Evidence-informed. Strengths-based. ADHD Coaching.
I came to this work after a 25-year career in regulated, science-driven healthcare, and I bring that same standard for evidence to coaching. My approach is grounded in the adult ADHD literature, character-strengths psychology, and current neuroscience — delivered as practical behavioral support, not clinical treatment.
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Training & Credentials
M.Sc.
Graduate training in a science-driven discipline; 25 years applying evidence-based methods in a regulated healthcare environment.
ADD Coach Academy (ADDCA)
ICF-accredited ADHD coach training program, recognized as a leading credentialing pathway for ADHD coaching.
ADHD Coaches Organization (ACO)
Professional member, bound by the ACO Code of Ethics.
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Frameworks I Draw On
Strengths-based coaching for ADHD (Schrevel et al., 2016; VIA character strengths framework)
Executive function coaching models (Goudreau & Knight, 2018; Parker & Boutelle, 2009)
Hyperfocus and attention-regulation research (Hupfeld, Abagis, & Shah, 2018)
Current neuroscience on fronto-cerebellar and attention-network differences in ADHD
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Scope of Practice
Coaching, not psychotherapy or psychological treatment.
No diagnosis, no assessment interpretation beyond what the client brings.
Concurrent therapy and clinical care welcomed and respected.
Clear referral pathway when presenting concerns exceed coaching scope.
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Good Fits for Referral
Post-assessment clients who need structured behavioral translation of findings.
Adults navigating late diagnosis, identity reframing, and the strengths-based rebuild.
High-IQ and 2e students or professionals quietly burning out under unsustainable systems.
Clients seeking a non-pharmacological complement to existing clinical care.
"I read the research, test the tools, and bring what holds up. The ADHD space is full of noise — clients deserve coaching that is not."
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What We Work On Together
Time & Task Management
Sensory Processing & Overwhelm
Career & Life Transitions
Emotional Regulation
Medication & Non-Medication Options
Late Diagnosis Processing & Grieving
Executive Function Skills
Rejection Sensitivity & RSD
Financial Management
Relationships & Communication
About Me
I have lived it.
And I have studied it.
Carli Derifield, M.Sc.
ADHD & Executive Function Coach
✉ carli@sanctuum.com
☎ 714.262.6955
◆ www.sanctuum.com
⌂ Newport Beach, CA
I grew up in Ireland, lived across Europe and Australia, and now call Newport Beach, California home. I am a mom of two ADHD teenagers and a wife to a neurotypical husband.
A 25-year career was spent in a highly technical, science-driven corner of healthcare — an industry where decisions are made on validated data, where protocols and regulations exist because lives depend on them. From the outside, it looked like I had figured it out. I hadn't. Behind the success was a woman who was completely exhausted. Masking constantly. Building rigid systems just to survive each day, and 49 years with lived experience of undiagnosed ADHD.
"Working with my ADHD has not made me less successful. It has made me more. I had been following the wrong set of rules, using the wrong playbook."
M.Sc. and successful start-up entrepreneur, 2x successful exits. I hold a Master of Science and advanced professional training from MIT. I am trained as an ADHD coach through the ADD Coach Academy (ADDCA), with PAAC and ICF coaching certification in-process, and a member of the ADHD Coaches Organization.
The training taught me how to evaluate evidence. The lived experience taught me what it feels like to sit where your patients sit: overwhelmed, capable, and wondering why everything has to be so hard.
I created Sanctuum because the support I needed when I needed it did not exist. Something grounded in real science but delivered with warmth, humor, and no judgment. Something that meets people exactly where they are.