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Inside ADHD: An Internal Family Systems Workbook to Understand Your Parts and Emotionally Thrive
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Rating 5 ⭐
The Inside ADHD workbook delivers what it promises: an opportunity to understand yourself and your version of ADHD personally.
The book is built around Internal Family Systems (IFS), a therapy approach that treats your reactions as different parts of you trying to do a job. In this workbook, that means looking at criticism, avoidance, masking, overworking, and shame as patterns with a history instead of character flaws.
This seems like an adult-focused workbook rather than child-oriented like many are. It introduces ADHD concepts, then asks you to connect the material back to your own life. After discussing dopamine and stimulation-seeking, you’re asked to identify strategies you may have developed without realizing it. That’s the useful part: looking at your own patterns instead of just reading about ADHD in the abstract.
The layout is ADHD-friendly, with short sections, examples, reflection prompts, and exercises. Topics include ADHD myths, negative self-talk, ways of coping, befriending protectors, skills for reaching wounded parts, acceptance, gaining clarity, and strategies for living with ADHD.
Example journaling questions:
• [section explaining emotional regulation] What are some emotions you have struggled with that seem to come on quickly, feel very intense and last a long time? Can you name them and notice how they show up in and around your body, such as bodily sensations, thoughts or images?
• [section explaining dopamine] As you reflect on your dopamine levels being low, can you see some strategies you inadvertently developed to get more dopamine?
• [section explaining external criticism becoming internal criticism like experiences in school and childhood friendships] Reflect on your childhood relationships. How is it to know that you are not alone in these struggles, that these are common struggles for those with ADHD?
• What have some of your challenges been at work? How have bosses and coworkers responded to you? Have you been able to find a job that fits you well?
• Take time on your acceptance journey, let yourself grieve. This is a time for much self-compassion. Take a moment and see what grief might be there in this acceptance process. Where might you get support as you process this grief?
• Think of a time you were able to be persistent and get to a place of feeling confident, a feeling of self-assurance that comes from appreciating your abilities and qualities. What did that confidence feel like? How did you notice it in your body and your thoughts? Where are the areas where you feel this?
I think it gives adults who were diagnosed later in life a chance to think through things they’ve struggled with and realize: it wasn’t because you sucked at life, there was a shape to it, and there may be something you can do about it.
What surprised me is that the book delivered more than the blurb promised. I’ve read more than 25 ADHD books this year and most of them delivered generic coaching advice and oversimplified journaling prompts. This is the first one that made me interested enough to actually sit down and do the self-reflection exercises.
I don’t make this recommendation lightly: if you’re a newly diagnosed adult of any age, I’d honestly start here before reading a stack of other ADHD books.
This workbook gives you a brief overview of what ADHD can involve, then helps you begin the internal work through self-reflection. After that, read more specific books based on what you want to understand next: RSD, practical ways to get things done, hyperfocus, medication, relationships, or whatever part of ADHD is loudest in your life.
Carol Shilliday, PsyD, more than thirty years of clinical experience, and significant ADHD/IFS work behind her. She was also diagnosed with ADHD later in life, which gives the workbook a lived-experience angle instead just clinical material.
The Inside ADHD workbook delivers what it promises: an opportunity to understand yourself and your version of ADHD personally.
The book is built around Internal Family Systems (IFS), a therapy approach that treats your reactions as different parts of you trying to do a job. In this workbook, that means looking at criticism, avoidance, masking, overworking, and shame as patterns with a history instead of character flaws.
This seems like an adult-focused workbook rather than child-oriented like many are. It introduces ADHD concepts, then asks you to connect the material back to your own life. After discussing dopamine and stimulation-seeking, you’re asked to identify strategies you may have developed without realizing it. That’s the useful part: looking at your own patterns instead of just reading about ADHD in the abstract.
The layout is ADHD-friendly, with short sections, examples, reflection prompts, and exercises. Topics include ADHD myths, negative self-talk, ways of coping, befriending protectors, skills for reaching wounded parts, acceptance, gaining clarity, and strategies for living with ADHD.
Example journaling questions:
• [section explaining emotional regulation] What are some emotions you have struggled with that seem to come on quickly, feel very intense and last a long time? Can you name them and notice how they show up in and around your body, such as bodily sensations, thoughts or images?
• [section explaining dopamine] As you reflect on your dopamine levels being low, can you see some strategies you inadvertently developed to get more dopamine?
• [section explaining external criticism becoming internal criticism like experiences in school and childhood friendships] Reflect on your childhood relationships. How is it to know that you are not alone in these struggles, that these are common struggles for those with ADHD?
