Questions people actually ask
Everything about how this works, what it costs, and where it stops — in plain language, without the hedging. If your question isn't here, email me and I'll answer it directly.
The basics
What is PKJ Coaching, exactly?
PKJ Coaching is a nervous system–centered coaching practice for people with ADHD, founded by Pen King Jr. in New York. We work at the level of the nervous system — not task management, not habit stacking, not surface optimization. The work is forward-focused, action-oriented, and deeply personalized. It is not therapy and does not replace medical care.
How is this different from other ADHD coaching?
Most ADHD coaching focuses on task systems, accountability, and productivity tools — all of which sit on top of the nervous system. PKJ Coaching goes underneath them. We work on the regulation capacity that makes everything else possible. The result isn’t a better system. It’s a regulated person who doesn’t need to rely on pressure or perfect systems to function.
Who is this for?
People with ADHD who look fine from the outside and are exhausted underneath it — people who have already tried the apps, the systems, and the medication adjustments, and concluded, wrongly, that the failure was theirs.
Is this research-backed?
PKJ Coaching is grounded in polyvagal theory, somatic neuroscience, nutritional psychiatry, and behavioral psychology. The methodology draws from established research frameworks while being adapted for practical, real-world application in a coaching — not clinical — context.
What does 1:1 with Pen involve?
One-to-one holistic ADHD coaching with Pen. It starts with the free 30-minute call, where you map what is driving your dysregulation and hear honestly whether the work is a fit.
If it is, you meet weekly — by video, or in person in New York — and you are measured daily, so every week’s adjustment is made from your own numbers rather than from memory. The sequence is deliberate: regulate first, then rebuild focus and follow-through on that foundation instead of on urgency. Concretely that means somatic regulation, executive function scaffolding and burnout recovery, a personalized daily practice adjusted each week, and support between sessions.
Three ways to begin
What can I try on my own?
Two things, both free and neither requiring an account. The measurement — five questions, about a minute — scores how regulated your nervous system is right now, names a band in plain language, and points you at the one reset that fits your lowest answer. It is an original instrument, not a validated clinical test, and not a diagnosis. The reset library has twelve guided experiences that run in your browser, with no signup, payment, or schedule. The Holistic Map is free too, once you make a free account: a chart of eight regulation systems built from what you have already done here, naming the one under most strain and the one upstream of it.
What does Ask PKJ cost?
Nothing. Ask PKJ is free. You can ask 5 questions a day without signing up, and 10 more a day if you choose to add your email.
The 30-minute call with Pen is free too.
How do I work with Pen directly?
Book a free 30-minute call. You will map what is happening, hear Pen’s honest read on the pattern, and decide whether one-to-one coaching fits. There is no pitch and no decision required on the call.
Therapy, medical care, and scope
Is nervous system coaching the same as therapy?
No. PKJ Coaching is forward-focused coaching — it is not medical or psychiatric treatment, and it does not replace therapy or medical care. Therapy often works backward through history to process what happened to you; nervous system coaching works forward from where your body is right now, building the regulation capacity that lets you function without running on pressure. Many clients do both, and the two support each other well.
Is Pen a licensed therapist or doctor?
No. Pen King Jr. is a graduate of Health Coach Institute’s Advanced Health Coach program, an NBHWC-approved training program. He is not a licensed therapist, physician, or medical provider, and PKJ Coaching is not a licensed medical practice. He does not diagnose, treat, or advise on medication.
Can I do this alongside my therapist or prescriber?
Yes, and that is the norm. The work is designed to run alongside existing clinical care rather than instead of it. If clinical material surfaces in a session, the coaching pauses and Pen sends you back to your clinician — that is a stated part of the agreement with every client, not a case-by-case judgment call.
Who is this not a fit for?
Pen does not take clients who are in crisis, who have significant untreated depression, active substance use beyond a prescribed medication, an eating disorder, or psychiatric instability. He also does not take clients whose prescriber hasn’t been part of the conversation. If you reach out and need something other than coaching, he will say so and point you toward it.
Medication and tapering
Can this help me reduce my reliance on stimulants?
It can support that process — when appropriate and in coordination with your prescribing physician. PKJ Coaching helps build the regulation capacity that stimulants have been simulating, which creates conditions where gradual, medically-supervised reduction becomes more viable. This is not anti-medication. Clients always work alongside their prescribers.
Is PKJ Coaching anti-medication?
No. The position is anti-dependency, which is not the same thing. Plenty of people should stay exactly where they are and some should go up. This work exists for adults who have quietly outgrown a dose, suspect there is something underneath it they have never addressed, and would rather find out with support than by white-knuckling it alone.
Who decides my dose and schedule if I taper?
Your prescriber, entirely. They decide whether to taper at all, the dose, the schedule, the pace, and any decision to pause, slow down, or reverse. The coaching only addresses the nervous system regulation underneath — building capacity, giving you language for returning body signals, and flagging early when something should go back to your prescriber.
My medication used to work and now it doesn’t. What is going on?
Often the cause is underneath the medication rather than in it. A nervous system that has been running on threat for years keeps raising the baseline the medication has to overcome, so the same dose delivers less. That is a regulation question, not only a dosing question — and it is worth raising with your prescriber as well.
Sessions, timing, and logistics
Do I have to be in New York?
No. Pen is based in New York City and meets NYC clients in person when it is useful, but the work is delivered by video and most of the program runs that way regardless of where you live. For ADHD in particular that is an advantage rather than a compromise: removing a commute removes a reliable source of dysregulation and one more appointment to be late for. What matters is that sessions land at a time you can actually be present for, so scheduling across time zones gets worked out on the free call.
ADHD coaching in New York → · Choosing an ADHD coach in New York →
How long before I notice anything?
Individual results vary, and nobody should promise you a date. The specific regulation practices are built to work in under two minutes, so most people feel something shift in a single session. Coaching runs over time because rebuilding a baseline — rather than getting temporary relief — is the part that takes months, not days. ADHD burnout in particular tends to take longer to recover from than people expect.
What happens after I book a call?
You book a free 30-minute call using any of the buttons on this site. On the call, you and Pen map what’s driving your dysregulation and you leave with a clear next step — whether or not you work together. There’s no pitch and no pressure. If 1:1 coaching is a fit, Pen will walk you through next steps then.
How do I know if I’m ready for this?
If you’re asking that question, you’re probably closer to ready than you think. The clients who get the most from this work are people who are genuinely tired of the way things have been — not looking for another system to try, but willing to do something fundamentally different. If that’s you, book a call.
I have tried coaching before and it did not work. Why would this be different?
Because most of what gets called ADHD coaching works on the layer above the problem. If the systems kept collapsing, the usual reason is that they were built on a nervous system running on threat, and no amount of better structure fixes that. Whether this specific work is different for you is exactly what a free session is for.
The cheapest way to find out is free
Try a guided reset right now, or book a free 30-minute call and leave with a clear next step. No card, no pitch.
No obligation. See whether coaching fits.
More from PKJ Coaching: Podcast guest info · Referrals · How the free tools fit together · Twelve one-tap resets · All links · For clinicians
Pen King Jr. is a graduate of Health Coach Institute's Advanced Health Coach program, an NBHWC-approved training program. He is not a licensed therapist, physician, or medical provider, and PKJ Coaching does not provide medical advice or manage medication.