She Wouldn't Cure Her ADHD Even If She Could
Here's Why | Theresa Lear Levine
(YouTube Transcript)
Aneta (00:03): Teresa, welcome to the Live the Width of Your Life podcast.
Theresa (00:07): So good to be here, Aneta, thank you for having me.
Aneta (00:10): I'm so excited to meet you. Sometimes you just look at someone's profile or bio and I was of course digging in and listening to your book as well. And I just thought, how lucky are we that we get to do what we do and we get to meet people who live in other parts of the world who are doing amazing work. So I'm so excited to learn more about your story today.
Theresa (00:31): Thank you. I appreciate the interest. We are lucky. These are amazing times that we live in as far as the way that we can connect with people that you couldn't have done this a couple of decades ago. Not like we do today.
Aneta (00:41): I It's so true. What makes you feel really alive today? Is there anything that you're excited about or passionate about in general?
Theresa (00:49): I mean, I'm an ADHD entrepreneurial mom of four boys. I'm pretty much passionate and excited about all sorts of things all the time. it's never, that could be probably and my greatest gift is that focusing on just one thing is rarely what's going on for me. But right now I'm excited about the snow on the ground outside and the kids home from school and my family being together. That's kind of been the highlight of my day today.
Aneta (00:57): Mm. love that. How did you know that you wanted to become an ADHD entrepreneur and coach and author and do all the things that you're doing today?
Theresa (01:24): I can't say that I did know in advance, but I think that the journey led me to those things. And I think that hindsight's always kind of 2020 when we look I can look back now and see that as a kid, instead of playing with Barbies, my friends and I were writing books in my basement. We literally had a library with a card catalog and like due dates.
all this kind of stuff. I enjoyed the whole process and I loved writing music. in a band and I sang and did things like that. And so now when I'm coaching people, especially when I'm doing hypnotherapy or rounds of EFT, it's like writing lyrics that speak to somebody's soul. And when I became a bestselling author and published my own book, it was just lighten up that inner child little girl that wanted to just have her own library and have people read her books. So I can look back and I can put all the pieces together but I don't think that it was ever a totally clear vision the journey's kind of put itself together.
Aneta (02:26): Yeah, it's so true. Well, we can look backwards and connect the dots as Steve Jobs says, but going forward, don't always see it, which is why I always tell my kids, who are young adults and others like, don't put so much pressure on yourself because every door opens other opportunities. So looking back when you were in your 20s, what was the path that you started off on?
Theresa (02:49): Well, I had a bunch of car accidents right before I entered my twenties and ended up not being able to continue my job in corporate banking, which I kind of thought at that time was where it was going, which is so weird to even just say those words now because I can't imagine myself in a corporate job, especially in banking. But at that time, it felt like that was the path. And I had these physical disabilities and things that created these setbacks. I couldn't work the way that I thought I was going to my 20s were kind of a train wreck, really. I ended relationship, then became a marriage that I wouldn't call it like meant to be probably from the beginning. It was love there. And there was a reason for having the relationship. And my oldest son came out of that relationship. But in hindsight,
I can see where my own self doubt, the way that my energy was affected by the car accidents, not being able to work, ⁓ different traumas from earlier in life and it kind of set me up for not making the best decisions and not being really grounded in my sense of self and having the confidence needed to choose differently. And 20s were a little bit crazy. then, ended up going through a divorce and coming out the other side to meet my now husband shortly thereafter and have our three boys together and, get on journey with becoming more me. So, yeah.
Aneta (04:10): It's so often when we have circumstances like that or things that happen to us that in the time they don't feel good, they feel painful, there's so much discomfort, there's so much uncertainty. And then you can look at those moments and go, wow, that was a pivotal moment for something else. That was an opportunity to grow or to expand. And I don't know if you know this about me, but I 22 years in banking.
So I was also in banking, yes, in corporate for a long time, over seven years ago. And I thought too, I was like, wow, this is what you do. You just build a career and you stay there and you start doing all those things. And then in my case, waited longer than I wanted to. In your it was just something that happened because of the changes. did you start?
Theresa (04:39): Good night. Aneta Ardelian Kuzma (05:00): your interest in the modalities that you facilitate and you teach today during that time? Like were they helpful for you in your own healing? Or how did you start to do some of the things that you are currently doing with clients?
So my interest in energy and spirituality and all of those things definitely go way back. can remember like the PBS specials with Wayne Dyer on the television when I was a kid. Only at the time it was my mom's interest in it. And of course, probably like a maybe not even a teenager yet, like whatever mom was doing was not the cool thing to be, whatever, she's watching PBS again. But
Aneta (05:22): Yeah. ⁓ Who's weird.
