet."
If you have ADHD and you got your diagnosis as an adult, odds are it felt like a spotlight switched on over your entire life and everything, every struggle, every pattern, every thing you couldn't explain about yourself is suddenly lit up. Afdhel Aziz has spent decades building an extraordinary...
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The Self-Esteem Reframe Every ADHD Brain Needs to Hear
If you have ADHD, chances are "just believe in yourself" has never quite landed. Not because you're broken, but because traditional self-esteem advice wasn't built for a brain like yours. In this episode, David offers a reframe that actually makes sense for neurodivergent minds: self-esteem isn't...
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What Happens When You Don’t Have to Mask So Hard?
This week, David and Isabelle continue their conversation with Avari Brocker — Neurodiversity Alliance student advocate and founder of LearningCurb.org. Avari talks about what it felt like to go from being on her own little island to being surrounded by other neurodivergent people, and realizing...
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When “You’re Fine” Feels Like the Worst Thing to Hear
This week, David and Isabelle sit down with Avari Brocker — Neurodiversity Alliance student advocate and founder of Learning Curb — for a conversation about something so many neurodivergent people carry quietly for years: knowing you’re different, only seeing your deficits, and not having…
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Why “Good Change” Still Feels Overwhelming When You Have ADHD
This week, David and Isabelle unpack why moving can hit neurodivergent brains so much harder than people realize. Yes, there’s the obvious stress of boxes, clutter, visual chaos, and trying to remember where literally anything is. But underneath that, they get into the deeper part too: what…
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Why Getting Help With ADHD Can Feel So Complicated
Ever needed extra time, extra support, or a different way of doing something and immediately thought, “Wait… is this cheating?” Yeah. That feeling is way more common than you think. This week, David and Isabelle are back on stage at the Neurodiversity Alliance Leadership Summit in Denver for the...
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What "Finding Your People" Actually Means When You Have ADHD
Ever walked into a room full of neurodivergent people and thought, "Oh no, what if I'm NOT actually ADHD? What if I don't belong here either?" Yeah. That's a thing. And it's weirdly universal. This week, David and Isabelle are taking you inside the Neurodiversity Alliance Leadership Summit in...
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Why Mentorship Might Be Your ADHD Survival Strategy
Ever wonder why seeing another neurodivergent person succeed can literally change your life? This week, David and Isabelle bring you the second half of their conversation with Jesse Sanchez, Executive Director of the Neurodiversity Alliance, and it goes deep. They're talking about the kind of...
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When Your ADHD Brain Crashes After Crisis (And the Reframe That Changes Everything)
Ever notice how ADHD makes you crave chaos...until the chaos actually arrives and your brain completely shorts out? This week, co-host Isabelle Richards is living that paradox in real time. We're dropping this episode on Friday instead of our usual every-other-Wednesday schedule because Nashville...
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What Happens When You Stop Hiding Your ADHD
Ever felt like you were doing everything "wrong" compared to everyone around you...like, thinking back to college, why did studying take you five environment changes and an all-nighter when your roommate just sat there and did it? If so, then this one's for you! Jesse Sanchez, President of the...
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Why “Just Try Harder” Never Works—And What to Do Instead
If you’ve ever tried to start something simple—doing the dishes, sending the email, getting out the door—and still somehow couldn’t make it happen, this episode is for you. Russ Jones is back with Isabelle and David to go deeper into what actually works when ADHD makes even the smallest task feel...
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If You’ve Ever Thought “Why Can’t I Just Do the Thing?" — Listen to This
You know what to do. You’ve made the list, downloaded the app, maybe even set a timer. But when it’s time to actually do the thing, your brain shuts down. And instead of momentum, you get a wall of shame. In this episode of Something Shiny: ADHD, David and Isabelle are joined by Russ Jones…
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This Is Why You Push Yourself Too Hard (And How To Immediately Stop The Cycle)
You know that moment when you're doing something hard, painful, or just plain exhausting, and a tiny voice whispers, "Why is this so hard for me?" You're not alone and in this episode we'll break down where that comes from and how to escape the shame spiral. We're joined again by therapist Grace...
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The Corners You Learned to Hide (and the Systems That Taught You To)
There’s a particular kind of tired that seeps past your muscles—it settles in your body memory. The kind that comes from years spent reshaping yourself around other people’s comfort. If you’ve ever been told your joy was too big, your voice too loud, your questions too many—this conversation…
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Can you be an ally or expert on ADHD...without having ADHD?
We gotta be able to handle hearing people talk about us, even when it's triggering and hard, because it can ultimately show us where the work is. And maybe you can be an expert on soething without having it yourself (like ADHD) but perhaps it requires a sense of curiosity, empathy, or some kind…
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Why are folks so scared of overdiagnosis?
