iNTRODUCTION TO FLOURISH 1

🌻 FLOURISH WORKBOOK 1 
Introduction to Flourishing Women
Workbook 1 Intro
© 2026 Flourishing Women LLC. All rights reserved.
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🌸  Welcome to Flourish
You are not broken, or in need of being fixed. 
You've been surviving in a world that wasn't built to support how your brain and body actually work.
Flourish is an educational support and coaching group created  for ADHD women based on this core idea. 
Flourish is:
A supportive, skills-based space (not therapy)
A way to shift from survival mode into flourish mode
A space where your pace is honored
A group where growth doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s🧠
Workbook 1 Intro
© 2026 Flourishing Women LLC. All rights reserved.
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 HOW IT WORKS 
Flourish meets weekly on zoom for 90 minutes. You will get reminders in your email and mighty networks. 
Weekly Group Structure (90 minutes total):
30 minutes → Watch the video lesson (live or later)
30 minutes → Optional peer breakout rooms
30 minutes → Full group community time
Workbook 1 Intro
© 2026 Flourishing Women LLC. All rights reserved.
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❌ YOU ARE NOT  REQUIRED TO:
Show up on time
Turn your camera on
Speak, share, or interact
Pay attention in a specific way
Attend every single week
Keep up
✅ YOU ARE WELCOME TO:
Keep your camera off
Take breaks when needed
Just show up and absorb at your own pace
Arrive late or leave early
Stim, doodle, fidget, knit
Workbook 1 Intro
© 2026 Flourishing Women LLC. All rights reserved.
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💬 Group Agreements
To help this space feel safe, supportive, and real, we share these values:
💛 Group Values
What’s shared in this group stays in this group
You don’t have to perform or pretend
We honor each other’s lived experiences
Mistakes are part of learning
You get to show up as you are, not as you should be
We acknowledge trauma without sharing
Be kind to yourself and others
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Trauma Sensitive Space- Sharing With Care
This is a trauma-sensitive space. We keep sharing gentle so everyone can feel safe and regulated. If you feel overwhelmed, you can turn off your camera or step away—please take care of yourself.
You’re welcome to talk about hard topics but try and avoid graphic details that could overwhelm others.
What “Trauma-Sensitive” Sharing Looks Like
Instead of: “When the crash happened, I heard the metal crunch, saw the glass fly, and felt my arm snap…”
Try: “I was in a serious car accident that still affects how safe I feel in cars.”
The second version lets others understand the impact without vivid details that might retraumatize them.
Workbook 1 Intro
© 2026 Flourishing Women LLC. All rights reserved.
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This Is Not Therapy
While many of us are healing, this group isn’t therapy.
Instead, it offers peer support and education based on the Flourish neurodivergent-affirming model—designed for ADHD women often underserved by traditional systems.
What to Expect Here
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Choose your pace. Engage as you wish. Videos, workbooks, and groups are all optional.
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The Flourish Model. Gentle lessons introduce five core skills and their real-life application.
3
Simple check-ins and reflections. Brief reflections to help you notice your feelings and needs.
4
Practical regulation tools. Short, sensory-friendly practices for rest, soothing, and stress relief.
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Rebuilding self-trust. Exercises to reconnect with your body, voice, and boundaries.
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Honest, respectful sharing. Connect with ADHD women who truly understand.
You deserve a space that honors both your story and your nervous system.
Welcome.
Workbook 1 Intro
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Be Yourself
You may have spent years trying to become someone else’s version of “functional.”
You don’t have to do that here.
Instead...
💗 You get to move at your own pace
🧘‍♀️ Try what works and leave what doesn’t for you
Pause here
🖊️Reflect
What emotions come up when you hear what this group is about?
Workbook 1 Intro
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Different not Defective
If you’re here, it probably means you’ve been searching for real help and support.
Maybe you've been told:
You're too sensitive
You're too scattered
You're too emotional
Or you're just not “together” enough
Maybe you've spent years trying to:
Fix yourself
Manage yourself
Or hide parts of who you are just to get through the day
Let’s say this clearly:
🧡 You are not broken.
This group is not about fixing you.
It is not about becoming neurotypical.
It is about becoming more fully yourself.
Workbook 1 Intro
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Purpose of Our Group and Model Overview
✨ We are  not here to become less ADHD. We are here to become more supported, more aware, and more free. We are here to:
1
Unlearn shame
2
Create more supportive environments for our brains and bodies
3
Practice self-compassion, self-care, self-awareness, self-accommodaton,  and self-advocacy 
4
Understand  old coping strategies as intuitive responses to trauma or stress
5
Begin rebuilding self-trust without being asked to change who you are
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Getting by in The World with No Support
Many of you were taught to get by using coping  like:
1
 People-pleasing
2
 Perfectionism
3
 Mistrusting your emotions
4
 Hiding your authentic self
5
 Silencing yourselves

