ADHD Therapy Manchester
ADHD can affect far more than attention. It can influence motivation, emotional regulation, organisation, time, decision-making, avoidance, self-esteem, and follow-through. You may know what you need to do, genuinely intend to do it, and still find yourself stuck, overwhelmed, distracted, or pulled into short-term relief.
I’m Adrian Tannock, a CNHC-registered hypnotherapist based in Manchester city centre. Since 2005, I have helped adults with anxiety, procrastination, habits, overwhelm, self-criticism, avoidance, emotional regulation, and related patterns using practical, psychologically informed hypnotherapy tailored to the person rather than a one-size-fits-all script.
Some people search for ADHD therapy, ADHD coaching, or practical help with ADHD. My work is not diagnostic or medical. I do not diagnose ADHD, prescribe medication, or provide specialist psychiatric treatment. My focus is on helping adults work more effectively with ADHD-related patterns, including attention, avoidance, overwhelm, emotional reactivity, self-criticism, habits, and follow-through.
My approach draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which helps people notice difficult thoughts, feelings, and urges without being pushed around by them, so they can take action in the direction of what matters. You can read more on my Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Manchester page. In ADHD-related work specifically, ACT is not about forcing yourself to become more disciplined — it is about working more skilfully with avoidance, overwhelm, frustration, and self-criticism so they have less control over your next step.
CNHC registered · Senior member of the General Hypnotherapy Register · Practising hypnotherapy in Manchester since 2005 · Private office on Deansgate · Registered and insured to practise
Attention, Avoidance, Overwhelm, and Follow-Through
ADHD-related difficulties can show up in many different ways. For some people, the main issue is distractibility. For others, it is task initiation, emotional intensity, procrastination, inconsistency, impulsive avoidance, time-blindness, or the exhausting gap between intention and action.
You may recognise some of the following:
- knowing what needs doing but struggling to start
- starting strongly, then losing momentum
- feeling overwhelmed by ordinary tasks
- avoiding admin, emails, paperwork, finances, or decisions
- leaving things until pressure, panic, or a deadline forces action
- jumping between tasks without completing them
- struggling with time, sequencing, or realistic planning
- feeling emotionally reactive, frustrated, or easily derailed
- criticising yourself for being lazy, chaotic, or unreliable
- relying on urgency, novelty, stress, or external pressure to get moving
- finding routines difficult to maintain, even when they help
- feeling stuck between high standards and inconsistent follow-through
- having periods of intense focus followed by avoidance or exhaustion
These patterns are not character flaws. They are often learned ways of coping with difficulty, pressure, boredom, emotional discomfort, uncertainty, or a nervous system that does not respond well to vague instructions and long-term rewards.
How ADHD-Related Patterns Can Keep Themselves Going
Many adults with ADHD or suspected ADHD have spent years trying to push harder, shame themselves into action, or design perfect systems that collapse when life becomes busy, boring, or emotionally difficult.
A self-reinforcing pattern can develop: a task, decision, or responsibility appears; the mind predicts effort, boredom, confusion, or overwhelm; the body becomes tense, restless, or flat; you avoid, distract, delay, over-plan, or switch tasks; relief follows briefly — but pressure, shame, or urgency then builds, and the task becomes more loaded and harder to approach next time.
Over time, this can damage confidence. You may begin to see yourself as unreliable or undisciplined, even when the deeper issue is a pattern of overwhelm, avoidance, and difficulty translating intention into action. Many of these coping strategies make sense in the short term — avoiding a task reduces discomfort, waiting for pressure creates enough adrenaline to begin — but they can keep you dependent on stress, urgency, or shame. The work is about understanding the pattern without turning it into another reason to attack yourself.
How Therapy May Help with ADHD-Related Difficulties
ADHD therapy is usually most useful when it is practical, compassionate, and grounded in real life. The work is not simply about insight — it is about helping you respond differently in the moments where attention, avoidance, emotion, or follow-through become difficult. My approach may draw on ACT-informed therapy, hypnotherapy, mindfulness, practical behavioural strategies, and coaching-style structure, depending on your needs.
ACT can be especially useful because many ADHD-related problems are made worse by the struggle around the difficulty. You may not only avoid the task — you may also criticise yourself for avoiding it, feel ashamed, become overwhelmed, and then avoid more. That second layer often makes the original problem harder to work with. For example, we might practise noticing the thought “I can’t face this” as a thought, making room for the discomfort of starting, and taking one small action before motivation has arrived.
