Using the Brain Science of ADHD as a Guide for Neuro-affirming Practice

By

Dr Kerry Chillemi

Many people with ADHD reach adulthood having developed ways to compensate for difficulties with attention, organisation, emotional regulation, or executive functioning, often without fully understanding why everyday life can feel more exhausting or overwhelming than it appears for others. ADHD is also frequently misunderstood, reduced to stereotypes about distraction or hyperactivity, while the broader effects on work, relationships, motivation, self-esteem, and daily functioning are overlooked.

This book explores ADHD in a practical, accessible, and thoughtful way, drawing together current understandings of neurodiversity, executive functioning, emotional wellbeing, and lived experience. It is designed for adults with ADHD, parents, educators, counsellors, and health professionals seeking a deeper understanding of how ADHD can affect thinking, behaviour, relationships, and identity across different stages of life.

Rather than offering simplistic “quick fixes”, the book encourages a more realistic and compassionate understanding of ADHD and the challenges many people experience in navigating modern expectations around productivity, organisation, focus, and emotional regulation. It also provides practical insights and strategies that readers may apply in everyday settings.

In this insightful and engaging book, clinical psychologist Dr Kerry Chillemi draws on both professional expertise and lived experience as a neurodivergent practitioner to explore ADHD through a neuro-affirming lens. Integrating current understandings of brain science, embodied self-awareness, and therapeutic practice, she offers an approach designed to better support the cognitive and emotional realities of neurodivergent individuals.

Throughout the book, Kerry uses vivid real-world client examples and reflections from ADHDers themselves to illustrate the diverse ways ADHD can shape attention, emotional regulation, identity, energy, motivation, and everyday functioning. These voices bring depth and authenticity to the discussion while highlighting the importance of approaches that work with, rather than against, the neurodivergent mind.

Many adults with ADHD report years of frustration within systems of care developed primarily around neurotypical assumptions about focus, behaviour, emotional processing, and self-regulation. ADHD is not simply a deficit of attention, but a different way of processing and responding to the world. Difficulties with distractibility, impulse regulation, sustained attention, fatigue, overwhelm, and burnout often coexist with creativity, insight, intensity, curiosity, and periods of deep focus and productivity.

Kerry’s therapeutic approach encourages the development of a healthier self-concept, greater self-understanding, and a more compassionate relationship with neurodivergent identity. Topics explored throughout the book include self-identity, self-compassion, neuroception, fatigue, thought processing, and burnout.

At the heart of this book is the view that neuro-affirming practice is not about “fixing” neurodivergent people, but about understanding and supporting different ways of thinking, feeling, and engaging with the world. By reducing shame and self-rejection, individuals can begin to move beyond masking and disconnection, and better recognise the value, strengths, and potential within their own minds.

Further information about the author's approach, workshops, and ADHD-related resources can be found at Functional Legacy Mindset.

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‘ One of the greatest difficulties expressed by ADHDers is the expectation of having to repeat their best day.’

‘I feel like my body is easily switched into action when I help others. I feel a great sense of pride when I have made a difference. Conversely, I sometimes feel a sense of apathy when it comes to doing something for myself. This pattern of being drawn to helping others can consume me to the point of exhaustion and eventuate in a lack of energy to pursue the things I want for myself.’

“As a psychiatrist specialising in ADHD, I highly recommend this book. Dr. Chillemi’s approach to ADHD is both insightful and accessible, bridging neurobiology with psychotherapeutic strategies in a way that is highly practical for both professionals and clients. Her ability to simplify complex neurobiological concepts, such as neuroception and automatic hierachy is impressive. For clinicians seeking a deeper understanding of ADHD and how neuroscience can inform a more compassionate, effective treatment approach, I believe this book is must-read. It will undoubtedly enhance the way professionals work with neurodivergent clients, helping them to better navigate the challenges of ADHD while empowering individuals to thrive.” — Dr Pradeepa Dasanayake, Consultant Psychiatrist, Melbourne.

About the Author

Kerry Chillemi is a clinical psychologist with a Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology who has experience in the welfare, health, and private practice sectors. Kerry’s areas of expertise include anxiety, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder and more. Kerry navigates the world as a neurodivergent person herself, which informs her neuro-affirming and neuro-biological approach to therapy with ADHDers. She developed The Functional Legacy Mindset approach to educate people on how different minds function (to embrace their strengths) and the legacy of such minds in terms of the benefits to society. The theory of this approach is grounded by the therapeutic benefits of embracing the authentic self, to promote a sense of purpose, in which clients feel empowered to embrace their unique strengths and abilities to contribute to society in ways that feel authentic and meaningful to them. Kerry’s personal journey as a mother of a neurodivergent child includes advocating for a paradigm shift towards research informed inclusive practices, respectfully encouraging empowerment and innovation for the good of all.

ISBN 9781923114067

Softcover, 114 pages

Released May, 2025