

ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka
Tracy Otsuka
Want to fall in love with your ADHD brain and make it work for you? Learn more about my patented program, Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy here : programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup*I have NEVER met an ADHD woman who wasn’t truly brilliant at something! This podcast, with nearly 7 million downloads, is for smart, high-ability ADD/ADHD (diagnosed or suspecting) women who see their symptoms as more positive than negative. If you want to fall in love with your ADHD brain and discover where your brilliance lies, this podcast is for you!**ADHD for Smart Ass Women is globally ranked in the top one-tenth of one percent of all podcasts in the world on any subject. It’s streamed in more than 160 countries and is downloaded by more than 150,000 listeners every month. My book of the same name, published by HarperCollins/William Morrow, was recently honored by Amazon Editors as a Top 20 Best Nonfiction Book of 2024.**I’m Tracy Otsuka, your host. I’m a lawyer, not a doctor, a lifelong learner, and a certified ADHD coach. I’m on a mission to change the conversation around ADHD because I believe it’s time to focus on the strengths that come with our unique brains. When I was diagnosed eight months after my son, my entire life finally made sense, yet all I read and heard about ADHD focused on what I should struggle with. What I discovered, though, was that my ADHD was responsible for some of my greatest strengths.**Another thing we constantly hear is all the success stories about ADHD men, but no one talks about the women. This podcast is here to change that. ADHD women are my people, and I’m here to acknowledge, support, and cheer them on. My experience as an adult living with ADHD, along with my expertise, is regularly sought out by top-tier media, including Bloomberg, Forbes, CBS Mornings, ABC News Live, Inc., Prevention Magazine, Verywell Mind, ADDitude magazine, and The Goal Digger Podcast, etc.**adhdforsmartwomen.com**The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and does not constitute medical or professional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of anything you have seen or heard from Tracy Otsuka, her guests or this podcast.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 30, 2021 • 57min
EP. 130: The Collaborative & Proactive Solutions System for Challenging Kids with ADHD
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___Join Tracy for Episode #130 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women where she discusses challenging kids with ADHD and the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) system developed by Dr. Robert Greene. CPS was created to diffuse power struggles between parents and their challenging children, particularly those with explosive behavior issues. It is utilized in juvenile detention facilities, prisons, schools, and, of course, with families worldwide.Tracy explores why, even if you don’t have kids, you can gain insights about yourself from this podcast. She explains why telling an ADHD child what to do doesn’t benefit them or the parent-child relationship over time, and highlights the most crucial role a parent plays in their child’s life. Tracy also reveals the question she always asks when figuring out her next steps, the statement that underpins Dr. Greene’s CPS philosophy and transforms everything, and why switching from a drill sergeant to a coach and collaborator is much more effective with ADHD kids. Additionally, she addresses the problem with lagging skills, how to assess them, the 3-Step CPS system, and whose opinion must be considered to address challenging behaviors.______________Resources:Why Will No One Play with Me?: The Play Better Plan to Help Children of All Ages Make Friends and Thrive, PCC, M.EdThe Explosive Child by Dr. Robert Greenehttps://drrossgreene.com/Dr. Ross Greene Video: Kids Do Well If They Canlivesinthebalance.orgSend a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book2Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com

Jun 23, 2021 • 37min
EP. 129: ADHD, Asian Americans and the Model Minority Myth
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___Join Tracy as she welcomes her guest Mrinal to Episode 129 of her podcast, ADHD for Smart Ass Women. Mrinal is a writer, business analyst, and mental health advocate based in the Midwest. She just published her first book, Saaya Unveiled: South Asian Mental Health Spotlighted, to increase education and acceptance on mental health in the South Asian diaspora. Her future goals include teaching self-defense and developing a health and wellness app.Mrinal shares the circumstances surrounding her ADHD diagnosis, her struggle with school, what has changed since she was diagnosed, what made her write her book, the model minority stereotype, how the model minority stereotype impacts ADHD, mental health, and affects self-esteem and increases shame, what ADHD strengths make her good at her job, her key to living successfully with ADHD, and her ADHD workaround.______________Resources:Instagram: @mrinalg_Saaya Unveiled: South Asian Mental Health Spotlightedwww.additudemag.comwww.additudemag.com/mental-healthwww.additudemag.com/forced-smileSend a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book2Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com