Theresa (05:37): influence does come back and I think about that often when I'm thinking about my own kids and the way that like I probably come across that way to them now. It was so funny. we got to meet his girlfriend for the first time last week and she was asking what I did and
I didn't answer. were all in our car together and the other three boys all started chiming in and my one's just a total jokester and he's just like, she makes people hit themselves and talk about their feelings. So she was talking like EFT talking. Somebody, and then my other son said something about how I only work in a spiritual way, which is not true, but it's like, it's interesting to see the lens of other people. And then it's also interesting to see ego doesn't feel the need to jump in anymore. I'm just like, whatever they say about me is fine. It doesn't mean it is what it is or isn't or whatever, but it was like really cute. And the girlfriend didn't ask for any clarification she just... just... But of interesting. And I think I just went totally off path for whatever you asked me, but that's how it works when you're talking to an ADHD entrepreneur.
Aneta (06:26): She did it? my gosh. Yeah, no, it's interesting because you see the connection points, ⁓ you know, and how the thread of how the conversation goes. so I love that your kids jumped in and it's interesting to hear through their lens what it is that you do. First of all, kudos, mom, that they know what you do. How old are they?
Theresa (06:37): ⁓ no. My youngest is eight and I have a 12 year old, 15 year old and a 20 year old.
Aneta (07:00): Okay, so even the younger wants to be, say, mom is tapping or she's hitting herself. So tell us a little bit more about all the different modalities that you teach for your ADHD clients.
Theresa (07:14): Yeah. So, and now I remember what your first question was when you reminded me of that question. sorry, I did go off track. So, work mostly as far as modalities with EFT and hypnotherapy. But the way that I coach and the way that I help people is definitely a ⁓ soup of all of the different coaches I've had, the different things I've experienced, different spiritual practices. I'm a huge fan of A Course in Miracles.
I really weave a lot of things together into the way that I support people. And comes from years of being supported in different ways. I know when I through my divorce, I kind of dove into Buddhism for a bit. I've converted from Catholicism to Judaism previously in my life. explored all spiritually and then all different modes of meditation and even... microdosing and other ways of making breakthroughs that have been just massively helpful. weave it all together.
Aneta (08:07): That's wonderful. And when you are working with ADHD entrepreneurs specifically, how do you determine what modality is going to work best for them?
Theresa (08:17): So with EFT, it's really great for nourishing the nervous system. And hypnotherapy really shines its light in the subconscious mind and the way that we can rewire beliefs and circumstances and things like that. I like using them together because I feel like you can't quite budge everything with with one, the other one kind of comes in and takes care of. So I feel like they piggyback and they work really well together
to bring in the right combination of nervous system and subconscious work to really let people get out of their own way. Because as far as my story is concerned, and I feel like I hear this from so many people when I get to talking with them, I've always been pretty intelligent. I spent a lot of time collecting knowledge and learning things, taking certifications and courses and this and that. So I could tell you how to do something. if it actually came time to do it, it was like there was this invisible wall there and I couldn't necessarily execute the steps. I learned more and implemented more of these things myself, it was this realization that it was my nervous system stopping me. It was interesting, the distractions it could throw my way or the way that it could just make me so tired all of a sudden. I can't possibly do whatever that thing is or whatever. It was just this lack of
safety of what was on the other side of completing whatever the thing was. And once I started working with that, along with my subconscious, it was like, cool, I already have the guidebooks, and now I can actually do the thing. I was trying to logic and reason and intelligence my way through things. And it just doesn't work that way.
Aneta (09:55): Do traditional therapists do ADHD or do they use all these same techniques that you use or are they still doing mindset work? Is this new, I guess, in terms of treatment for ADHD or has this always been what has been most successful?
Theresa (10:12): I really can't speak for what other therapists are and aren't doing. I know there are plenty of therapists that use hypnotherapy and that use EFT in their therapeutic toolbox. I have personally found it to be really helpful. Hyperactivity, focus, the distractibility, impulsivity that come along with ADHD for a lot of us are helped massively by
nervous system and subconscious interventions.
Aneta (10:38): all kinds of different modalities and I've really done both the hypnotherapy and the EFT together. But for those that aren't familiar, can you just walk us through what that looks like and why it works?