*
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You may have spent years trying to become a version of “functional” that never really fit you.
These things you did were  wise adaptations: strategies that helped you get by in a world that rewards girls and women for compliance and punishes difference.
But now it may be time to learn something new. 
 
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🌷 The Flourish Model + Core Skills Shift
In this group, you'll learn to gradually replace old coping skills (survival strategies) with tools that actually support how your brain and body work.
You don’t have to master these all at once. You will learn these skills just by showing up to our group!
You can trust yourself to:
👉 Start where you are.
👉 Keep what works.
👉 Let go of what doesn’t.
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What Is ADHD?
You’ve probably heard clinical terms like:
“Executive dysfunction”
“Inattention”
“Hyperactivity”
ADHD is a different neurotype.
It is not simply about distraction, disorganization, or “deficits.”

It reflects differences in how the brain regulates attention, energy, emotion, and motivation — and how those differences collide with environments that were not designed for neurodivergent minds.
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Reflection
Pause here and take a moment to notice your thoughts. If you feel comfortable, consider these questions:
Question 1
Have you been taught that your brain works differently, and that this makes you "less than"?

Question 2
What's it like to know your brain isn't wrong or defective, just different?
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What ADHD Struggle Feels Like
ADHD women describe these experiences. Do any of them feel familiar to you?
Wanting to start but not being able to
Forgetting something important, then spiraling into self-criticism
Feeling everything at once
Having energy spikes, then sudden crashes
Hormones wrecking focus, mood, and motivation
Feeling like you have a different brain every week of your cycle
Always being behind, no matter how hard you try
Getting stuck on even small decisions
Experiencing time dragging or flying by when you fall down a hyperfocus rabbit hole
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What ADHD Struggle Feels Like
Hiding internal chaos behind a composed facade
Working twice as hard just to keep pace
Feeling overwhelmed by sensory input like sounds, lights, or textures
Emotions overwhelming you instantly, or arriving hours or days later
Neglecting self-care until you're completely exhausted
Constantly anticipating rejection
Feeling like you constantly fail at tasks that seem easy for others
Wondering if you are fundamentally broken
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How ADHD Brains Work Differently
ADHD affects how your brain handles:
Time
Time is felt and perceived differently.
Memory
Memories are often tied to emotions, visuals, or connections, rather than linear steps.
Prioritization
Everything can feel urgent, especially when you're stressed. Special interests are often prioritized.
Feedback
Criticism can be deeply felt, and praise might be difficult to process.
Transitions
Starting, stopping, and switching tasks in neurotypical environments requires significant energy and support.
Stimulation
Boredom can feel physically painful.
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How ADHD Brains Work Differently
ADHD affects how your brain handles:
Hormones 
For many ADHD women, hormone shifts, like around your cycle, perimenopause, or postpartum,impacts how your brain functions
Emotions 
Often deep senstive intense and hard to regulate.
🔋 Energy 
You may feel energized and unstoppable one day, then exhausted and foggy the next. 
ADHD often comes with chronic energy variability.
🎯 Attention 
You might hyperfocus on something meaningful for hours, then struggle to start basic tasks. 
Your brain prioritizing novelty, interest, urgency, or emotional engagement. 
