Dr. Jo-Ann Cohn, Psy.D.
Specializing in Online Therapy
for Women with Late-Diagnosed ADHD
Providing online therapy for clients in all 43 PSYPACT member states:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
This list reflects states where PSYPACT is enacted and effective as of early 2026. PSYPACT membership is expanding. For the most current list, visit psypact.gov.
I provide ADHD-informed therapy for women with late-diagnosed ADHD. My clients find me after years of ADHD masking and burnout led them down a path that resulted in a diagnosis later in life. If you’ve read this far, I’ll bet you’re intelligent, got good grades and mask your struggles well to avoid being a burden, letting others down, or asking for help. When you finally get diagnosed with with ADHD, you see yourself and your struggles in a whole new light for the first time. You’re relieved that so many things about yourself make sense now, but then you get slammed with grief about lost time and missed opportunities. Having had my own experience with this, I know the value of embracing the entire emotional spectrum of feelings that come up when you realize you’ve been living with undiagnosed ADHD. If you’re a woman with late-diagnosed ADHD, I’m here for you!
If you are just discovering that you have (or probably have) ADHD and are negotiating the feelings around that, I get it and I am excited to help. The realization that you have ADHD is a major life event, and if you’re down for digging in and exploring the relief as well as the grief, you’re my people.
I’m not just ADHD-informed, I’m ADHD-lived. And I combine that with advanced training and 20+ years of experience as a clinical psychologist.
What sets me apart:
- Doctorate-level psychologist
- Yale University graduate
- George Washington University graduate
- 20+ years treating women with anxiety, trauma, and neurodivergence
- Personal lived experience with late-diagnosed ADHD
- Warm, supportive, non-judgmental therapy style
- Deep expertise working with high-achieving women
- Licensed in PA, NJ, and all PSYPACT member states (so you can work with me from most states)
A GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING LATE-DIAGNOSIS OF ADHD IN WOMEN
Answers to Some of Your Most Basic Questions:
- What exactly is ADHD? A type of brain processing that can impair functioning.
- Why do I have ADHD? Genetics, most likely. It’s a trait usually inherited from a parent.
- How long have I had ADHD? Since birth. You’ve been “wired this way” all along.
- Why was my ADHD missed when I was a kid? We’ll get into that in depth, below.
- Why didn’t I just grow out of it? Because you can’t “grow out of” brain processing styles. Instead, you learn to leverage them and manage them.
- Does having ADHD mean I’m broken or not normal? Absolutely not. Just different. In many ways, your way of thinking and behaving is an asset not just for you, but for others too.
The Symptoms and Struggles of Women with ADHD:
- Difficulty starting tasks
- Difficulty breaking tasks down into steps and following them
- Time blindness/poor time estimation
- Difficulty recovering when things don’t go as expected
- Frequently losing and misplacing things
- Becoming easily overwhelmed by frustration, anxiety, or disappointment
- Difficulty maintaining effort despite obstacles
- Difficulty being on time
- Perfectionism that undercuts efficiency
- Chronic self-doubt that leads to goal abandonment and self-sabotage
- Forgetting things (a partner’s request, a deadline, an appointment)
- Missing important deadlines
- Difficulty managing finances properly
- Unpredictable levels of focus and attention
- Easily distracted
- Emotional intensity and dysregulation that can negatively impact social interaction
- Anxiety caused by the consequences of untreated ADHD symptoms
- Rejection sensitivity/Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria
- Strong tendency to ruminate on perceived mistakes (“Why did I SAY that?!”)
- Trouble keeping living and work spaces organized
- Repetitive motions such as leg bouncing, skin picking, fidgeting with hands
Hi! I’m Jo-Ann
Licensed Psychologist serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey and all other PSYPACT member states (43 states as of early 2026)
Licensed in Pennsylvania and licensed in New Jersey. Also a member of PSYPACT, making it possible for me to work with clients in all PSYPACT member states.
My specialty is treatment for women with late-diagnosed ADHD. If you are navigating late-diagnosis ADHD, or if you strongly suspect that you have ADHD and would like help exploring the possibility, I offer telehealth therapy that’s tailored to your needs and life experiences.
I blend techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Psychoeducation, and Psychodynamic therapy that looks at how family of origin elements play a role in our psychological development.
My guiding stars are to educate and to support women with Late-Diagnosed ADHD.
I’m a Woman over 30. Do I Have ADHD?
Signs of ADHD in adult women:
Most women with ADHD don’t look hyperactive. They look and feel:
- High functioning on the outside, constantly overwhelmed internally
- Calm and confident on the outside, insecure and feeling inadequate internally
- Very perfectionistic, though inconsistent with completing things
- Emotionally intense at times, leading some to feel they’re “too much”
- Empathetic, warm, and easy to talk to while feeling socially awkward inside
- Take on multiple roles and responsibilities though easily overstimulated
- Highly sensitive to perceived rejection or disapproval
If these descriptors resonate for you, let’s look at some more:
- Difficulty prioritizing tasks
- Feeling overwhelmed when a task seems complex
- Unpredictable ability to focus that you just can’t force
- Trouble staying organized
- Trouble being on time
- Feeling things so intensely that your nervous system is easily triggered
- Chronic procrastination
- Social avoidance, even with close friends and family members
- Rejection sensitivity
Why So Many Women are Getting Diagnosed with ADHD Later in Life:
- Girls got overlooked because their hyperactivity was internalized (many trains of thought at once, difficulty getting the mind to focus on one thing, mental impatience)
- Too busy juggling multiple life and family roles, establishing our careers, and becoming mothers or stepmothers to think about anything but navigating day to day situations.
- The hormonal changes of perimenopause and menopause can bring ADHD symptoms to the surface quickly and powerfully.
- Women are at the stage in life of getting their kids evaluated for ADHD and set up with accommodations for it at school. During that process, there’s an “Aha!” moment of realizing their child’s ADHD symptoms look and sound VERY familiar. Suddenly the question is there: “Do I have ADHD?”
Winging It but Definitely NOT Soaring: The Misguided Ways Women with Untreated ADHD Try to Cope
- Perfectionism: we hold ourselves to excessively high standards out of fear we’ll fail
- Using anxiety and panic as motivators to get things done
- Working late into the night and regularly sacrificing sleep after unproductive days
- Chronic overcompensating with unneeded extra work and never saying no
- People pleasing to gain external validation because we always feel not good enough
- Masking to hide disorganization, wandering attention, fidgeting, etc.
- Switching planning methods often seeking solutions to problems getting things done
- Avoiding tasks that seem complex, which triggers a reaction of overwhelm
- Enabling and believing an emotionally abusive inner critic without pushing back
- Putting off connecting with friends or family until “there’s time” or “I’m feeling better”
- Emotional masking to hide the intense pain of rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD)
Who Can Women with Late-Diagnosed ADHD Go to for Help?
- Therapists (Psychologists, Clinical Social Workers, Counselors) (Note: Therapy is not the same thing as Personal Coaching or ADHD Coaching)
- ADHD Coaches (Note: ADHD Coaching is not the same thing as Psychotherapy)
- Medication Prescribers (Psychiatrists, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners, General Practice Doctors, Primary Care Physicians)