Theresa (10:48): So with EFT tapping, the reason why it works is because you're tapping literally these meridian endpoints on your body. And we have thousands of them. If you ever looked at like an acupuncture chart, there's all the little points all over the body. With EFT, we're really focusing on nine of those points. Side of the hands, top of the head, some stuff around the eyes, under the nose, under the mouth, collarbone points, and then under the arm, which have been proven to be these points that really provide an energetic overhaul
of the body. So the basis of why this works is because any dis-ease that you're experiencing, which could be something mental, emotional, physical, or even spiritual the root of it is an energetic blockage. So when we are able to speak about what that is, that's the modern psychology element of EFT, while we are tapping on these different points, then we can release these blockages.
Furthermore, what's happening when we do that, when we're tapping those meridian points on the body, is that we're sending a signal directly to the amygdala, which is where fight, flight, freeze, all that stuff happens. And that's the stuff that usually trips us up. Even though we need important. Our nervous system is doing that for a reason. A lot of times, the little alarm signals that it's sending are a little outdated or they're caused by previous programming and things that we have. So...
EFT works really well to bring down stress hormones like cortisol things quickly and massively really. I mean, within about five minutes, you could lower your cortisol about 40 some percent and then you can show up more rationally, more calmly, more steady and in the moment. And with the subconscious mind part of it, you can work a lot with the past
traumas and things that created some of that programming in the first place and speak to the part of you that is holding onto it. Like the subconscious mind imagine like the biggest Google drive ever that it gets nothing. There is nothing that gets by that. Even if you don't think you can remember it or you think you've shut it out or forgotten it or whatever subconscious is holding onto that. And it will bring up whatever it needs to at any point to try to keep you safe with that programming.
And using trance and using hypnosis, we can drop into a state where we can actually kind of, it's like accessing those files. And we can change them a little bit. We can update them. We can rewrite and reframe and reprogram at that level so that you can show up differently with regards to the stuff that's happened to you in the past.
Aneta (13:20): It's so incredible and it's amazing. When people reach out to you, do they know that they have ADHD? Are they typically diagnosed already or do they suspect that they might be? And then they work with you to get a little bit of relief or learn some new tools and techniques.
Theresa (13:35): get a combination and I also get the people that are like, I don't have ADHD and I don't think I have ADHD, but I do think I need this. think comes down to is like everybody these days is distracted. The idea of being busy minded, I think we've all got it on some level. So the diagnosis isn't necessary to do the work, but I do get a combination of people like me were like I wasn't diagnosed until I was 43. doubt I had it since I was born, but the diagnosis didn't come until after a bunch of my kids had already been diagnosed. And I was like, I should probably get diagnosed too. It'd probably be good. They wouldn't feel so alone, maybe. Not that they, I don't think they did feel alone, but I just felt like the time had come. Let's see what's going on here. But yeah, and then I get some people that have been diagnosed since they were kids and some that know like without a doubt they've got it, but they're not going to get a diagnosis because, the label or the associated treatment don't appeal to them anyway.
Aneta (14:12): It's helpful. Yeah. It's so true and it's interesting because I have a lot of clients too that I coach that say, think I have ADHD. I definitely know that I struggle with distractions and they can go back and start to observe things, as an adult, maybe from childhood where they struggled. If they would forget to pack their bag for school or they're always forget their homework or they forget their lunch. all these things. How do you feel the ADHD impacts people's relationships? With themselves and then with others as well.
Theresa (14:57): Great question. It definitely can impact relationships because can think that people with ADHD might be bad at love, but I think that like attention is the same as care. So people with ADHD can deeply love their partner, family, kids, whatever, but still miss details, might forget plans, or might seem distracted ⁓ because their brain manages things differently and they prioritize things differently. And then it can also affect relationships because like time can be weird, a time blindness and then consistency. So there can be these hyper-focused seasons where, in your relationships, the other person feels adored and you're like really dialed in on them. And then there can be these other times when it feels like things kind of drop off and it's not necessarily a loss of interest. Sometimes it's just bandwidth, overwhelm or sometimes it is. Sometimes novelty just wears off. I it depends on the relationship, and then emotional intensity can be higher in relationships. Rejection sensitivity is often pretty common with people that have ADHD. Get frustrated a little bit easier, can kind of feel like flooded with emotions. And that can sometimes turn things that could be a small moment or small issue into a much larger one.
And it's just a difference in nervous system reactivity. And then the mental load can often become bit of a relationship issue for some people, because if somebody feels like they have to become your manager, they have to remind you of things or help you with planning or make sure that you follow through, then it can be a cause for resentment on one or both sides. Or somebody feeling a little bit more or criticized or controlled. So there's a lot of different dynamics that can come up with it. I think there's a lot of different dynamics that can come up with anybody in any relationship though too. So any of those things can also happen with people that don't have ADHD, but I more likely to happen if someone does.
