Attention Talk Radio · Jeff Copper, MBA, PCC, PCAC, CPCC, ACG

Mastering Emotional Self-Regulation with ADHD: Theory and Practice

November 5, 2025·38 min·3 clips

Jeff Copper reveals the four-step formula to regulate emotions with ADHD, starting with the hardest part: noticing you're in an emotional state.

The problem is speed. Jeff describes emotional dysregulation as something that has to be caught while it is happening. Miss that first moment and the person is already off to the races. So the first move is noticing. The next is pausing long enough for the thinking brain to get a little room from the primitive fight-or-freeze response. Breathing is not just a nice add-on here. Jeff explains it in plain coach language: when emotion spikes, blood flow favors the primitive brain, so oxygen and counting can help calm the body. Counting one, two, three gives the mind a small job, and that job helps create distance from the trigger instead of fusing with it. Language matters too. Jeff points to children learning emotion names through the Muppets to show why frustration, anger, and other feelings become easier to handle once they have a name. Name it, tame it. That phrase does a lot of work in the conversation, because naming a feeling makes it something you can look at instead of something that owns the whole room. Externalizing gives people a bit of leverage. Once the feeling can be seen from the outside, even for a second, there is a better chance of choosing a response instead of getting pulled by impulse. Practice is the less glamorous part. The Marines example makes the point cleanly: repetition is how people keep automatic behavior from taking over when pressure rises. There is no magic switch. By the end, Jeff and Greg keep the promise practical. Regulation is hard, but workable with effort and a lot of practice. The tone stays encouraging, with a coach's edge: calm the body, name the emotion, and rehearse the next response before the hard moment arrives.

As heard by us

Plainspoken ADHD guidance on slowing the moment down before it runs away.

The episode keeps returning to one simple move: notice the trigger, pause before the reaction takes over, breathe, count, and give the thinking brain a chance to show up again. It treats emotional self-regulation with ADHD as something practical, not mystical.

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Why you'd press play

You want practical ADHD guidance on emotional self-regulation.

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