Backpacking Through ADHD

As the school year comes to an end, many ADHD kids aren't just counting down to summer—they're carrying the emotional weight of months spent trying to focus, fit in, regulate big feelings, and hold everything together.

When that invisible backpack gets too heavy, emotions often spill over. What adults sometimes see as overreacting, defiance, or attitude may actually be a nervous syst...

In this episode of Backpacking Through ADHD, Tera sits down with clinical psychologist and behavior analyst Dr. Katrina Ostmeyer for a powerful conversation about what’s really happening underneath ADHD behaviors.

Together, they explore emotional regulation, the nervous system, perfectionism, masking, and the difference between defiance and dysregulation—especially in children who don’t yet have the words to expla...

In this episode of Backpacking Through ADHD, we’re talking about something that happens fast, often, and sometimes leaves a mark we don’t know how to fix: what happens after the impulse.

This conversation is especially for ADHD kids who have ever had a moment they wish they could take back… and for the parents and caregivers helping guide them through it.

When emotions move faster than words, ADHD kids can react ...

In this episode of Backpacking Through ADHD, Tera explores what happens when the body is carrying more than anyone can see. Becoming Regulated: When Your Nervous System Runs the Meeting is a conversation for women with ADHD who look composed on the outside but know how much effort it takes to stay steady underneath.

Tera reflects on the difference between functioning and feeling regulated, the invisible load so many women carry int...

In this episode of Backpacking Through ADHD, we’re talking about what it means to help kids name their feelings without shame.

So many ADHD kids feel things deeply and quickly, but when the words don’t come fast enough, what gets noticed first is the behavior. The tone. The tears. The shutdown. The frustration. This episode explores a gentler way in by thinking about feelings like weather.

What if instead of expecting k...

If your home feels like a constant restart, you’re not failing—you’re carrying too much.

In this quarter’s Becoming Lighter collaboration, I’m joined by Treenah Kight for a simple, permission-based conversation about reclaiming energy in real life. We’re talking about the Energy Reset Zone: one small, intentional space that helps reduce decision fatigue, lower the mental load, and create a softer...

What if the version of you everyone praises is also the version that’s wearing you out?

In this episode of Backpacking Through ADHD, Tera talks about unmasking from a very real place—not as someone who has it all figured out, but as someone who’s been high-functioning for a long time and is starting to feel the weight of it. When you’re the capable one, the dependable one, the one who “gets it done,&rd...

Becoming Brave at School is about the kind of courage ADHD kids practice every day, even when no one calls it brave. In this episode, Grayson joins me as we talk about what school bravery really looks like: starting when your brain feels stuck, coming back after a hard moment, repairing when things go sideways, and telling the truth when it would be easier to hide.

One thing teachers have praised in Grayson for years is his honesty...

After almost two months of space, reflection, and quiet intention, a new season begins.

In this first episode of 2026, Tera introduces Becoming — a year-long exploration of identity across generations. What does it mean to become who you are as a child navigating ADHD? What does it mean to become who you’re meant to be as a woman rediscovering herself later in life?

This season is not about fixing. It’s not about ...

2025 was my reflection year, the year Backpacking Through ADHD began, the year I found my voice, and the year everything changed.

In this special season finale, I’m closing out my very first year of the podcast by looking back on the journey that shaped it all. I reflect on why I started this show, what I learned about ADHD in myself and my son, how my parenting evolved, and how this community grew into something far bigger t...

December can feel magical… and completely exhausting — especially for ADHD brains.

In this cozy, fireside-style episode of Backpacking Through ADHD, Tera Greenwood slows things down and gently explores why the end of the year hits ADHD adults and kids so hard. From the dopamine chase and burnout cycle to emotional overload and decision fatigue, this episode offers compassion, understanding, and practical ways to find r...

December shopping with an ADHD brain is not for the faint of heart. You go in for one thing, come out with seven, forget two, and somehow still feel like you missed something important. If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you.

In this week’s episode of Backpacking Through ADHD, I’m wearing my “That’s a Terrible Idea, I’m In” hat and taking you on a fun, honest, story-filled journey throu...

December is here… which means joy, chaos, glitter explosions, forgotten gifts, sensory overload, emotional intensification, and that magical moment where you decorate for 12 minutes and then mysteriously lose your entire holiday spirit. If you’re an ADHD adult, parent, or part of an ADHD family — you KNOW exactly what I’m talking about.

In this hilarious, heartfelt holiday special, we dive into the real ADH...

This week on Backpacking Through ADHD, we’re leaning into the beautiful contradiction of being both wildly grateful and slightly chaotic. Because let’s be honest, gratitude with ADHD doesn’t always look calm and collected. Sometimes it’s loud, messy, and alive.

In this episode, Tera explores what it means to be thankful, grateful, and slightly feral, finding peace in imperfection, laughter in the chaos, and ...

This week on Backpacking Through ADHD, we’re slowing down and taking a deep breath to explore the power of intentional reflection. 🌿

So often, ADHD brains race toward what’s next—or replay what went wrong. But what happens when we pause to notice what’s right?

In this cozy, heart-forward episode, Tera dives into the real, messy, beautiful practice of gratitude for ADHD minds and families. You’ll learn...

What happens when ADHD meets the chaos of midlife? When emotional regulation collides with hormonal imbalance, and everything—focus, patience, even mental stability—feels like quicksand?

In this powerful, heart-forward episode, host Tera Greenwood explores three pillars that help ADHD minds survive and thrive through life’s hardest seasons: Grace — learning self-compassion when your brain and hormones feel l...

This week on Backpacking Through ADHD, we’re exploring the kind of love that steadies us — the friendships that regulate our ADHD brains and remind us we’re not alone. From heart-hat dinners with lifelong friends to working side-by-side with a best friend who celebrates nonlinear thinking, this episode dives deep into how connection shapes our focus, creativity, and sense of calm.

Tera shares how adult friendship ...

After the “Fiesty” episode, a listener asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks: "What do you do with the weight that comes with owning who you are?"

That conversation inspired this week’s episode—Rising Above Labels: Defying Gravity with ADHD.

In this deeply personal episode, we’re talking about the emotional gravity that comes with ADHD—how labels, expectations, and self-doubt can quiet...