Depending on your needs, the work may involve:
- understanding your specific ADHD-related patterns, and noticing avoidance earlier
- reducing the grip of self-critical thoughts and stepping back from harsh self-critical stories
- working with overwhelm, frustration, boredom, or restlessness, and making room for discomfort without needing to escape it instantly
- creating more realistic systems for task initiation, breaking large or vague tasks into smaller, usable steps
- using hypnosis to rehearse steadier responses to the urge to escape, scroll, delay, or switch tasks
- taking one small, realistic step even when motivation is inconsistent
- strengthening confidence after setbacks, and returning to useful action without turning them into evidence of failure
- reconnecting with what matters when motivation drops, and building routines simple enough to survive real life
The aim is not to rely on willpower alone, or to pretend ADHD-related difficulties are easy. It is to create more workable responses when your mind says “later”, “too much”, “I can’t”, or “I need to feel ready first” — learning to work with the mind and body you actually have, rather than waiting for a perfect internal state before life can move forward.
In hypnosis, we may rehearse approaching a task more steadily, interrupting an avoidance pattern earlier, recovering from distraction, or responding to frustration without abandoning the whole plan. This can also help with the stress cycle that often sits around ADHD-related difficulties — if tasks have become associated with shame, pressure, or repeated failure, it can be useful to practise a calmer, more resourceful internal response. Hypnotherapy is not a way of bypassing practical action; it is used as part of a wider process of understanding the pattern, rehearsing new responses, and bringing small changes into everyday life.
A Practical Example of How the Work May Unfold
Someone might come for help because they repeatedly avoid important admin. On the surface, they may describe the problem as, “I just can’t make myself do it.”
When we look more closely, the pattern usually has several parts: the task feels vague, boring, or emotionally loaded; there is uncertainty about where to begin; the mind predicts failure or getting trapped in it for hours; and the person distracts themselves with something easier. Relief follows briefly, but pressure builds as the task remains unfinished, self-criticism increases, and the next attempt feels even harder.
The work would then address the pattern from several angles. We might clarify the trigger, reduce the task to a realistic first step, rehearse handling the discomfort of starting, and practise returning to the task without needing to feel perfectly motivated. We may also look at what the task is connected to — independence, health, work, family, self-respect, or peace of mind — so action is not only driven by panic or pressure.
The work is not only about getting more done. It is about helping you build more trust in your ability to return, repair, and continue.
When This Approach May Be a Good Fit
This approach may suit you if you are an adult with diagnosed or suspected ADHD and you want practical therapeutic support with patterns such as attention, overwhelm, procrastination, avoidance, emotional reactivity, inconsistency, or follow-through — something closer to ADHD coaching, but that remains therapeutic, psychologically informed, and focused on meaningful change.
You do not need to arrive perfectly organised, articulate, or clear. Part of the work is to make sense of the pattern together. What helps is a willingness to look honestly at what happens, try new ways of responding, and, where useful, bring small pieces of the work into everyday life between sessions.
This approach may be especially relevant if ADHD-related patterns overlap with anxiety, procrastination, stress, low self-esteem, unhealthy habits, perfectionism, avoidance, or difficulty maintaining routines.
Diagnosis, Medication, and Specialist Support
My work is not a substitute for ADHD assessment, diagnosis, medication advice, or specialist psychiatric care.
If you think you may have ADHD and want a formal diagnosis, it is sensible to speak with your GP or an appropriate ADHD assessment service. If you are already diagnosed and have questions about medication, dose, side effects, or treatment planning, these should be discussed with your prescriber, GP, psychiatrist, or specialist ADHD service.
If your difficulties are severe, sudden, linked with risk, or connected with depression, trauma, substance use, self-harm, or another mental health condition, you may need additional specialist support.
We can still discuss whether ACT-informed hypnotherapy may be a useful part of your wider support, but safety and appropriate care come first.
What to Expect Next
The first step is usually a consultation. We can talk through how ADHD-related difficulties affect you, what you have already tried, what tends to derail you, and what you would like to be different.
I will ask questions to help us understand the pattern more clearly and explain how I may be able to help. There is no pressure to make a decision on the spot. You are welcome to take time afterwards to decide whether you would like to go ahead.
You can also read more about the wider process on my page about what to expect from hypnotherapy.
Contact me
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Arrange a Consultation
If you would like to discuss whether ADHD therapy in Manchester may be suitable for you, you are welcome to get in touch and arrange your free 60-minute consultation, held online or at my private Manchester city centre office on Deansgate. I offer ACT-informed hypnotherapy and practical therapeutic support for adults with ADHD-related patterns, including attention, overwhelm, avoidance, emotional reactivity, and follow-through.
To take the next step, use the contact form or call me on 07790 506375.