Is the 'overdiagnosing' of ADHD, autism, and other neurodevelopmental conditions a 'danger,' and to whom? Isabelle and David continue taking some common myths and misperceptions, questioning who and how we gatekeep 'neurodiversity' (including the idea that maybe there really is no...
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Is ADHD overdiagnosed?
Are ADHD, autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders overdiagnosed? Is it all in our heads? Is self-diagnosis legit? Isabelle and David take some common stigmas and misperceptions to task and explore how labels and identities can help or hurt, how policing stigma when you're not a member of…
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MUCH NEEDED REPLAY: Were you a kid with ADHD in the 90's?
Let's revisit a bunch of neurodivergent folx reminiscing about what it was like growing up (and being diagnosed with) ADHD in the 90's. Featuring some real gems about accommodations for reading, what hyperfocus can feel like, and stuff about Richard Dreyfuss. ---- Isabelle & David welcome...
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Do you trust that others (especially those in power) will help you?
So with news articles and headlines about how folks with ADHD need to get off their meds or go outside or be 'cured', there's something of a big misunderstanding and gaps in perspectives on ADHD and what it actually means. Including our shared values as a real ADHD culture, especially around how...
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Do folks with ADHD 'stim' (and what is it)?
Isabelle and David talk 'stimming'-AKA "Self-stimulating behavior": what is this word, where does it come from, and what does it mean to 'stim'? Perhaps spoken of more in the autism community, stimming applies to ADHD also, and can connect to not just how we use sensory inputs as ballasts or...
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Can you be super empathic and autistic? (um...YES) - Neuropsychs Explored Part IV
Isabelle finishes sharing her neuropsych results, including recommendations for ADHD and autism (HINT: unmask! WHAT?) From the categorization of ADHD like a storm warning system (Mild/moderate/severe) to how job interviews might be the one place to mask (and how David does his interviews), David...
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Do we really need labels like ADHD and AuDHD? - Neuropsychs Explored Part III
Isabelle and David continue to explore how an official ADHD or autism or AuDHD diagnosis might be a useful bridge to belong to a community. But what about the people who see these labels as pathologizing, including famous ADHD researchers like Dr. Russell Barkely? David and Isabelle explore some…
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How can you trust the world when the world doesn't get you? - Neuropsychs Explored Part II
David and Isabelle go into greater depth about neuropsychological assessments--both back in the day and now-for kids, and for adults--and Isabelle's AHA moment about self-disclosing her AuDHD self. From the odd history of the intersection of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and ADHD (did you know…
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What is a neuropsych anyway? What is AuDHD? - Neuropsychs Explored Part I
Isabelle shares the results of her neuropsych with David: she is AuDHD! As a grown human learning she has AuDHD (ADHD + Autism Spectrum Disorder), what does it mean to 'get a neuropsych?' What even IS a neuropsych? Who gets one and why? How does high-masking autism look like for Isabelle? Busting...
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Loneliness and Changes to How We Mask - with Marcus Soutra, For the Good Consulting
Isabelle and David welcome back Marcus Soutra, co-founder of Eye to Eye and founder of For the Good Consulting, and explore the nature of authenticity, "coolness" and the meaning of masking with nation-wide advocacy expert and fellow ADHD and LD-er. How did being "cool" go from being rich and...
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From "toughen up" to "the trauma ends with me" - with guest, Marcus Soutra (For the Good Consulting)
Isabelle and David welcome back Marcus Soutra, co-founder of Eye to Eye and founder of For the Good Consulting, and ask an interesting question of this nation-wide advocacy expert and fellow ADHD and LD-er: how has life in schools changed for neurodivergent kids, especially now that some of us…
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Why is the transition to sleep so extra hard?
Isabelle and David continue to talk with David’s brother’s friend, Aaron, and dig deep into why winding down and going to sleep is the hardest transition of all: because you're staring into a black hole of no dopamine for hours! And also, a lot of traditional sleep hygiene tricks may not work....
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Are folks with ADHD natural promoters?
Isabelle and David continue to talk with David’s brother’s friend, Aaron, and contemplate why folks with ADHD can be so enthusiastic and excited about interests, people, etc. Is it because we are like puppies who are starved for reinforcement (dopamine)? Or does it come from living a life on the...
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What happens when you be more of the person you want to be?
Isabelle and David welcome David’s brother’s friend, Aaron, who, as a recently diagnosed ADHDer, brings up the idea of if ADHD is a superpower, it's like the super suit in “Greatest American Hero:” a suit given with a manual that got lost on the first day of use. What happens when you find your...
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Does ADHD Make You Overly Optimistic?
Does ADHD make you an overly optimistic puppy dog? Or the sprinkle of trickster magic in someone else's day? And is there really a "better" way to be, optimistic or pessimistic? From David being a prophetic hot dog vendor at Wrigley Field, to trickster archetypes, to the differences between...
