ADHD for Smart Ass Women with Tracy Otsuka

Dr. Kirsten Milliken, a licensed psychologist and ADHD coach, shares her late-in-life diagnosis and the transformative power of play in managing ADHD. She emphasizes how play enhances self-awareness and motivation, making daily tasks more enjoyable. The discussion includes the importance of balancing hyper-focus with breaks and the creation of the 'World Without ADHD' project to celebrate the strengths of those with ADHD. Kirsten also encourages artistic expression across ages, reinforcing community engagement and creativity in overcoming challenges.

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___Join Tracy in Episode #70 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women where she introduces you to Kelsie Elizabeth. Kelsie grew up in NH and attended a small liberal arts school in Massachusetts, earning a BS in clinical and research psychology and a second BS in music with a concentration in piano. Kelsie was also three credits short of a third degree in social welfare because she couldn’t make up her mind. Sounds pretty ADHD, doesn’t it? Kelsie was diagnosed with ADHD last year at the age of 25. At her young age, she has so much insight, wisdom, and a remarkable sense of who she is. Tracy just knew that you would love Kelsie’s story.Kelsie shares: the circumstances around her diagnosis, what her symptoms were, her struggle with disabling social anxiety, her love of psychology, her early career struggles, what she finally did to right herself, how the correct diagnosis helped her regain her confidence, what her favorite ADHD traits are, how her ADHD makes her even better at her job, her keys to living successfully with ADHD, and her ADHD workarounds.______________Resources:Email: pianoforteanima@gmail.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

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___In Episode #69 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy introduces you to Sally Mouzon. Sally is a member of the acclaimed San Francisco Opera Chorus. She has appeared in numerous roles with the company, including Second Priestess in Iphigénie en Tauride, Second Bridesmaid in Le nozze di Figaro, Second Girl in Show Boat, and Second Orphan in Der Rosenkavalier. She has also created roles in three world premieres: La Popolana in Two Women, Joan in Heart of a Soldier, and Sister Lillianne in Dead Man Walking. In real life, Sally is an avid reader, union activist, baseball fan (Go Giants!), and single mother of a collegiate Shakespeare nerd. She is a dedicated alumna of the University of Virginia and now lives in the Bay Area.In this delightful interview, Sally shares how an article about time blindness resulted in her adult ADHD diagnosis, her ADHD symptoms which were present since childhood, her music-filled childhood, why structure was so important to her academic success, how she pivoted back into music and ultimately parlayed her love of music into an audition with the San Francisco Opera, how her degrees in African American Studies and Russian Literature help her to be a better opera singer, the ADHD traits that she feels are responsible for her professional success, the key to living successfully with ADHD, and her ADHD workarounds.______________Resources:Instagram: @sallymezzoTwitter: @sallymezzoCirca Levenger SmartPlanner Master Agenda - Weekly JrCirca Starter KitSend 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

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___In Episode 68 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy talks about how to train your ADHD brain to deal with fear. This is an extension of last week’s episode and Tracy’s stab at simplifying concepts so they can be applied today if her listeners are struggling with their emotions.Learn about: Abraham Hicks The first place you should go if you’re feeling fear? how your inner guidance system (your intuition) can help you, how fear can act as your rudder and is just information, what it means to always reach for a better feeling, why controlling your environment doesn’t make you happier, how to use your thoughts to always feel better regardless of the circumstances, the importance of the journey, the only freedom you will ever experience, how to train your brain to always tune into positive emotions.______________Resources:EP. 65: Managing our Children and our ADHD in the Time of COVID-19 with Jaime FisherThe Biggest Missing PieceAbraham: APPRECIATION VS. GRATITUDE - Esther & Jerry HicksSend a Message: Your Name | Email | MessageInstead 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

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___Join Tracy in Episode #67 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women as she welcomes her guest, Vera Bruursema. Like many of us with ADHD, Vera has crafted a diverse career path from volunteer firefighter/EMT, soccer coach, Trader Joe’s Assistant Manager, and bookkeeper. While earning her MBA, she worked as a staff accountant for many different companies but still struggled to find her place. It all finally came together when Vera decided to seek help for her ADHD and open her own practice as owner and founder of Verified Accounting. Tracy wanted to talk to Vera because many believe that the ADHD brain is incapable of a career in accounting or finance. In fact, Vera is going to tell us how she took her nonlinear brain and created a really interesting niche for herself in accounting.Vera shares with us the circumstances around her ADHD diagnosis in sixth grade, her very difficult teen years, the ADHD program in Wyoming that changed her life, how she finally learned executive function skills, how she ended up in bookkeeping and ultimately accounting, the “social handbook” that she finally read that explained so much of her struggles with other people and helped her to build her confidence back up, the thing she started to embrace that turned her life around rapidly, why accounting plays into one of her biggest strengths—hint: it’s problem-solving—and how her dog Atlas gives her the structure she needs to succeed.______________Resources:Braving the WildernessThe Four Tendencies QuizAcademy at SOARSend 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

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___Join Tracy in Episode #66 where she talks about the coronavirus, why the ADHD brain struggles so much with uncertainty, and how the only thing that we have control over is our thoughts.Discover: What Mister Rogers taught journalist Tom Junod, why anything that is mentionable is manageable, how panic comes from uncertainty and trying to control what we can’t control whether we’re talking about a pandemic or anything else, what you really fear when you’re feeling uncertainty, why worrying has nothing to do with being prepared, why the journey is so important, the importance of our thoughts, what dictates our feelings/emotions, what fear really is, how the ADHD brain is motivated, the formula that involves our thoughts, feelings/emotions, actions and results, how to control your thoughts, what mindfulness is, how mindfulness helps ADHD, who connected mindfulness with brain science, ADDitudeMag’s mindfulness acronym STOP, Tracy’s list of 100 experiences, and observations that generate positive emotion and wouldn’t have come about but for the coronavirus.______________Resources:ADDitude’s FREE Mindfulness and Other Natural Treatments eBookPodcast #53: Neuroplasticity, Mindfulness, Meditation and ADHDPodcast #50: Meditation That Even You Can Do with ADHD Life Coach Diann WingertSend 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