• What have some of your challenges been at work? How have bosses and coworkers responded to you? Have you been able to find a job that fits you well?
• Take time on your acceptance journey, let yourself grieve. This is a time for much self-compassion. Take a moment and see what grief might be there in this acceptance process. Where might you get support as you process this grief?
• Think of a time you were able to be persistent and get to a place of feeling confident, a feeling of self-assurance that comes from appreciating your abilities and qualities. What did that confidence feel like? How did you notice it in your body and your thoughts? Where are the areas where you feel this?
I think it gives adults who were diagnosed later in life a chance to think through things they’ve struggled with and realize: it wasn’t because you sucked at life, there was a shape to it, and there may be something you can do about it.
What surprised me is that the book delivered more than the blurb promised. I’ve read more than 25 ADHD books this year and most of them delivered generic coaching advice and oversimplified journaling prompts. This is the first one that made me interested enough to actually sit down and do the self-reflection exercises.
I don’t make this recommendation lightly: if you’re a newly diagnosed adult of any age, I’d honestly start here before reading a stack of other ADHD books.
This workbook gives you a brief overview of what ADHD can involve, then helps you begin the internal work through self-reflection. After that, read more specific books based on what you want to understand next: RSD, practical ways to get things done, hyperfocus, medication, relationships, or whatever part of ADHD is loudest in your life.
Carol Shilliday, PsyD, more than thirty years of clinical experience, and significant ADHD/IFS work behind her. She was also diagnosed with ADHD later in life, which gives the workbook a lived-experience angle instead just clinical material.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to Carol Shilliday and New Harbinger Publications Inc for this complimentary advanced copy via Netgalley. This review is being left voluntarily and all opinions expressed are my own.
What a great book filled with activities, points of reflection and an abundace of helpful information. I think some prior knowledge of internal family sytems may be useful, although some explanation is provided.
This resource was great for making you reflect.
It is definitely a resource to use over time and that could be revisited to see if your own mindset has changed.
It quite adult-focused, which can be a little daunting when newly-diagnosed, but it would actually be a good starting place.
This book allows you to look at your behaviours and identify ways you have learned to cope, which helps you to understand your own experience more. It is definitely valuable for understanding why we do some of the things we do.
It also allows you to ease into the adhd journey. For me personally as a late-diagnosed adult, it allowed me to reflect on early experiences prior to my diagnosis. I am still working on realising that I don't have to be ashamed for the things I couldn't control.
I enjoyed the myth-busting chapter and the exercises that followed. It acknowledges the complexity of adhd and how it can be difficult to understand, not only for those affected by it but also for thosw around them.
Misinformation can lead to damaging and negative experiences, so knowledge is power and better understanding can go a long way.
For example, adhd hyperfocus is often misunderstood, with individuals with adhd being classified as unfocused and distracted in general. In reality, we have interest-based nervous systems so we are able to focus for extended periods of time when a topic is interesting or challenging, or if there is urgency to the task.
This is a great resource and can be a good supporting resource for finding and understanding yourself.
What a great book filled with activities, points of reflection and an abundace of helpful information. I think some prior knowledge of internal family sytems may be useful, although some explanation is provided.
This resource was great for making you reflect.
It is definitely a resource to use over time and that could be revisited to see if your own mindset has changed.
It quite adult-focused, which can be a little daunting when newly-diagnosed, but it would actually be a good starting place.
This book allows you to look at your behaviours and identify ways you have learned to cope, which helps you to understand your own experience more. It is definitely valuable for understanding why we do some of the things we do.
It also allows you to ease into the adhd journey. For me personally as a late-diagnosed adult, it allowed me to reflect on early experiences prior to my diagnosis. I am still working on realising that I don't have to be ashamed for the things I couldn't control.
I enjoyed the myth-busting chapter and the exercises that followed. It acknowledges the complexity of adhd and how it can be difficult to understand, not only for those affected by it but also for thosw around them.
Misinformation can lead to damaging and negative experiences, so knowledge is power and better understanding can go a long way.
For example, adhd hyperfocus is often misunderstood, with individuals with adhd being classified as unfocused and distracted in general. In reality, we have interest-based nervous systems so we are able to focus for extended periods of time when a topic is interesting or challenging, or if there is urgency to the task.
This is a great resource and can be a good supporting resource for finding and understanding yourself.
