Seek help if:
- Symptoms last more than two weeks
- Daily life feels unmanageable
- You have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby
- You feel anxious, panicked, or scared most of the day
- Immediate help: Call 911 if you feel you or someone else is in danger.
Other ways to cope:
- Talk to your doctor or OB-GYN—they can screen for postpartum depression and anxiety.
- Connect with a psychotherapist for guidance and coping strategies.
- Share your feelings with trusted family or friends.
- Practice self-care: rest, eat well, and accept help.
- Join support groups for new parents.
ADHD Therapy in Newmarket & York Region Understanding Your Brain, Not Fighting It
If you have spent most of your life being told you are not trying hard enough, not paying attention, not living up to your potential, therapy is not about proving those voices wrong. It is about understanding what is actually going on and building a life that works with your brain rather than constantly against it.
As a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) in Newmarket, I offer ADHD therapy for adults, teens, and children virtually across Ontario, using CBT, ACT, Behavioural Activation, somatic nervous system work, mindfulness-based approaches, and psychoeducation. No waitlist. Sessions available day and evening.
No Waitlist
Start this week.
Free 15-min call
No commitment
Day & Evening
Flexible hours
Virtual
All of Ontario
What ADHD Actually Feels Like
ADHD is frequently misunderstood, even by the people living with it. The stereotype of the hyperactive child who cannot sit still captures only one presentation of a condition that shows up in many different ways, in many different people.
For many adults and teens I work with, ADHD looks less like obvious hyperactivity and more like this:
If any of that sounds familiar, you’re in the right place.
“I start ten things and finish none of them.”
“I know exactly what I need to do, I just caot make myself start.”
“I lose hours to things that interest me and cannot give five minutes to things that matter.”
“I forget things constantly, even things I care about.”
“I feel everything more intensely than other people seem to.”
“I have been called lazy, careless, and difficult my entire life.”
ADHD affects executive function, emotional regulation, attention, impulse control, and the ability to manage time and tasks consistently. It is a neurological difference not a character flaw, not a lack of effort, and not something that better willpower would fix.
Common signs of ADHD in adults and teens include:
- Difficulty sustaining attention on tasks that are not inherently interesting
- Hyperfocus on things that are interesting sometimes to the exclusion of everything else
- Chronic procrastination and difficulty initiating tasks despite knowing they are important
- Disorganisation, losing things, and forgetting appointments or commitments
- Emotional dysregulation, big feelings, low frustration tolerance, rejection sensitivity
- Impulsivity in decisions, spending, speaking, or relationships
- Restlessness, difficulty sitting still, or an internal sense of always needing to be moving
- A long history of underachieving relative to perceived potential
- Exhaustion from the constant effort of managing everyday demands that seem effortless for others
ADHD Presentations I Work With
ADHD in Adults
Adult ADHD is significantly underdiagnosed, particularly in people who developed strong compensatory strategies in childhood that masked their difficulties until the demands of adult life, careers, relationships, parenting, and finances outpaced their ability to cope. Many adults reach out for ADHD therapy after a lifetime of struggling without understanding why, often following a diagnosis in themselves or a child. Therapy helps make sense of that history and build strategies that actually account for how your brain works.
ADHD in Teens
Adolescence is one of the most demanding periods for someone with ADHD. Increasing academic expectations, social complexity, identity development, and the executive function demands of high school all converge at exactly the age when ADHD is most likely to create significant difficulties. I work with teens in a way that is collaborative and non-pathologising, focused on their strengths, their goals, and practical tools they can actually use in their daily life.
ADHD in Children
For younger children, therapy focuses on emotional regulation, impulse control, and building the self-awareness tools that support healthier behaviour patterns at home and at school. I work collaboratively with parents throughout the process, helping families understand their child’s neurological profile and build the kind of environment and communication that supports their child’s development.
ADHD and Anxiety
Anxiety is one of the most common co-occurring conditions with ADHD, and the two conditions interact in a particularly difficult way. ADHD creates disorganisation and inconsistency that generates real-world consequences, missed deadlines, forgotten commitments, impulsive decisions, and anxiety responds to those consequences with worry, self-criticism, and hypervigilance. The result is a cycle where ADHD produces the conditions for anxiety and anxiety makes ADHD harder to manage. Both need to be addressed together. If anxiety is a significant part of your experience, anxiety therapy in Newmarket covers how I approach that combination in more detail.
ADHD and Depression
The chronic experience of underachieving, being misunderstood, and feeling different from everyone around you takes a cumulative toll. Many adults with ADHD arrive at therapy carrying significant depression alongside their ADHD, not as a separate condition, but as a direct consequence of years of struggling without support or understanding. Therapy addresses both the neurological patterns of ADHD and the emotional wounds that have accumulated around them.
ADHD and Burnout
ADHD burnout is a state of complete physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that develops when someone with ADHD has been masking, compensating, and overextending for too long without adequate rest or support. It is distinct from ordinary burnout and often more severe. Recovery requires understanding the specific demands that ADHD places on the nervous system and building a sustainable approach to daily life that accounts for those demands.
Newly Diagnosed ADHD
Receiving an ADHD diagnosis as an adult, or for your child, brings up a complex mix of emotions. Relief that there is finally an explanation. Grief for the years of struggling without understanding. Uncertainty about what comes next. Therapy in the period following a new diagnosis is particularly valuable for processing that emotional landscape and building a clear, practical path forward.
How I Work With ADHD, Approaches Used in Sessions
ADHD therapy in my practice is practical, collaborative, and built around your specific neurological profile. I do not use a one-size-fits-all approach because ADHD presents differently in every person. What works brilliantly for one client may be completely ineffective for another.