Jun 16, 2021 • 59min
EP. 128: ADHD and Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria with Keynote Speaker, Jessica Fern
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___Join Tracy as she welcomes Jessica Fern to Ep. 128 of her podcast, ADHD for Smart Ass Women. Jessica is a Senior Director of Training & Development for the 4th largest multifamily management company in the US and doubles as a national speaker, coach, and strategist. Jessica is a keynote speaker, who was most recently featured on a national panel for Women in Leadership. She has a series on Multifamily Leadership Studio that includes Legendary Leadership which earned her the nickname The Wolf of Leadership. Jessica's newest project is her solutions-oriented coaching/consulting and podcast called "Living with Einstein."Jessica shares the circumstances surrounding her two ADHD diagnoses, what has changed since her recent diagnosis, her struggle with and triumph over Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, how hyperfocus almost wrecked her, how she discovered her gift of speaking, her advice on creating a winning speech every time, the key to living successfully with ADHD, and her ADHD workaround.______________Resources:Living with Einstein PodcastLinkedin: Jessica Fern-KirklandSend a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book2Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com

Jun 9, 2021 • 59min
EP. 127: How to Improve ADHD & RSD Symptoms with Yogi, Adell Bridges
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___Join Tracy as she welcomes Adell Bridges to Episode 127 of her podcast, ADHD for Smart Ass Women. Adell is an international yoga teacher, health coach, and author who applies her degree in psychology with her training in the neurology of movement to her yoga and movement teachings. She now splits her time between London and Florida and shares her love for the power of mindful movement with her online community on MoveWithAdell.com and her half a million Instagram followers. She is currently co-authoring a book on hyper-mobility.Adell shares the circumstances surrounding her recent ADHD diagnosis, what has changed since she was diagnosed, her advice around managing RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria), what made her fall in love with yoga, why yoga is perfect for the ADHD brain, The link between hyper-mobility and ADHD, how she uses her Instagram to inspire and generate positive emotion not only for herself but also her followers, ADHD and vertical heterophoria, ADHD and cerebellar stimulation, and the key to living successfully with ADHD.______________Resources:Instagram: @adellbridgesWebsite: MoveWithAdell.comSend a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book2Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com

Jun 2, 2021 • 51min
EP. 126: From Homeless Shelter to Covid Infection Control Scientist with Tiffany Jackson
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___Today, Tracy welcomes Tiffany Jackson to the podcast. Tiffany shares her indefatigable childhood story of being abandoned by her mother, bouncing from one relative's home to another, and spending one perfect year at an elite boarding high school only to end up at a homeless shelter as a minor. Throughout all of this, Tiffany had a dream to make something out of her life. Since then, she’s graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication from the Dan Rather School of Communications at Sam Houston State University, attended a year of law school where she received her ADHD diagnosis, and in 2018, she graduated from Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences with a Master of Biomedical Science.Tiffany plans to attend medical school and work as a physician epidemiologist. She loves photography and car racing.Tiffany shares her thoughts on how grit, drive, and determination allowed her to keep going despite so many setbacks and challenges, how she sees her drivenness as hyperactivity, the circumstances surrounding her ADHD diagnosis, her childhood symptoms of ADHD, what happened once she was finally diagnosed, what she’s learned she needs to be successful and happy, what she thinks the key to living successfully with ADHD is, her workarounds, and how she discovered what she’s always meant to do with her life.______________Resources:Email: tiffany.jackson@me.comInstagram: @Texas_SenatorSend a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book2Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com