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Although you are different in all these ways, you were probably expected to behave in a neuronormative way. 
ADHD girls respond by trying to meet these expectations.
They try to adapt with coping skills and masking behaviors. 
Lets take a look at this next. 
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The Birth of Coping Skills
ADHD is not a deficit of attention or hyperactivity.
👇 
It is a difference in how the brain organizes, processes, feels, communicates, and moves through the world.
When a brain does not match dominant expectations, this is not a personal failure.
👇 
It is a mismatch between the person and their environment.
ADHD brains are different and often unsupported.
👇 
When everyday tasks feel harder than they should, and people are repeatedly told they are the problem, shame can develop.
Workbook 1 Intro
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As an ADHD girl, you may have started to wonder:
Why is this so hard for me?
What’s wrong with me?
ADHD girls should have been told, “you are different, and your strengths deserve to be understood and celebrated. 
Instead many ADHD girls internalize a much harsher message early on:
“I’m the problem.”
Does this sound familiar?
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Avoidance of Shame
To avoid judgment, criticism, and the heavy shame it stirs up, ADHD girls often learn to adapt. These strategies help them survive in a world that doesn’t understand their brains:
Push harder than everyone else
Stay up late to catch up
Strive for perfection
Pretend to be what’s expected, hiding their true selves
Keep the peace and stay quiet
Overachieve to prove worth
Stay invisible
Keep emotions hidden
Become what others needed—at their own expense
Do these strategies resonate with you?
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💔 The Cost of Chasing the Neuronormative Standard
Your coping strategies were intelligent responses to a world that didn’t understand your brain. They helped you survive in systems that weren’t built for you.
But just because something supported you then doesn’t mean it still serves you now. Some of these same strategies may be causing harm today.
🔎 Let’s take a closer look at the cost.
When you spend years trying to meet unfair expectations, it can lead to:
Loss of self-trust
Chronic burnout
Disconnection from your needs
Over-functioning for others
Under-supporting yourself
Physical Illness
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Activity and Reflection
Recognizing Your Patterns
Let's pause here. What patterns have you used to help you cope, avoid criticism, and be accepted in the world?
Coping Skills I use: (check all that apply)
People-pleasing to avoid conflict
Silencing my voice or ideas
Criticizing myself to get things done
Perfectionism to be accepted
Never asking for help so I'm not a burden
Over-apologizing
Hiding struggles to seem "together"
Pushing through exhaustion
Working 2x as hard to keep up even though there is a cost to my health
Other: _________________________
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🌷The Flourish Skills: Out With the Old, In With the True
Now that you’ve named some of your old coping strategies, let’s introduce the new skills that will support your growth.
In this group, we’re shifting from old emotional survival patterns you learned as a child into new, supportive ways of relating to yourself.
You don’t have to give up all your old tools right away.
We’re just offering you more options now.
Up Next:
We’ll walk through the five core practices of the Flourish Model. These are the foundations of how we work together.
You’ll see these five skills come up often. They’re the tools we’ll keep building on.
Workbook 1 Intro
© 2026 Flourishing Women LLC. All rights reserved.
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Workbook 1 Intro
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Workbook 1 Intro
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💛 Self-Compassion
Tending to yourself with care instead of criticism.