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Holiday Prep Series - ADHD, meet time off perfectionism
How do you make your time off the most efficiently relaxing? Or unlock a peak game night or other family time experience? And why are we so hell bent on intensity of experience, versus frequency? David and Isabelle straddle talk of perfectionism, their own relationships to building time-off...
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Holiday Prep Series - ADHD, meet gift giving!
Just in time for the mounting stress at the end of the year, here’s an ADHD-friendly gift-giving guide! David and Isabelle have ideas, accommodations, and acceptance around giving and receiving gifts with neurodivergent folx. How hard it is to buy things for folx who impulsively purchase all...
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Holiday Prep Series - ADHD, meet holiday travel!
How do you survive holiday travel with ADHD? What about traveling with children, particularly small children? And what happens when you find yourself rushing, leaving things until the last minute, and forgetting your charger once again? David and Isabelle swap stories and share specific tips to...
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Holiday Prep Series: ADHD, meet family (get-togethers)
How do you survive family dinners? Sitting at a table until everyone is done? Overstimulation? Sticky conversations and setting boundaries? David and Isabelle talk concrete tips for getting through family dinners, and even enjoying them—and the truth behind ear worm songs’ lyrics that may pop…
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Holiday Prep Series: ADHD, meet more food...and real Thanksgiving wins
What do you do when people are openly judging your food sensitivities (or the food sensitivities of your kid)? What's the difference between a soft and hot response to commentary? Why do we go to town over certain foods we love and then have such particular things we dislike and how much the...
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Holiday Prep Series: ADHD, meet food!
This week we're revisiting what happens when you show up at a holiday meal and immediately realize with a sinking feeling- "Not again…I can't eat anything here…" From honoring the cook's efforts while not betraying your own needs, to recognizing the joys of chewing on pens and ice, join David and...
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Is it ADHD culture or just ADHD trauma?
Is there a way to switch gears even when you're running late, overhwhelmed, and already past crispy? Isabelle and David explore how changing gears, especially during a transition--whether it's starting a conversation, leaving the house, beginning a work task--is up to us and how hard and real the...
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Why do we burn ourselves out?
Why do we push ourselves so hard, hyperfocus, are ready to do 80 things at once, then crash and run out of steam before we ever move the needle? How much does this boom/bust cycle harm us, our relationships, and our wellbeing? David and Isabelle discuss how, as neurodivergent folx, we can't see…
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Does 'back to school' season hit you hard, too?
Ep075: Does back to school season hit you hard, too? Why is it so hard and triggering and exhausting to go back to school (even if you’re not a student or have a student in your life right now)? And what is this idea, “pervasive demand avoidance” (or a persistent drive to autonomy) and how can it...
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Summer Starter Series: When can hyperfocus be your friend?
What happens when the rewards for doing something don't show up until way later? Or if it's harder to tell you're making progress on something, like saving money, applying for jobs, buying a house? David and Isabelle are joined by Isabelle's husband, Bobby, who also has ADHD, swapping stories…
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Summer Starter Series: Can you turn anxiety into excitement?
Why are some of us anxious and some of us excited (or a combo platter of both)? And is it possible to turn anxiety, or anger, or shame spirals, into something else? David and Isabelle swap stories, talk transgenerational trauma, and get curious about how we are socialized to mask and behave...and...
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Summer Starter Series: Why are decisions/transitions so easy/hard?
Why do some of us minimize and reduce the number of choices while others seek excitement and novelty? Why do some of us need everything listed out while others need to just try something blindly? The secret? Different types of ADHD and different ways our ADHD shows up in different environments!...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
How many times have you tried to understand ADHD...and were left feeling more misunderstood? We get it and we're here to help you build a shiny new relationship with ADHD. We are two therapists (David Kessler & Isabelle Richards) who not only work with people with ADHD, but we also have ADHD ourselves and have been where you are. Every other week on Something Shiny, you'll hear (real) vulnerable conversations, truth bombs from the world of psychology, and have WHOA moments that leave you feeling seen, understood, and...dare we say...knowing you are something shiny, just as you are.
HOSTED BY
David Kessler & Isabelle Richards
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Something Shiny: ADHD! have?
Something Shiny: ADHD! currently has 130 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Something Shiny: ADHD! about?
How many times have you tried to understand ADHD...and were left feeling more misunderstood? We get it and we're here to help you build a shiny new relationship with ADHD. We are two therapists (David Kessler & Isabelle Richards) who not only work with people with ADHD, but we also have ADHD...
How often does Something Shiny: ADHD! release new episodes?
Something Shiny: ADHD! publishes regularly with 130 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Something Shiny: ADHD!?
You can listen to Something Shiny: ADHD! on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Something Shiny: ADHD!?
Something Shiny: ADHD! is created and hosted by David Kessler & Isabelle Richards.
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