ADHD Support Online With Johanna Badenhorst
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Megan Walker: Hi, I'm Megan Walker and welcome to Market Savvy Conversations. Today our very special guest is Joanna Badenhorst, who is a director of Holistic Wellness Psychology. Hi, Joanna. How are you?
Johanna Badenhorst: Hi. Thank you
Megan Walker: so
Johanna Badenhorst: much
Megan Walker: for having me here. So great to have you along. You have been working very hard. On your online courses and also a podcast, which we're gonna be talking today a bit more about so that people could find out more about what you're doing.
But I thought if you wanted to start us off, can you tell us a bit about you and your background, the kind of work that you've been doing, and then yeah, we'll feed [00:01:00] into what you're working on at the moment. So kick us off.
Johanna Badenhorst: Absolutely. So I am a education developmental psychologist from Brisbane. I have been working as a psychologist for approximately seven years, I believe, and I started my own business, holistic wellness Psychology last year.
Last year. So been doing that for, yeah. Just over six months now. And I guess, and through a DHD style, I never felt that that was it. And so I decided to explore and find more things to do. I, in that time, took also from a more perinatal mental health focus also. Took I guess it upon myself to dive a bit more into this, the neurodivergent space as well as I became, I was diagnosed around that same time as I started the practice.
Megan Walker: Amazing. And so were you attracting more clients in the neurodivergent space? Absolutely. [00:02:00] I started off yeah, seeing typically the perinatal, perinatal mental health. So that was a lot of mothers and. Fathers too, Mo primarily women and mothers or those who were in the fertility journey. And then it started shifting a little bit more towards seeing a lot of A DHD referrals come through as well of actual moms who were querying A DHD.
Johanna Badenhorst: And so I started actually. Mentioning it more on social media, and I don't believe I have it really boldly stated anywhere else necessarily, but it so happens that the word's gotten around a bit more and that people kind of know me somewhat for that as well, which is nice. Fantastic. What
Megan Walker: do you enjoy about that work, working with people who are curious about A DHD and experiencing it themselves?
Johanna Badenhorst: Yeah, so I guess. Because I was late diagnosed, I found it [00:03:00] something that Yes is now talked about quite a lot more. Like you probably hear it and people are wondering, is it a bit trendy? And whilst there is, you know, solidity to concerns about like arises in apparent conversations and that, you know, it can come with some problematic, I guess c.
You know, sharings on social media as well. That may not necessarily be too accurate, but I do think there's validity in conversations happening. And then also challenging that thought around is it being overdiagnosed? Because for so long it has gone underdiagnosed that we know, and it's simply. You know, the stats probably correcting itself and just having that ability for women to feel more seen and heard, who have been struggling for so long and not really understood why [00:04:00] been misdiagnosed along the way.
And that's for autism and A DHD, so, and other neuro types as well, but primarily those as, as. Been kind of ones that have been historically quite well masked and not well understood. So yeah, that's why I'm passionate about it. Yeah. 'cause I really wanna share more information and, you know, working with these women, it just really inspires me.
And yeah, it's just like really nice to connect with that population.
Megan Walker: What's something that you you've got a platform here, you've got an opportunity to correct a myth. what's something that you think is a misconception around women who've got a DHD? What do you think you, you wanna correct?
Johanna Badenhorst: Sure. Yeah. I talk about this on the podcast as well, and I would say that it's around the fact that. When they're okay on the outside that everything you know is fine [00:05:00] and that they're not struggling, but it's actually the internal struggle and that they may not be apparent, hyperactive, but it's actually more the internalized symptoms that aren't well captured in a diagnostic manual.
So. It looks more like a restless mind and as opposed to like that typical hyperactivity of jumping into conversations or just being that kind of more louder person perhaps like that I have been diagnosed with combined. So that would be hyperactive and in and impulsive and also alternative types.
But for many, it's actually the inattentive type is more common for women to be diagnosed and that's harder to just observe.
Megan Walker: Yeah. It
Johanna Badenhorst: looks like, you know, innocent daydreaming or you know, the kind of, yeah, just I. Suddenly not replying to messages or having a thousand tabs on your computer and never, I mean, some of those things are typically [00:06:00] actually, you know, quite neurotypical behaviors too.
It has to be something that is off, you know, in that big list of. Different traits and then be really impacting someone's functioning. So if people are curious, you're welcome to give the podcast, listen to kind of listening more. But yeah, it is, it's often around misunderstanding. What does it look like?
It obviously is very different in different women but it usually involves a lot of heavy masking. Hence why it's, it's very hard to actually diagnose unless you really dig quite deep.
Megan Walker: Wow. And that masking is so exhausting, isn't it? [00:07:00] so amazing. All of your background.
And tell us more now about what you are creating. So you've mentioned your podcast. I want you to tell us about that. And you've also got a program that you are developing. Tell us more.
Johanna Badenhorst: Yeah, so it's in very early stages. I have mostly created like free guides and that just as an intro to what I hope to be some more online content soon.
And. That is something that is available to people to find on my social media. And the hope is that eventually I do create more of an A DHD community. [00:08:00] Perhaps, you know, several courses prior to that I. And so it is, like I said, it's very, it's very much in its infancy, been in the hope that I can really cater towards a DHD women feeling better supported having proper intervention around their, you know, post-diagnosis and that looking very much like that tier of.
Mental health support that is not the individualized, but it's more sitting at kind of like preventative care. As opposed to like, you know, them perhaps needing one-to-one therapy. They may feel like this is sufficient. It's kind of like, you know, more of. Tapping into the, the skills that they kind of need to feel more like they're flourishing than they would typically not be the people that entirely are floundering necessarily.