May 26, 2021 • 52min
EP. 125: ADHD and How to Respond to the Non-Believers
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___Tracy welcomes you to Episode #125 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, where she invites ADHD non-believers to join her for a little education. She receives requests for this podcast every week, so she decided to do something about it.Tracy shares why the authoritarian model of parenting doesn’t work with an ADHD child, Nora Volkow’s research about ADHD and interest, what the NIH, AMA, U.S. Surgeon General, American Association of Psychiatry, and the U.S. Department of Education all say about ADHD, whether or not there’s ADHD in France, if it’s true that ADHD is strictly an American phenomenon, what it means that more kids are getting diagnosed with ADHD, what happens when ADHD is not treated, if it’s true that everyone has a little ADHD, if ADHD is an invention of modern society, if video games, social media, and smartphones are making people more ADHD, whether or not medicating kids for ADHD turns them into addicts, why willpower, consequences, discipline, and punishment are the wrong formula for the ADHD brain, what happens to children when they’re told that they’re lazy, unmotivated, and need to work harder, what works to motivate ADHD children, and the one question you should ask yourself about your ADHD child.______________Resources:Dr. Nora Volkow's regarding the Dopamine Reward Pathway in ADHDDr. Ross Greene: Kids Do Well If They CanADHD Child vs. Non-ADHD Child InterviewFather to Father: Robert DendyPutting the efficacy of psychiatric and general medicine medication into perspective: review of meta-analysesADHD: Types, Symptoms, and Treatment OptionsSend a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book2Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com

May 19, 2021 • 58min
EP. 124: ADHD, Art, and the Music Industry with Rebecca Brianceau
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___Join Tracy as she welcomes Rebecca Brianceau to Episode 124 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women. Rebecca is an autodidact artist and an international mindfulness art teacher who hails from Toronto, Canada. Rebecca has lived in Dubai, the UAE, London, England, Zurich, Switzerland and São Paulo, Brazil. She spent 15+ years in the music industry where she worked with multi-platinum-selling and indie recording artists in hip-hop, soul, and RnB, as well as with producers, video directors, DJs, and fashion designers.In 2011 she left a successful career in the music world to launch her art career. Her Ocean Soul Series of stunning ocean paintings has been exhibited in galleries and art shows throughout Canada and Mexico. She now lives in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.Rebecca shares the story of what inspired her to create her beautiful resin ocean paintings, her ADHD diagnosis, her ADHD symptoms, what changed once she was diagnosed, how she fell into the music industry and traveled all over the world as a band manager, the ADHD traits that she feels are responsible for her success, the key to living well with ADHD, her number one workaround, information about her Ocean Soul Series and Riviera Maya art exhibit in Playa Del Carmen.______________Resources:Instagram: @rebeccabrianceauMusic:Taj & DirectorDirector XHamdan Al AbriKamal Musallam, creator of Arabic/Jazz FusionKamal Musallam - Ibanez "Oriental Series" signature guitars - Interview on The National 2010Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book2Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com

May 12, 2021 • 53min
EP. 123: ADHD and Tapping for Procrastination
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___This week, Tracy welcomes you to episode #123 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women where she is going to talk about ADHD, procrastination, and tapping. Tapping combines Ancient Chinese acupressure and modern psychology. You tap specific meridian points on your body while focusing on negative emotions and/or physical sensations. Tapping can resolve stress, anxiety, phobias, emotional disorders, chronic pain, and limiting beliefs and there's science behind why it works.Tracy shares the science behind tapping, how the VA uses tapping for veterans with PTSD, why body-based somatic therapies work better for trauma, what tapping can do for gene expression, how tapping can help reduce anxiety for ADHD women, how trauma encodes itself in the body, what EFT/tapping can do to the brain's learning, how tapping calms the nervous system, the difference between tapping out and tapping in, how she uses tapping to start work that she doesn't want to do and the tapping process and how to do it.______________Resources:www.tracyotsuka.com/tapping/bessel van der kolkThe effect of emotional freedom techniques on stress biochemistry: a randomized controlled trialPsychological trauma symptom improvement in veterans using emotional freedom techniques: a randomized controlled trialEFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) and Resiliency in Veterans at Risk for PTSD: A Randomized Controlled TrialEffect of the emotional freedom technique on perceived stress, quality of life, and cortisol salivary levels in tension-type headache sufferers: a randomized controlled trialEmotional Freedom Techniques for Anxiety: A Systematic Review With Meta-aSend a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book2Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com