It means giving yourself the same kindness you’d give a friend.
It sounds like:
1
“Of course this is hard.”
2
“I don't have to be perfect.”
3
“What do I need right now?.”
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 Self-Awareness
Notice Whats Going on Inside You Without Judgement
Self-awareness is how you start to tune into your thoughts, emotions, body signals, and patterns. 
It sounds like:
1
“I’m feeling tight and overwhelmed. I wonder what I need?”
2
“This reaction feels familiar maybe it’s connected to something deeper?”
3
“I notice I shut down when I feel misunderstood.”
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 Self-Care
Meet your actual needs, not just performing routines
Self-care isn’t about spa days (unless that helps!). It’s about caring for your real body, brain, and emotional state in sustainable ways.
It looks like:
1
Eating something before you crash
2
Saying no
3
Giving yourself permission to rest
4
Taking your meds and drinking some water
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Self-Accommodation 
Creating a life that fits your brain not the other way around.
 Self-accommodation means adjusting your environment, your expectations, and your systems to actually support how your brain works.
It includes:
1
Asking yourself how can I make this easier?
2
Breaking things down into smaller steps
3
Creating quiet space to regulate your emotions
4
Giving yourself permission to do things differently and to ask others to as well, because it's your right. 
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🗣️ Self-Advocacy
Expressing your needs with honesty and clarity.
Self-advocacy is about naming what you need to yourself, and to others.
It sounds like:
1
“I work best with flexible deadlines can we talk about that?”
2
“I need to pause this conversation and come back to it.”
3
“I’m struggling with this, and I need support.”
✨ What Matters Most
These five skills are not things to “achieve.”

We will build on them in our group and you will absorb them.
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🎯  Setting  Intentions
✨ You’ve learned about the core skills. Now let’s take a moment to name what you want from this space. What you’re hoping to grow, change, or simply explore.
You don’t have to know exactly what you want from this group yet.
But if you'd like you are allowed to name what you hope for.
🌿 Here are some ideas:
Less shame
More understanding
To stop people-pleasing
To feel your emotions without shutting down
To ask for what you need without guilt
To stop trying to be the “Neurotypical Woman”
To unmask safely
To build new self-trust, one moment at a time
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✍️ My Flourish Intentions Activity
Pause here. Take a minute to set your intentions. 
(Check all that feel true—or write your own)
 Speak to myself with more kindness
 Understand why I mask and begin loosening it
 Stop chasing perfection
 Practice self-compassion when I struggle
 Create accommodations that actually help
 Name and meet my real needs
 Say "no" without guilt
 Rest without apologizing
Or… I want:
✨ No matter what you wrote (or didn’t), just being here is enough. This is only the beginning. Let’s look ahead.
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🌈 TAKEAWAYS &  NEXT STEPS
This Week, Remember:
1
✓   You’re not broken—you’ve been surviving without support
2
✓ ADHD is a different operating system, not a flaw
3
✓ Your coping made sense—now you will learn more options
What’s Next:

In the next workbook and group, you’ll explore how neurodiversity and stigma shape life as an ADHD woman.

Workbook 1 Intro
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Fact Sheet
Learning the Flourish Model
The Flourish Model is our roadmap for neurodivergent-affirming growth. It centers five core skills that help ADHD women reclaim self-trust and thrive in daily life:
Self-Compassion – responding to yourself with kindness, especially when things feel messy
Self-Awareness – noticing emotions, body cues, and energy shifts without judgment
Self-Accommodation – shaping environments, routines, and expectations to fit your brain
Self-Advocacy – communicating needs clearly and setting boundaries that protect your wellbeing
Self-Care – tending to rest, movement, nourishment, and connection in sustainable ways
In this group you’ll:
Explore each skill through short lessons, examples, and reflective prompts
Practice tools that build nervous-system safety, sensory regulation, and emotional clarity
Notice how the skills weave together to break cycles of shame, overcompensation, and burnout
Celebrate strengths that may have been overlooked in traditional settings
Flourish isn’t a quick fix, it’s a gentle shift toward living in alignment with your neurotype. As you move at your own pace, you’ll gather practical strategies, language, and community support to help your ADHD brain feel understood and empowered.
Workbook 1 Intro
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