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___In Episode #65 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy introduces you to Jaime Fisher. Jaime lives in Connecticut where she is raising four kids and an infant while transitioning back into the workforce. With over 100,000 hours of parenting experience, Jaime is a strong advocate for both moms and babies. She runs a Facebook site called Hey New Mama, and is working on a book on the optimal care and feeding of new moms.Jaime shares: the circumstances around her ADHD diagnosis why ADHD mothers make great parents, how her and her husband manage their household of five children under normal circumstances, how her family is actually doing in the midst of COVID19 good news on the resilience of children, what she works on paying attention to during this time her advice around learning and children, why rituals are important during times of stress her personal ADHD workaround.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

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___In Episode #64 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy introduces Francesca Joy Rizzo. Francesca is an award-winning actor, writer, producer, and director in theater, film, television, and digital media. Her powerful and provocative ideas are fueled by a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate the female experience with passion, humor, and imagination. Fran believes that the way the world sees women affects how the world treats women, so she uses female creativity to balance the scales. A college dropout, Fran mined her creative talents to pay rent in New York City, carving out a career as a children’s book illustrator, professional actor, co-founder of a downtown theater company, and eventually a filmmaker and CEO of MovieBaby Productions, a Tribeca-based media company. After 9/11, Fran returned to her roots, earning her degree in Media Arts and receiving the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence. Fran's accomplishments in the fine arts and interior design include penning and performing three theatrical productions, curating *The Cinema-Femina* film series, and creating *Believe Women*, a rape activist initiative supporting the Cosby survivors. She is also one of the founding members of *ADHD for Smart Ass Women* and now serves as an administrator of the group. Tracy often introduces Fran as the most creative person she knows, and some women join the Facebook group just to meet her. Fran shares with us: The circumstances surrounding her ADHD diagnosis, her ADHD symptoms, how her symptoms got worse in midlife?, how important interest is to her driven brain, the ADHD traits that she feels are responsible for her success?, what she feels is the key to living successfully with ADHD, and some ADHD workarounds. ______________Resources:Website: www.francescarizzo.comFacebook: Francesca Joy RizzoInstagram: @francescarizzonycGreat Dames MediaSend 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

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___In Episode #63 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy talks about how complaining, venting, feeling sorry for yourself, and playing the victim are the gateway drug to an unhappy life that puts you at the mercy of your ADHD, by completely focusing on your weaknesses and not your strengths. Learn about: BMW - and it’s not the car The science behind why rumination is bad for our brains Why what we say to ourselves matters What my definition of high-functioning with ADHD looks like What kinds of people I choose to have in my life.Discover: A different way to see your ADHD and it’s not disordered, what demotivates the ADHD brain, what you need to focus on to drive your motivation, how to become the hero in your own life, the importance of mindset, the importance of gratitude, the easiest thing you can do to start slowly shifting your mindset, what makes the ADHD brain happier, Tracy then shares an amazing lesson that a young woman in her FB group taught her about her own beliefs around the brain, honesty, her own power, and abilities.______________Resources:EP. 23: ADHD and RuminationEP. 12: Learned Helplessness and ADHDEP. 32: What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and How Can it Help ADHD?EP. 50: Meditation That Even You Can Do (Especially if You’re Inattentive or Have RSD) with ADHD Life Coach, Diann WingertEP. 26: Tracy’s Strength-Focused ADHD Book ListSend 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

Tired of ADHD strategies that don’t work? Here’s what actually does. FREE training here: https://programs.tracyotsuka.com/signup___In Episode #62 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy talks about ADHD and cannabis. She specifically focuses on the adolescent ADHD brain. Discover: The history of cannabis in the United States Why the name was changed from cannabis to marijuana How immigrants popularized the recreational use of marijuana What state first passed the Cannabis Prohibition law. How the propaganda film Reefer Madness effectively criminalized marijuana What happened to cannabis in the 60s and 70s What the reports commissioned by Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson said about marijuana Tracy then shares why she initially thought that cannabis was safer than substances like alcohol and her experience at a cannabis dispensary close to her home.Learn: The truth about whether or not there really are medicinal and or therapeutic benefits of cannabis to the ADHD brain, the two active compounds that make up cannabis, if research supports the use of CBD oil as a treatment for ADHD At what age the frontal lobe is fully matured in the ADHD brain, what THC actually does in the brain, what the FDA has approved medical marijuana for, what rates of cannabis use look like for adolescents and young adults, the negative effects of cannabis and how this mimics the symptoms of ADHD, how dendrites help a healthy brain process and learn better, how THC can alter the architecture of your brain, why fully formed brains are at much less risk for damage by THC, if THC is a gateway drug Cannabis’ effect on the heart, cannabis’ effect on mental health, if cannabis is addictive and if so, who is more likely to be addicted, what it means to be chasing dopamine and why those with ADHD are at a greater risk for this, what Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) is, what the link between CUD and psychosis is, why cannabis is so appealing to the ADHD brain, and how to treat CUD.______________Resources:1-800-662- HELP to locate a treatment centerFindTreatment.govReefer Madness! The Twisted History of America's Marijuana Lawswww.ncbi.nlm.nih.govSend 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