August 29, 2026
Learning about my ADHD brain is one of my hyperfocuses, so I’ve read a LOT about it. Inside ADHD didn’t teach me a ton of new ADHD facts, but it scratched that itch in a completely different way. Carol Shilliday uses Internal Family Systems (IFS) to explore how living with ADHD can shape the way we see ourselves, including shame, masking, perfectionism, people pleasing, rejection sensitivity, and all the ways we learn to protect ourselves. I’ll admit, the whole “parts of ourselves” thing felt a little woo woo to me at first. But her relatable examples and journal prompts are SO well scaffolded that I went from ‘I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with this’ to having some genuine aha moments.
What I appreciated most was the focus on self compassion. This book goes beyond the diagnostic checklist and gets into what it can actually feel like to live with ADHD, especially when you’ve spent years thinking your struggles were personal failures instead of differences in how your brain works. The journal prompts were probably my favorite part. Sometimes I was already thinking about my answer before I even reached the question, and other times they helped me tease out a thought I don’t think I would have gotten to on my own.
A few of the later sections started to feel repetitive, and I would have loved more concrete, everyday ADHD strategies throughout. But overall, this gave me a genuinely new way to think about a brain I already spend a LOT of time trying to understand. I’d especially recommend it to ADHDers who struggle with self compassion or want to better understand the patterns they’ve developed over time.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
What I appreciated most was the focus on self compassion. This book goes beyond the diagnostic checklist and gets into what it can actually feel like to live with ADHD, especially when you’ve spent years thinking your struggles were personal failures instead of differences in how your brain works. The journal prompts were probably my favorite part. Sometimes I was already thinking about my answer before I even reached the question, and other times they helped me tease out a thought I don’t think I would have gotten to on my own.
A few of the later sections started to feel repetitive, and I would have loved more concrete, everyday ADHD strategies throughout. But overall, this gave me a genuinely new way to think about a brain I already spend a LOT of time trying to understand. I’d especially recommend it to ADHDers who struggle with self compassion or want to better understand the patterns they’ve developed over time.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
August 14, 2026
As a Certified IFS Therapist with late diagnosed ADHD, I am delighted to endorse Inside ADHD by Carol Shilliday, PsyD. Dr. Shilliday’s book is compassionate and insightful bringing both clarity and care to the ADHD experience. I smiled as I read the chapters and sections that felt as they had the ADHD reader in mind with exercises and links to guided meditations mixed in throughout the book supporting focus, novelty, and introspection.
This book not only addressed the wiring we as ADHDers show up with, but it also puts our experience into a social-cultural-environmental context. The text helps the reader identify common ADHD related burdens (some “ah ha” moments here) and offers a path to healing and bringing Self energy to the parts of us who took on roles to protect us from these burdens. The writing felt incredibly validating to my system and I will be purchasing copies for my office as I feel the framing of Inside ADHD will help many of the folx I work with.
I believe the way the author guides the reader through using the IFS model is incredibly neuro-affirming.
I recommend this book for anyone with ADHD, who is wondering if they have ADHD (even if they have a history of high functioning/traditional success), and/or who recently had a child or relative diagnosed with ADHD.
I also recommend Inside ADHD for anyone in the mental health field. It will help inform your work with clients who have ADHD, are questioning ADHD, and it will also help shine a spotlight on how easy it is to miss an ADHD diagnosis for folx who are twice exceptional (2e), high masking, and/or highly capable/high achieving.
-Carie McCoy, Wise Self Counseling
This book not only addressed the wiring we as ADHDers show up with, but it also puts our experience into a social-cultural-environmental context. The text helps the reader identify common ADHD related burdens (some “ah ha” moments here) and offers a path to healing and bringing Self energy to the parts of us who took on roles to protect us from these burdens. The writing felt incredibly validating to my system and I will be purchasing copies for my office as I feel the framing of Inside ADHD will help many of the folx I work with.
I believe the way the author guides the reader through using the IFS model is incredibly neuro-affirming.
I recommend this book for anyone with ADHD, who is wondering if they have ADHD (even if they have a history of high functioning/traditional success), and/or who recently had a child or relative diagnosed with ADHD.
I also recommend Inside ADHD for anyone in the mental health field. It will help inform your work with clients who have ADHD, are questioning ADHD, and it will also help shine a spotlight on how easy it is to miss an ADHD diagnosis for folx who are twice exceptional (2e), high masking, and/or highly capable/high achieving.
-Carie McCoy, Wise Self Counseling
October 14, 2026
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This book has some great tips and advice for helping managing ADHD. I like that each section has journal prompts and questions.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews