Ramona Sharma

 Hi, I’m Ramona. Thanks for stopping by! 

I’m a social worker, trauma counsellor, ADHD/academic coach, & UBC-affiliated researcher. 

I’m also a Third Culture Kid (TCK) who grew up in a diplomatic family and lived in 12 countries.

WHO I WORK WITH

I provide individual and family counselling and ADHD/educational coaching, in person in Vancouver and virtually across BC and Ontario. 

I work with kids/youth, adults, and families with:

• Single-incident and complex trauma/PTSD (e.g., first responders, veterans, intergenerational trauma/abuse)
• ADHD and neurodivergence
• Learning differences (e.g., NVLD, dyslexia)
• Migration experiences (e.g., refugees, immigrants, international students)
• Complex cultural identities (e.g., mixed race, diasporic, and Third Culture (TCK/TCA) backgrounds).  

I have a decade of experience working with these populations.

MY CLIENTS

People I work with spent years being labelled “lazy,” “too much,” or "stupid" before their neurodivergence was recognized. Unlike mainstream opinions, the deepest harm comes not from ADHD itself, but from years of shame and pressure to fit rigid expectations. Trauma itself looks different with ADHD, often involving chronic overwhelm, burnout, rejection sensitivity, emotional intensity, and years of internalized criticism. Too often, support focuses only on “managing symptoms” or medication rather than on the whole person and their strengths, identity, and experiences.

Many mixed-race, migrant, & multicultural ADHD people also carry unique forms of grief and fragmentation. This can look like code-switching so often you don't even know what's “real,” racism from your own communities, hiding parts of yourself to survive Western norms, or pressure to become “successful enough” to justify family sacrifices. For many ADHD POC, there's a “double whammy” where both their brains and their cultural ways of relating to time, productivity, emotion, family, or community are judged against rigid Western expectations around what's “normal”. 

MY APPROACH

As a mixed-race, adult-diagnosed ADHD'er and first gen immigrant, I know what it's like to move between identities, expectations, and worlds while feeling alone but “too much.” I don't see trauma responses, ADHD traits, cultural practices, or emotional intensity as “symptoms” to “manage”, but as meaningful ways of thinking and experiencing the world. 

My goal is to help kids, adults, and families understand themselves beyond shame, labels, and rigid expectations, and realize they deserve care that sees all parts of them as worthy and interesting.

Whether it's counselling (trauma, dissociation, identity, relationships, life transitions), coaching (learning/work difficulties, dyslexia, executive functioning), or a hybrid, my approach prioritizes building competence and confidence in yourself, rather than working against your abilities/values to fit in a box. 

If any of this resonates, go ahead and book a free consult on Jane. At the very least, I can promise you a worthwhile conversation.