GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder that begins in early childhood and affects both children and adults. (ADHD Australia, 2024)

Adult ADHD - Adults with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) often have difficulty concentrating for long periods of time, are easily distracted, or might act or speak before thinking things through. While we might all have these difficulties from time to time, people with ADHD have significant and ongoing difficulties in these areas, which can affect their broader lives, particularly their study, work, and relationships. International studies estimate that about 3% of adults worldwide have been diagnosed with ADHD, with the condition becoming less common in older age groups. While ADHD begins in childhood and symptoms typically improve as children get older, some will continue to have ADHD as adults. (Australian Psychological Society, 2025)

Coaching
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Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. (PWC/ICF Global Coaching Study, 2025)

Coach Practitioner - Someone who provides an ongoing partnership designed to help clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. The coach’s job is to provide support to enhance the skills, resources and creativity that the client already has. (PWC/ICF Global Coaching Study, 2025)

Compersion - The state of happiness, joy or pleasure that comes from delighting in other people’s happiness. In non-monogamy, this term is more specifically used to refer to the positive feeling experienced when your lover is having a positive experience with one of their other lovers. (Fern, 2022)

Consensual Non-Monogamy (CNM) - The practice of having multiple sexual and/or romantic partners at the same time, where all people involved are aware of this relationship arrangement and consent to it. CNM can include, but is not limited to, polyamory, swinging, open marriage, open relationship, solo polyamory, and relationship anarchy. (Fern, 2022).
Note: This coaching practice welcomes those practising consensual polygamous plural marriage as part of cultural tradition or religious faith, including polygynous and polyandrous arrangements.

Digital coaching tools - Software applications or platforms designed to facilitate coaching processes by enabling goal setting, progress tracking, communication, and learning between coaches and clients.

Mental well-being - Refers to a person's emotional and psychological state of overall health and happiness, encompassing resilience, positive emotions, and effective coping with life's challenges. (PWC/ICF Global Coaching Study, 2025)

Metamour - Two people who share a partner, but are not romantically or sexually involved with each other. For example, if you have a partner who also has a spouse, you and their spouse would be matamours, or if you have a boyfriend and a girlfriend who are not involved with each other, the two of them would be metamours to each other (Fern, 2022).

REFERENCES

  • ADHD Australia. (2024, October 21). What is ADHD - ADHD Australia. https://www.adhdaustralia.org.au/about-adhd/
  • Australian Psychological Society. (2025). ADHD in Adults | APS. https://psychology.org.au/for-the-public/psychology-topics/adhd-in-adults
  • Blazina, C. (2024, April 14). Polygamy is rare around the world and mostly confined to a few regions. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/12/07/polygamy-is-rare-around-the-world-and-mostly-confined-to-a-few-regions/
  • Fern, J. (2022). Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma and Consensual Non-monogamy.
  • PwC. (n.d.). ICF Global Coaching Study 2025 - Glossary. ICF Global Coaching Study 2025 - Glossary. Retrieved April 16, 2025, from https://www.pwcresearch.com/uc/ICF_Glossary_English/