Psychoeducation
Understanding how ADHD actually works is often the most transformative part of therapy for clients who have spent years blaming themselves for their difficulties. Psychoeducation covers the neurological basis of ADHD, how it affects executive function and emotional regulation, why certain strategies that work for neurotypical people consistently fail for people with ADHD, and what approaches the research shows to be genuinely effective. Knowledge is not a replacement for practical skills, but it changes the relationship a person has with their own brain from adversary to something more workable.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
CBT for ADHD focuses on the thought patterns and behavioural habits that develop around the condition, particularly the self-critical beliefs that accumulate from years of perceived failure, and the avoidance behaviours that develop as protective responses to those beliefs. CBT also provides practical tools for organisation, time management, task initiation, and breaking the procrastination cycle.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT is particularly well-suited to ADHD because it addresses the psychological rigidity and experiential avoidance that make ADHD management so difficult. Rather than fighting against the ADHD brain, ACT helps build the psychological flexibility to observe difficult internal experiences, the overwhelm, the frustration, the shame, without being controlled by them, and to take values-driven action even when the ADHD is making everything harder.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
Mindfulness approaches are adapted carefully for ADHD clients. Traditional mindfulness instruction does not always translate directly to a brain that struggles with sustained attention. The mindfulness work I use with ADHD clients focuses on short, accessible practices that build present-moment awareness and interrupt impulsive responses, rather than extended meditation that may be counterproductive.
Somatic Awareness and Nervous System Regulation
ADHD is a condition of nervous system dysregulation, the brain’s regulatory systems work differently, which creates the characteristic patterns of overactivation and underactivation that drive ADHD behaviour. Somatic approaches help clients develop greater awareness of their nervous system states and build the capacity to regulate more effectively, which has direct practical benefits for focus, emotional regulation, and impulse control.
Most clients begin to notice a real shift within 8 to 12 sessions. I check in on your progress regularly, and I adjust the approach as your needs change.
What to Expect When We Work Together
Your first session is 50 minutes focused on understanding your specific ADHD profile, how it shows up for you, what it is affecting most, what you have already tried, and what you most want to change. There is no assumption that your ADHD looks like anyone else’s, and there is no judgment about the strategies that have and have not worked in the past.
From session two onward, sessions blend psychoeducation, practical strategy development, and the emotional processing work that ADHD so frequently requires. Progress with ADHD therapy is rarely linear some weeks the strategies work and some weeks they do not and I approach that reality with curiosity rather than frustration.
ADHD Therapy with Maria | Self-Help / Books Only | Medication Alone | |
Addresses emotional impact of ADHD | ✓ | Partial | ✗ |
Builds practical daily strategies | ✓ | Partial | Partial |
Treats co-occurring anxiety or depression | ✓ | ✗ | Partial |
Psychoeducation for client and family | ✓ | Partial | ✗ |
No waitlist | ✓ | N/A | Varies |
Virtual across Ontario | ✓ | N/A | N/A |
Extended benefits coverage | ✓ | ✗ | Varies |
Does ADHD Therapy Actually Work?
Yes and the evidence base for psychological treatment of ADHD is well established. CBT for ADHD has strong research support from the Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance (CADDRA) and a growing body of clinical evidence for ACT-based approaches. Therapy is particularly effective for the emotional and relational dimensions of ADHD that medication alone does not address.
What I consistently see in practice is that the most significant shift for ADHD clients is not the acquisition of strategies, it is the shift in self-understanding. Moving from “I am broken and lazy” to “my brain works differently and here is how to work with it” changes everything, including the ability to use the practical tools that therapy provides.
If you have spent years believing this is just how you are wired, I would like to show you otherwise.
You've been managing this long enough.
Let's actually change it.
No waitlist. Most clients start within the same week as their consultation call.
- Sessions from $120
- Extended benefits accepted
- In-person & virtual
- Day & evening hours
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know before booking your first session.
How much does ADHD therapy cost in Newmarket?
My sessions are $120 per 50-minute appointment. Many extended health benefit plans in Ontario cover sessions with a Registered Psychotherapist. I provide a receipt after every session that you can submit directly to your insurer. Check your plan under “Registered Psychotherapist (RP)” or “Psychotherapy.”
Do I need a formal ADHD diagnosis to start therapy?
No. Many people begin ADHD therapy while awaiting a formal assessment, or without ever pursuing a formal diagnosis. Therapy addresses the functional and emotional challenges of ADHD regardless of whether a formal diagnosis exists. If a formal assessment is something you are considering, I can discuss what that process involves and where to access it in Ontario.
How many sessions will I need for ADHD therapy?
ADHD therapy is often ongoing rather than time-limited, because ADHD is a lifelong neurological difference rather than a condition that resolves. Many clients work with me for 16 to 24 sessions to build their foundational skills and understanding, and then return periodically as life demands change. Others prefer ongoing regular sessions for continued support and accountability.
Do you offer virtual ADHD therapy in Ontario?
Yes. Virtual sessions are available to clients anywhere in Ontario. Many clients with ADHD find virtual therapy particularly accessible no commute, no transition time, and the ability to attend from a familiar and comfortable environment.
Is there a waitlist?
No. I currently have no waitlist. You can book a free 15-minute consultation and typically begin your first full session within the same week.
Can you work with my child's school or other providers?
This is something we discuss on an individual basis. With appropriate consent, I am happy to collaborate with other professionals involved in a client’s care, including teachers, educational consultants, and medical providers, where that collaboration would be beneficial.