ADHD Counselling in Surrey, BC
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Living with ADHD often means working twice as hard to do what seems to come easily to everyone else, and still being told you are not trying hard enough. Whether you are an adult who has always struggled with focus and follow through, a parent watching your child melt down over homework, or a teen who feels constantly behind, ADHD counselling offers practical, judgment free support that works with your brain rather than against it.
At Sojourn Counselling and Neurofeedback, we support children, teens, and adults with ADHD in person at our Cloverdale office in Surrey, BC, and online across British Columbia. We are one of the few clinics in the area offering both counselling and neurofeedback under one roof.
More Than an Attention Problem
ADHD is often framed as simply being distractible or hyperactive, but the people who live with it know it runs deeper. ADHD affects executive functioning, which includes the brain’s systems for planning, starting tasks, managing time, holding things in mind, and regulating emotion. That is why ADHD can show up as:
- Starting projects with enthusiasm and struggling to finish them
- Losing track of time, appointments, and everyday items
- Procrastinating on important tasks, then working in panicked bursts
- Big emotional reactions that are hard to rein in
- Feeling intensely hurt by criticism or perceived rejection
- Restlessness, impulsive decisions, or interrupting without meaning to
- Exhaustion from masking these struggles at school or work
Years of this, especially without a diagnosis, often leave a mark on self esteem. Many adults with ADHD arrive at counselling carrying a long history of feeling like they were lazy, careless, or not living up to their potential. They were not lazy. Their brains work differently, and understanding that is often the first relief counselling offers.
How Counselling Helps With ADHD
Counselling does not replace medical care, and medication helps many people with ADHD. But pills do not teach skills, and they do not undo years of self criticism. Counselling can help you:
- Build practical, ADHD friendly strategies for time, tasks, and organization, ones designed for your brain, not borrowed from productivity books that never worked
- Understand and regulate the emotional side of ADHD, including frustration, overwhelm, and rejection sensitivity
- Untangle self worth from productivity and quiet the inner critic
- Address the anxiety or low mood that so often travels alongside ADHD
- Improve communication in relationships strained by forgetfulness, distraction, or conflict
- Process the grief and relief that can come with a late diagnosis
ADHD Counselling for Children and Teens
For kids and teens, ADHD often shows up as homework battles, big feelings, friendship struggles, and a growing sense of being “the bad kid.” Our child and youth counsellors use age appropriate, often play based approaches to help young people build emotional regulation skills and a healthier story about themselves, and we work with parents so home stops feeling like a constant negotiation. Several of our counsellors have particular experience supporting neurodivergent children and teens, including those with ADHD and autism.
Neurofeedback and ADHD
Alongside counselling, Sojourn offers neurofeedback for ADHD, a non invasive brain training approach in which sensors read the brain’s activity and provide real time feedback to support self regulation. Some families and adults choose neurofeedback as a complement to counselling, and research on neurofeedback for attention difficulties, while still developing, is promising. We also offer home neurofeedback rentals for consistent training between sessions. Neurofeedback is not a medical treatment and does not diagnose or cure ADHD, and our team can talk with you honestly about whether it makes sense for your situation. Learn more on our main neurofeedback page.
A Note About Diagnosis
Registered Clinical Counsellors do not diagnose ADHD. Diagnosis in BC is done by physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and some nurse practitioners. If you are wondering whether you or your child has ADHD, we can help you think it through, support you while you pursue an assessment, and work with the real world struggles right away, because you do not need a formal diagnosis to start building skills and support.
Approaches We Draw From
ADHD counselling at Sojourn may draw on CBT adapted for ADHD, mindfulness based strategies, emotionally focused approaches for the relational side, play based work for children, family systems work when the whole household is affected, and DBT informed skills for emotional regulation. If anxiety is part of the picture, and it often is, our anxiety counselling team can help with that too.
Because emotional dysregulation is so often part of ADHD, we also offer DBT informed counselling, which teaches concrete skills for the fast, big feelings that come with ADHD, and DBT for teens. Katherine Ouano, MEd RCC, has formal DBT training (Levels 1 and 2), extensive experience with neurodivergent children and youth, and evening and weekend availability. Book with Katherine.