Aneta (16:44): Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. And are there superpowers that maybe people don't necessarily recognize in themselves if they have ADHDs? Usually I find that there's a balance. Nature always balances things. So if you're more distracted, like what are some of the benefits of having ADHD or what are some superpowers that maybe people don't recognize in themselves?
Theresa (17:13): Absolutely. I think there's a lot of superpowers, honestly, I wouldn't make it go away if I could. The hyper focus is When something matters, or it feels exciting or urgent, I can lock in with this intense depth and productivity. It's amazing what you can get done in a day when the hyper focus is on. There are days that counter that when the hyper focus is off.
Pattern recognition is another superpower, I would say, and even intuition. I think people with ADHD can really see connections fast. They can read the room and they can spot things that are often missed by people without ADHD. And then of course, creativity, being able to generate ideas. I can just come up with idea after idea after idea. And kind And kind of out of the box is more of the default mode I think, for people with ADHD. It can also be difficult, I think the high sensitivity and the empathy can be a real superpower also, because we can really pick up on those little subtle shifts in other people's behavior or energy or tone. And yeah, that could be a gift or a challenge, I suppose. I think that people with ADHD are great in a crisis. I think ⁓ they're bold, they're spontaneous, and they have usually pretty good sense of humor and magnetism.
Aneta (18:32): I love that. And I'm so glad you called all those out because I think sometimes when we feel like we're different with whether it's ADHD or is there something else, we only focus in on what makes us different. And we think it's a negative, but we don't necessarily always focus in on how can I use this? how does this make me different in a good way, in a positive way? I hope all the kids that maybe are diagnosed at a young age or their parents listen and they understand this because sometimes it's not something to fix, as you You don't wish for it to go away. So I'm curious, do you have a lot of younger clients or do you mostly work with adults?
Theresa (19:09): I work ⁓ pretty much only with adults. I would say like, my general age range, although it's wide, is probably 30s to 70s.
Aneta Ardelian Kuzma (19:18): Okay, wow, okay. That's amazing. Do you know if there's other people that are focusing in with some of these modalities with young children, not just with medicine?
Theresa (19:28): sure that there are. I don't have any names to drop or anyone that comes to mind to recommend, but I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that love to do EFT tapping and hypnotherapy with kids.
Aneta (19:40): Yeah. So tell me a little bit more about your book.
Theresa (19:44): Ah, my book. let's see. It's crazy to think it's been out for over two years now. It's like end of 2023 when I put it out. And it's been a wild ride. I was able to share so much in there that at the time felt like ripping off a bandaid things that felt very vulnerable that I shared about before. And it's interesting how
many of our issues have to do with feeling like we need permission instead of actually strategy to do something. And that what I was able to share in the book felt like granting myself permission to share things about my life, my journey, my marriage, my divorce, my childhood, different traumas and things that I went through. And also to know that there's so much more to share. But sometimes it's not the right time to share it yet. So I love that. I love being able to put together
My story, client journeys, practical actionable things. There's a lot of rounds of EFT tapping in the book. I went into the studio and recorded the audible version, which is my favorite version because you actually get to do the tapping rounds with me like leading you through them the way that you would if you were actually doing a session instead of trying to read the words off of a page. And I loved the process. I really did. Everybody keeps asking me when I'm going to write another book.
I don't think the time is coming for that anytime too soon. hit me yet, but I think when it does enjoy the process again. That was a big part of it for me was making sure that it was pleasurable to write the book because I started writing it a few times and stopped because it felt like I was pushing and I was writing it with a lot of masculine energy and high achiever perfectionism and it was very clear to me that nobody was going to enjoy reading that.
version of the book. It wasn't going to serve anyone the way that I wanted to. So I literally used my own practices, hypnotherapy and EFT. I released the project. was like, if I never come back to a book, if I never write the book, it's fine. Spent the year having a lot of conversations like what I'm having with you right now. And I was going on a bunch of podcasts, doing a lot of speaking, really dialing in on who I'm talking to and why it matters. And then that made it very apparent how the book needed to be written and put me in the right place and space to write it through the lens of pleasure and relaxed success instead of the hustle and strive high achiever BS that I help people get out of.
Aneta (22:07): it's hard though when we have years of practice in the masculine, in the hustle, in I'll just push through and we'll make it happen. It's hard to focus more on the feminine energy and to allow things to be and to create the space and to rest between and to regulate all the things that we know are so necessary. And of course, how ironic would it be if you wrote this book, not from that place when that's the work that you do with so many others. And then one, make sure we hear we have the name of your book. It's called Becoming More You.
