Jenna Free: ADHD, overwhelm, and how to heal your dysregulated nervous system
Women & ADHD
Katy Weber
4.9 • 726 Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2026
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Episode 209 with Jenna Free
“I think the biggest issue is with the current ADHD narrative. People are confusing ‘fight or flight’ and ADHD; they're putting it in a bundle and calling it ADHD. Then people believe, ‘Well, this is how hard it needs to be.’”
Jenna is a therapist living in Calgary, Alberta, who not only specializes in ADHD but also has ADHD herself.
Jenna was diagnosed with ADHD at 32 while in grad school with two young children – so yes, she gets the overwhelm. But instead of accepting the standard narrative that ADHD women are just destined to live in a constant state of frantic energy followed by crashes, she started asking a different question: What if the struggle isn't actually inevitable? What if what we're calling "ADHD symptoms" are actually signs of a nervous system stuck in chronic fight-or-flight?
In this episode, we'll dive into Jenna's journey, her insights on ADHD regulation, and how she helps others through her ADHD regulation groups and certification program. We also chat about her brand new book, “The Simple Guide to ADHD Regulation: The Secret to Finding Balance, Getting Things Done, and Enjoying Your Life.”
Key topics discussed:
- The difference between ADHD traits and fight-or-flight responses
- Internal vs. external regulation strategies
- Why overwhelm is actually a cognitive distortion and sign of dysregulation
- The role of belief work in nervous system regulation
- How regulation can actually increase productivity and capacity
- The power of group work for ADHD healing
- Challenging the narrative that ADHD struggle is inevitable
Website: jennafree.com
Instagram: @adhdwithjennafree
Links & Resources:
Jenna’s book: The Simple Guide to ADHD Regulation: The Secret to Finding Balance, Getting Things Done, and Enjoying Your Life
Jenna’s podcast: ADHD with Jenna Free
Dr. Anita Johnston's The Log
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We can regulate through avoidance. |
| 0:02.5 | Simply don't do the thing and you're going to be less dysregulated. |
| 0:05.7 | But obviously we're not looking to do that and then we're not doing that on purpose. |
| 0:09.9 | But we just really want to be aware of what we're doing and how it's soothing the dysregulation |
| 0:16.1 | and that's not the same as healing the dysregulation. |
| 0:24.0 | Hello, and I'm not. not the same as healing the dysregulation. Hello and welcome to the women and ADHD podcast. |
| 0:28.2 | I'm your host, Katie Weber. |
| 0:29.7 | I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 45, and it completely turned my world upside |
| 0:35.6 | down. |
| 0:36.1 | I've been looking back at so much of my life, school, |
| 0:40.2 | jobs, my relationships, all of it with this new lens, and it has been nothing short of overwhelming. |
| 0:46.2 | I quickly discovered I was not the only woman to have this experience, and now I interview |
| 0:51.0 | other women who, like me, discovered in adulthood they have ADHD and are |
| 0:55.8 | finally feeling like they understand who they are and how to best lean into their strengths, |
| 1:01.7 | both professionally and personally. |
| 1:04.0 | Hello and welcome back to the women and ADHD podcast. |
| 1:08.7 | Here we are at episode 209 in which I interviewed Jenna Free. Jenna is a therapist |
| 1:15.2 | living in Calgary, Alberta, who not only specializes in working with clients with ADHD, |
| 1:20.3 | but also has ADHD herself. Jenna was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 32 while she was |
| 1:25.4 | in grad school with two young children at home. So yes, |
| 1:29.1 | she definitely gets the overwhelm. But instead of accepting the standard narrative that ADHD |
| 1:34.1 | women are just destined to live in a constant state of frantic energy followed by crashes, |
... |
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