26 snips
May 5, 2021 • 1h 8min
EP. 122: Women and ADHD Medication with Dr. Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___Join Tracy as she welcomes Dr. Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells to Episode #122 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women where the conversation will be all about ADHD and medication.Dr. Lentzsch-Parcells is a board-certified pediatrician and the owner and President of Girls to Women/Young Men's Health and Wellness Fort Worth, a multi-faceted clinic providing integrated medical care dedicated to meeting the physical and emotional needs of young women and men from 10-25 years old. As a physician with ADHD herself, Dr. Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells has a special interest in caring for patients with ADHD and learning issues.She regularly speaks to parents, students, and professional audiences on subjects such as parenting, ADHD, depression, anxiety and stress, adolescent development, sexuality, preparing for college, and medication.Carolyn shares the circumstances surrounding her own ADHD diagnosis, what changed once she was diagnosed, what it means to be a slow metabolizer, the importance of setting expectations around medication, her opinion around women, anxiety and ADHD medication, the various types of medication used for ADHD, medications used for Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, the medication that reduces the chance of misuse, her thoughts on genetic testing, the medication that most 40+ women are usually prescribed and what she believes the key to living successfully with ADHD is.______________Resources:Website: Girls To Women Health and WellnessADHD Medication ChartSend a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book2Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com

Apr 28, 2021 • 1h 5min
EP. 121: ADHD and Hypersensitivities in Women with Terry Matlen, LMSW, ACSW
Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___Join Tracy as she welcomes Terry Matlen to episode 121 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women. Terry Matlen, LMSW, ACSW, is an internationally recognized expert on ADHD in women. She is a psychotherapist, author, consultant, and coach.She is also the author of the award-winning book, The Queen of Distraction and Survival Tips for Women with AD/HD. "The Queen of Distraction" and "Survival Tips for Women with AD/HD".With over 25 years of experience helping women with ADHD, Terry is a sought-after presenter at conferences, webinars, and interviews. She has written hundreds of articles for various publications, including ADDitude Magazine, Attention Magazine, Healthline.com, and more.She served for many years on the board of directors of ADDA (Attention Deficit Disorder Assoc.) and is an immediate past coordinator of the E. Oakland County CHADD (Children and Adults with ADHD) Chapter in Michigan.Terry has been interviewed by NPR, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Time Magazine, Glamour Magazine, and now ADHD for Smart Ass Women.Terry shares the circumstances surrounding her own ADHD diagnosis, what hypersensitivities are, whether or not ADHD women have more hypersensitivities than neurotypical women, if hypersensitivities are more prevalent in one type of ADHD over another, whether or not women with hypersensitivities tend to have more comorbidities, her own experiences with hypersensitivities, how hypersensitivities make parenting with ADHD even more difficult, and ways to work with hypersensitivities______________Resources:Facebook: ADDconsults.comInstagram: @terrymatlen_adhdTwitter: @ADDconsultsThe Queen of Distraction: How Women with ADHD Can Conquer Chaos,Send a Message: Your Name | Email | Message Instead of Struggling to figure out what to do next? ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem. That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/aok-academy Learn more by connecting with Tracy through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or visit adhdforsmartwomen.com.Are You Ready to Discover Your Brilliance? Order Now: https://tracyotsuka.com/book2Join Your ADHD Brain is A-OK: https://tracyotsuka.com/aok Visit our website: https://tracyotsuka.com