Why Choose Sojourn
We are a team based clinic of Registered Clinical Counsellors in Cloverdale, Surrey, serving Surrey, Langley, White Rock, and surrounding communities, with online counselling across BC. You can choose a counsellor whose experience, approach, and schedule fit your needs, including evenings and weekends. We offer both counselling and neurofeedback, so support can be coordinated in one place. And for families and adults watching costs, our supervised interns provide low cost counselling at $60 per session, with the first session free.
Take the Next Step
If ADHD is making life harder than it needs to be, for you or your child, support is available. View our counsellors’ profiles and availability, and choose someone whose experience and schedule fit your needs. If you are unsure who to book with, contact us and we can help you find a good fit.
Related Services
ADHD often overlaps with anxiety, emotional regulation, and family stress, and some clients pair counselling with brain training. You may also find it helpful to learn more about our neurofeedback services, EEG Clinical Q assessment, child and youth counselling, or anxiety counselling. You can also view our counsellors or read about online therapy across British Columbia.
Is Your Child Autistic? Funding May Help Cover Counselling
BC’s Autism Funding Program provides up to $22,000 per year for children under 6 and up to $6,000 per year for ages 6 to 18, and family counselling with a Registered Clinical Counsellor is a named eligible expense. Grants from Variety BC and other programs can also help. Read our parent’s guide to autism funding in BC, including how to apply step by step. We can provide the receipts and documentation your funding plan requires.
Frequently Asked Questions About ADHD Counselling
Can you diagnose ADHD?
No. Counsellors in BC do not diagnose ADHD; that is done by physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and some nurse practitioners. We can support you before, during, and after an assessment, and counselling can begin helping with focus, regulation, and self esteem right away, with or without a diagnosis.
Does counselling help if I am already taking ADHD medication?
Often, yes. Medication can improve focus, but it does not build organizational skills, repair self esteem, or resolve relationship patterns. Many clients find that medication and counselling address different parts of the same picture.
Can counselling help ADHD without medication?
Many clients work on ADHD related challenges without medication, using skills based counselling, and some add neurofeedback as a complement. Whether to use medication is a decision for you and your doctor; we will support whichever path you choose.
What is the difference between ADHD counselling and ADHD coaching?
Coaching typically focuses only on productivity strategies. Counselling with a Registered Clinical Counsellor can include those practical strategies and also address the emotional regulation, anxiety, self worth, and relationship layers of ADHD. Counselling is also covered by many extended health plans (most cover Registered Clinical Counsellors, and many cover RMFTs), while coaching usually is not. Even if we can’t direct bill your insurer, we provide receipts you can submit for reimbursement.
My child has ADHD and school is a daily battle. Where do we start?
Usually with one session to understand what is happening for your child and family. From there, work often includes helping your child build regulation skills and helping you find approaches that reduce conflict at home. You can view our child and youth counsellors’ profiles and availability online.
How does neurofeedback for ADHD work?
Sensors on the scalp read the brain’s electrical activity while the client watches or listens to feedback that responds to that activity in real time. Over repeated sessions, this feedback is used to support the brain’s self regulation. It is non invasive and does not involve electrical input into the brain. See our neurofeedback for ADHD page for details.
Was I just missed? I am an adult and only now wondering about ADHD.
This is very common, especially for women and for adults who did well enough in school to fly under the radar. A late realization often brings both grief and relief. Counselling can help you make sense of your history through this new lens and build strategies that finally fit.
Contact Us
At Sojourn Counselling and Neurofeedback, we offer both in-person sessions in Surrey (Cloverdale) and online counselling across British Columbia. Book online or telephone counselling.
Contact us today to learn more about our ADHD counselling services or to schedule your first session. We offer flexible appointment times and an easy-to-use online booking system to make it convenient for you to get the support you need.
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Or, book your appointment directly through our online booking platform. We’re here to help you take the next step toward a healthier, more fulfilling life.