Although with A DHD, it's such an e ebb and flow. But you know [00:09:00] that that's therapy still available. course for those who, who require more of that individualized support. But maybe for those who've either. You know, experienced that already in the past and they are ready for something different.
Or they have, you know, had their assessment and diagnosis and feel that like, what's next? Yeah, yeah. Something like that is what I hope to kind of have, you know, up and running in. Yeah. Very near future.
Megan Walker: Oh, it sounds amazing for people who will be able to find their tribe. And learn together. Yeah, absolutely.
And you've taken the brave step of creating a podcast, which is congratulations. Yeah. What tell us about the podcast and who it's for. Mm-Hmm. And any lessons you've learned in. Going down this path as well.
Johanna Badenhorst: Sure. So I guess I did it maybe a bit backwards. Some people create stuff before they actually started advertising it on a podcast, and I thought at least, you know, I wasn't maybe quite ready to make that jump and that leap.
But I, I'm, [00:10:00] I am probably more of the creative type. I love having a good chat, so I was like, why not? Go for the, you know, podcast avenue. And it was also a bit by your encouragement from memory that not going down this route because I was tossing, you know, tossing up, like, do, yeah. I'm not a, I'm not much of a blog writer, but this is gonna be the way that I actually, you know, utilize the avenue that I feel a little bit more comfortable in.
Probably less so than writing.
Megan Walker: Yes.
Johanna Badenhorst: And so the podcast is really a combination of a bit of fun, very much like focusing on the informative element of, you know, A DHD education, psychoeducation. I. And it aims to deliver kind of more expert insights from other practitioners and those who are, you know, having lived experience as well.
Yeah. So that we can support, you know, the overwhelm moms, the busy entrepreneurs and the stressed out students because they all deserve to [00:11:00] thrive in all those environments. And. Yeah, being kind of the late diagnosed myself, I have found, you know, interviewing several different late diagnosed A DHD is too, and that's been really enjoyable to connect with them.
So every second episode I do a solo and then I interview guests and it's been a lot of fun, but also very time consuming. So you definitely have to be prepared to either outsource some of the actual. Editing and things like that. Or even like the pro promotion side of things because it can be what I've learned really quite time consuming.
Megan Walker: Okay. Yeah. And so where can people go to have a listen? Sounds amazing. I'm gonna be checking it out. Point is in the
Johanna Badenhorst: right direction. Yeah, sure. So it's the A DHD her. It's backwards on my wall, but that is it. And I have. Various different episodes uploaded already, and I just had a little quiz. It was pretty funny.
I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna have a look at the top Apple [00:12:00] podcast. And it's like creeping in the top a hundred, sitting at 101 onto on the mental health. So that was a bit exciting. I, that's thought I'd just have a little, a little look and I know that there's so many other great ones out there as well, so it's nice though to, I guess.
Have had such positive feedback already around it and, and yeah, like a lot of work goes into it. I think I started with the concept last year and then decided to sit on it for a bit. I was meant to maybe start recording like at the end of last year, but then I kind of didn't get a chance. I think maybe I started right at the beginning of.
At end of Jan, early February, around that time, and I released my first episode, kind of that early Feb mark. So yeah, just around kind of a month ago I think I managed to launch it.
Megan Walker: Mm-Hmm. So cool. And so it's on your website. Do we go to holistic wellness? Psychology.
Johanna Badenhorst: I believe it's, I may, I've actually put it would, it would make sense to [00:13:00] put it up there, right?
I I, it's on my social media. So if you actually go to like the Instagram page and the also both like I've got a DH ADHD her way on Instagram and I also have it under holistic wellness Psychology. They're the links. Sorry, my bio. Perfect. But yes, I have also got YouTube video, so that is. Something that you can go to, but I've yet to link a lot of those to my website, so this is a good coming reminder.
Thank you, Megan. It's coming and I'll make it happen probably today, now that you've reminded me because I was just, you know, uploading stuff on YouTube as I was kind of going through my day today. And also, yeah, in between clients, so I definitely need to do that step as well. So it was a nice reminder because I also wanna transcribe my podcast episodes and actually have them also on.
My website because yes, that's another form that some people prefer reading as opposed to watching or listening. So I guess I just have to make sure all those modalities are taken [00:14:00] care of and, and also it helps with what I hear, SEO. So, no, it's kind of, you know,
Megan Walker: absolutely. Well, I'll post all of those links below where everyone's watching the video.
Cool. And then, so to wrap us up, Joanna, tell. You know, I really love what you're doing. I think it's amazing that people can find their space and their tribe, especially new diagnosis. You know, you people, I imagine who've got so many questions, they're wanting to find out more about themselves and their community.
Tell me what's your, what's your vision for your clients? So helping and doing this lovely work that you're doing with A DHD women, what's your vision for those clients?
Johanna Badenhorst: So I guess ultimately my vision is that they better understand themselves and come to a space of self-acceptance and clarity, and hopefully feel that they one day will to thrive.
So ultimately that's kind of where I hope to kind of move clients [00:15:00] into that. There's, yeah, a lot more self-compassion, a lot more clarity about their own direction, their own lives, and, and, and. Eventually, yeah. They really feel they're thriving in their life. That's, that's what I'd like for.
Megan Walker: That's amazing.
Thank you for the work that you do. It's very important and it's very meaningful. It's, it's not easy to step outside of the tradition of clinical delivery to doing something that's a bit more creative, but you'll, you'll just do so well in this area. So thanks so much for chatting with me. That's okay.
Thanks for having me, Megan. [00:16:00]
