Shame and Inner Critic Guide

Pathway Builder 🔒

Domain

ADHD

Type

Framework

Phase

Discovery Reflection

Details

15 min Between sessions

Topics

Identity Mindset Resilience

Built for ADHD brains – structured support for executive function challenges.

When to Use This Tool

A client consistently moves from mistakes to global self-condemnation rather than specific accountability

A client has a persistent inner critic voice that interferes with performance and relationships

A client needs to understand the shame cycle before they can begin working with it

How to Introduce This Tool Plus

There's a difference between 'I did something that didn't work' and 'I am fundam...

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Preview Framework · 15 min

For the Coaching Practitioner

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Coaching Scenarios Plus

1 Global Self-Condemnation After a Single Mistake

Context

A client with ADHD who is a VP of engineering sent a miscalculated cost projection to the executive team, triggering a board-level correction. His response in the coaching session is not 'how do I fix this' but 'I'm not the right person for this role.' He has been VP for eight months and this is his first significant error. The self-assessment has leapt from one mistake to total identity indictment. He cannot currently separate what happened from what it means about him. The coaching focus is on the shame cycle running the interpretation, not the error itself.

How to Introduce

Do not rush to reframe the mistake or list evidence of competence - that addresses guilt (I did something wrong) when th...

2 The Inner Critic Borrowed from a Specific Manager 🔒

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3 coaching scenarios with introduction language, observation guides, debrief maps, and red flags

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Tool Flow Plus

See what this tool requires and produces in a coaching engagement

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