Theresa (22:41): It's actually becoming more me. Becoming more me tapping into success subconscious secrets of an ADHD entrepreneurial mom. So if there you go.
Aneta (22:42): becoming more me. Thank you. I love it. Yeah, we'll include the link. So did you self-publish or did you go with a publishing house?
Theresa 22:58): worked with a publisher.
Aneta (23:01): And what was the process like working with the publisher?
Theresa (23:05): It was good for me because there were deadlines and ADHD is pretty well with deadlines, although I might have moved a few of them to keep in line with making sure that it was written from pleasure instead of pushing. But that was all agreeable. Yeah, being able to work with different people to do all the different parts of it that I don't enjoy, like editing and all that kind of stuff, so very important for me and that's probably the only way that it ever got done. I had to do all those things and be responsible for them, nope.
Aneta (23:34): Yeah, I self-published both of my books and so you do need to kind of find your own team and to do it. What was the timeline like from the time that you engaged with the publisher and by the time it was actually finished and published?
Theresa (23:50): Starting the book to publishing, I'm trying to think, I feel like I started in March or April of 23 and published in November.
Aneta (23:59): That's actually pretty fast. I would say, which is great. Did you know that you're going to share so much of your own personal life and be as vulnerable as you were when you started the book?
Theresa (24:02): Yeah. idea, but until you're actually writing the words you don't really know what's going to come out. So knew what I wanted to cover and what I wanted to include. I had a rough outline, but I don't stick to outlines very well.
Aneta (24:23): And what is the feedback been on the book?
Theresa (24:26): I've gotten so much positive I said, people keep asking me when I'm writing the next one, but I think that for the people that read it, they feel like they've been feel like they can relate. Some part of their journey feels very resonant in there and that they've also been able to move their own energy through engaging in the different EFT tapping realms and things that are in there. And that for a lot of people, it's opened up their world to a new modality. Not everyone has been familiar with EFT before they started. So, yeah.
Aneta (24:56): That's amazing. Well, never say never. I think when you're inspired, you don't know, you'll probably start another one. I think it's incredible when that happens. Yeah.
Theresa (25:04): really, I'll enjoy it. When the time comes, I will enjoy writing another one. It just hasn't come yet.
Aneta (25:10): If folks wanted to work with you, what are the ways that you work with clients today?
Theresa (25:11): I just wanted to... Yeah, so I have some like entry level courses and things that people can get if they're just looking to learn and apply these sorts of things. I also have my Becoming More You program. That's not the name of the book, but it is the name of my program, Becoming More You. And that's where I work with people one-on-one and in small groups. And we're actually applying EFT tapping and hypnotherapy to your own personal challenges and your kind of desired results and goals.
And that's really fun too. I love being able to work with people one-on-one and really make that strategic and specific ⁓ implementation of this possible because I think that makes a huge difference for people.
Aneta (25:56): It's wonderful. And if folks want to find you, what is the best place for them to find you?
Theresa (26:02): I keep it super simple. My website is my name, Theresa Lear Levine.com. It's Theresa with an H-T-H-E-R-E-S-A, L-E-A-R-L-E-V-I-N-E.com. My website is so simple because I got so tired of updating it. So it's literally just links to whatever is relevant at the time. My school community, which is my free community where you can join and there's tons of awesome stuff in the classroom that you can dig right into.
There's a link on there if you want to book a call and see work is right for you. There's links to all sorts of things, my socials, workshops, courses that you can purchase. It's all on there.
Aneta (26:38): Amazing. I love that. We'll include all those links. And then the final question I ask everyone is tied to the title of the podcast. What does it mean to you to live the width of your life?
Theresa (26:51): Yeah, so it really means to look at much like you're getting out of the shorter term than the longer haul. What can I really just seep out of today, and width and the breadth of, I think time, time is part of this because, and when I think of ADHD, time blindness.
Like we have the ability to condense time and to do so much in so little time if we really are dialed in. And I think that's the same way with getting the width of your life. It's like, is this time that I have, this 24 hours today only capable of so much, or is it capable of just exponential things and feelings and expressions and possibilities? And I think...
we're tapping into that at greater consciousness, then we can really feel way more fulfilled in the moment, in the present, which is the only place we have any power to experience anything anyway. And I think being present is part of what really helps us to live the width.
Aneta (27:55): I love it. Thank you, Teresa. Thank you so much for joining me today. And just thanks again for the beautiful work that you're doing in the world. I think it's amazing when I meet other individuals who are coaching or facilitating practices that help so many others. And I just wish you continued success.
Theresa(28:11): Thank so much for having me.