How I Use Positive Intelligence with ADHD Clients
ADHD is often understood as a condition of the nervous system. As you begin to understand how your own system works, and discover ways to calm it, you may find that some of the behaviours that have been getting in your way begin to feel more manageable. When your system is activated, it can be much harder to think clearly, regulate emotion, or pause before reacting.
Positive Intelligence™, or PQ, introduces short sensory practices called PQ Reps. These practices help bring your attention back into your body and into the present moment, which can interrupt spirals of stress, urgency, rumination, or emotional flooding. If traditional mindfulness has felt difficult for you, PQ Reps may offer a gentler and more accessible way to build awareness and calm your nervous system, without asking for long periods of stillness or intense concentration.
"PQ Reps are a bit like micro-dosing mindfulness"
ADHD Client
Helpful language for behaviour patterns
One of the most helpful aspects of Positive Intelligence (PQ) is that it offers a way of naming patterns you may have lived with for years without fully understanding. Rather than labelling yourself as lazy, chaotic, “too much,” or “not enough,” you can begin to recognise these responses as protective habits — patterns that developed for understandable reasons, often in response to earlier experiences.
This is a non-pathologising approach. The focus is not on what is “wrong” with you, but on what has been learned, and on whether those patterns are still serving you now. In PQ terms, these patterns are often understood as overused strengths — qualities that may once have been helpful or adaptive, but can become limiting when they show up too strongly or too often.
If you have ADHD, patterns similar to what PQ calls the Avoider and the Restless may feel familiar. They can show up as procrastination, constant busyness, difficulty staying with discomfort, frequent task-switching, or a strong pull to move away from anything that feels emotionally or cognitively demanding. Seen through this lens, these behaviours are not failures of discipline, but attempts — however imperfect — to cope, regulate, or protect.
The language of PQ is simply one way of making sense of these patterns. I use it where it feels helpful, and we can just as easily draw on other ideas or metaphors that resonate more with you, whether that is the inner critic, the shadow self, or something else entirely. The aim is not to hold tightly to any one framework, but to find ways of understanding your experience that feel clear, useful, and workable in your day-to-day life.
Rejection sensitivity and emotional lability
If you have ADHD, rejection sensitivity may also be part of your experience. It can show up as hypervigilance, rumination, emotional pain, or a rapid move into threat mode when something feels critical, excluding, or disapproving.
PQ can help your nervous system spend more time in a steadier, more regulated state, which may reduce how quickly or intensely these reactions take hold. It also helps you notice what is happening in real time, and offers practical ways to settle your system when activation does occur.
When you are in that state, it is often very hard to access perspective or think clearly, because your nervous system is already responding as if you are under threat. PQ helps you work with the state first by calming the system, so that reflection, choice, and a greater sense of steadiness can begin to return.
Why the app helps
The PQ app can be especially helpful because it keeps the work close at hand. It offers structure, reminders, and practical prompts that make it easier for you to come back to the practices in day-to-day life, not just during coaching sessions.
If you have ADHD, that kind of support can really matter. When memory, attention, or object constancy make it hard to hold things in mind, having the app there can help bring the work back into view and make it easier to remember what supports you.
Insight is important, but consistent cues, simple prompts, and repeatable tools are often what help new habits begin to stick.
Celebrating wins matters
PQ also helps you notice and celebrate your wins. I find that important, because if you have ADHD, progress is often easier to build on when it feels visible, encouraging, and rewarding.
Over time, when healthier patterns become linked with a sense of achievement, they are more likely to be repeated. In simple terms, the more often you practise a healthier response, the easier it becomes to reach for it again.
How PQ fits in with my ADHD coaching work
In my coaching, I use PQ as part of a wider compassionate, neuro‑affirming approach. I draw on it to help you understand yourself better, reduce shame, calm your nervous system, and build more choice into moments that may previously have felt automatic or overwhelming.
This is not about masking or becoming less yourself. It is about growing self‑awareness, strengthening self‑trust, and developing practical ways of responding that support calmer, healthier patterns over time.
Intrigued to learn how PQ can help you on your ADHD journey? Book a Discovery Call