Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), pervasive drive for autonomy, is a deeply misunderstood and often overlooked profile within the neurodivergent spectrum. For many families, living with PDA can feel confusing, isolating, and emotionally overwhelming, especially when traditional parenting approaches seem to make things harder, not easier.

In this powerful episode, I’m joined by Dr. Casey Ehrlich, a researcher, coach, and mother to two PDA children, who brings both personal insight and professional expertise to help us reframe what’s really going on beneath the behaviours.

If you’ve ever been told your child is “oppositional” or “defiant,” or your child resists even basic everyday requests, from brushing their teeth to getting dressed, or you're exhausted from trying to get it “right,” and you’re starting to question the very foundations of what parenting is “supposed” to look like...

This conversation is for you.

With the right support and education, children with PDA can thrive. And as parents, we can begin to feel more resourced, more connected, and far less alone in supporting our kids.

Click here to book your ticket for a full day of community, connection, awareness and growth.

Key Takeaways:

1. Why Casey prefers the term "pervasive drive for autonomy"
2. How PDA can override even basic needs like eating, hygiene and safety
3. Why traditional parenting approaches often backfire and what to try instead
4. The four observable PDA traits: survival drive for autonomy, equalising, masking, and need for undivided attention
5. How PDA differs from Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
6. What nervous system dysregulation looks like in PDA children and how to support it
7. The emotional toll on parents and how to care for yourself too
8. How animals can support emotional regulation for PDA kids
9. What PDA can look like in adulthood (and why it's often misread as narcissism or avoidance)

Timestamps

1. 07:01: A Deep Dive into Pervasive Drive for Autonomy
2. 12:22: Understanding Oppositional Defiance and PDA
3. 18:13: The Journey of Parenting Neurodivergent Children
4. 23:34: A Paradigm Shift to Parenting PDA Kids
5. 26:51: Understanding PDA and Burnout
6. 35:57: Nervous System Activation in Parenting and Adult Life
7. 41:21: The Impact of PDA on Relationships
8. 47:54: Navigating Parental Challenges

We're so excited to be offering you a full day of real-life connection, calm, and community for late-diagnosed women ready to feel understood, supported, and seen.

Kate will be joined by two ADHD expert guest speakers, Hannah Miller and Dr Hannah Cullen!

You can expect:

1. Honest, thoughtful, informative conversations
2. Connection with like-minded, late-diagnosed ADHD women
3. Information on hormones, energy levels and nervous system regulation
4. A space to come back to yourself, with women who truly get it

Event details: Friday, March 6th 2026, 10:00 am – 3:30 pm in Wilmslow (near Manchester).

Book your...

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the idea of “finding your purpose, make some time for a walk or coffee and get your headphones in!

In this week's episode of The ADHD Women’s Wellbeing Podcast, I’m joined by the wonderful Hannah Miller: author of The Purpose Pursuit™ book, speaker, accredited coach, and founder of Sidekick, an organisation built to help people understand their strengths and pursue purpose in a grounded, authentic way.

Together, we explore what purpose really means: tuning into the moments that make you feel alive, aligned, and like yourself again, rather than chasing a perfect life plan or making pressure-filled decisions

Whether you’ve just been diagnosed or are in a season of reinvention, Hannah’s insights offer a compassionate and practical guide for uncovering what matters to you, and how to move forward with clarity and self-trust.

Click here to book your ticket for a full day of community, connection, awareness and growth.

Key Takeaways:

1. Why purpose doesn’t have to be big or overwhelmin but can live in everyday moments
2. How The Purpose Pursuit can help you reconnect with your strengths, values, and priorities
3. Recognising and gently shifting limiting beliefs, excuses, and self-sabotage
4. ADHD, perfectionism, and why burnout happens even when we love what we do
5. Simple tools to identify your natural strengths and reframe your challenges
6. How seeing yourself through others’ eyes can support personal growth
7. Why joy, flow, and energy are important clues to a more meaningful life
8. Helping women and girls move away from perfectionism and fear of mistakes
9. Understanding the difference between good, bad, and wise decisions
10. Navigating seasons of change in your career, identity, or direction
11. Why asking “What’s next?” is more freeing than needing all the answers

Timestamps:

1. 04:41 - Navigating Purpose: A Journey of Self-Discovery
2. 18:10 - Harnessing Strengths for Growth
3. 29:54 - Understanding Purpose and Perfectionism
4. 38:50 - Decision Making and Wisdom

We're so excited to be offering you a full day of real-life connection, calm, and community for late-diagnosed women ready to feel understood, supported, and seen.

Kate will be joined by two ADHD expert guest speakers, Hannah Miller (this week's podcast guest!!) and Dr Hannah Cullen!

You can expect:

1. Honest, thoughtful, informative conversations
2. Connection with like-minded, late-diagnosed ADHD women
3. Information on hormones, energy levels and nervous system regulation
4. A space to come back to yourself, with women who truly get it

Event details: Friday, March 6th 2026, 10:00 am – 3:30 pm in Wilmslow (near Manchester).

Book your ticket or find out more information

For our first More Yourself episode of the year, I wanted to share with you the quiet but powerful commitment I have made to myself to prioritise my inner peace above everything else this year.

In this episode, I reflect on the pull I felt to be productive and perform in 2025, and how this year I am choosing to follow invitations that are aligned with my values, that encourage a state of flow, and to step into the version of me which feels most true.

This year, I am hopeful that more of us will begin to drop the mask, give ourselves permission to follow what lights us up and to reclaim peace as a daily, radical act of self-trust.

1. How I’m actively prioritising inner peace, and what that looks like in practice
2. Why I’ve stopped making decisions that go against my nervous system
3. What flow means to me, and how the podcast became a surprising example of it
4. The power of doing more of what feels effortless, energising and easeful
5. Why this year isn’t about fixing or achieving, but about remembering what brings us alive
6. How ADHD awareness continues to evolve and the links to hormones, inflammation, pain, anxiety, addiction and more

I hope this episode helps you to reflect on what brings you peace and a sense of flow, so that you can move through this year with more softness, more honesty, and more joy?

We're so excited to be offering you a full day of real-life connection, calm, and community for late-diagnosed women ready to feel understood, supported, and seen.

Kate will be joined by two ADHD expert guest speakers, Hannah Miller (this weeks podcast guest!!) and Dr Hannah Cullen!

You can expect:

1. Honest, thoughtful, informative conversations
2. Connection with like-minded, late-diagnosed ADHD women
3. Information on hormones, energy levels and nervous system regulation
4. A space to come back to yourself, with women who truly get it

Event details: Friday March 6th 2026, 10:00am – 15:30pm in Wilmslow (near Manchester).

Book your ticket or find out more information here!

More Yourself is a compassionate space for late-diagnosed ADHD women to connect, reflect, and come home to who they really are. Sign up here!

Inside the More Yourself Membership, you’ll be able to:

1. Connect with like-minded women who understand you
2. Learn from guest experts and practical tools
3. Receive compassionate prompts & gentle reminders
4. Enjoy voice-note encouragement from Kate
5. Join flexible meet-ups and mentoring sessions
6. Access on-demand workshops and quarterly guest expert sessions

To join for £26 a month, click here. To join for £286 for a year (a whole month free!),