About

About Gina Pera

With more than 22 years in this field, Gina Pera is an internationally recognized author, speaker, and educator on Adult ADHD, especially as it affects relationships.

She is known for her strong cross-disciplinary knowledge of ADHD—and translating complexity into clear, easy-to-understand terms. Preeminent ADHD experts praise Gina's work for its clarity, compassion, and accuracy.

In 1999, however, she was a veteran award-winning print journalist who had the same misunderstandings of ADHD that most everybody had then (even now!). She remembers feeling alone and isolated. Mental health professionals did not understand—and therefore misinterpreted—the challenges she and her new husband faced.

Now in 2022, many mental health professionals still don't understand. Neither do many prescribers, sleep specialists, and addiction specialists. That's why she spent years creating this grass-roots course — to help individuals immediately and to elevate the standard of care.

A Personal Discovery

Gina's career path changed when her 37-year-old husband was diagnosed with ADHD. The couple learned of the possibility not from their repeated attempts at couples counseling. Instead, she had randomly picked up a new neurobiology title at the library. As luck would have it, it touched upon Adult ADHD. This was 1999.

This discovery—and the positive difference it made in her husband’s life, her life, and their marriage—launched her desire to educate the public on this poorly recognized condition.

Speaking Internationally

By invitation, Gina has presented to public and professional groups worldwide for more than 20 years.

She served as a plenary speaker for the International Congress on Psychopharmacology in Antalya, Turkey, and the 13th Annual CADDRA ADHD Conference.

She and Arthur L. Robin, PhD, have co-presented at national conferences to clinicians and the public.

This collaboration led to Gina's second book, co-writing Adult ADHD-Focused Couple Therapy: Clinical Interventions.

Gina has participated in several documentaries about ADHD, including ADD & Loving It?!.

She has also provided background for numerous news programs and newspaper articles.

First Blog Devoted to Adult ADHD

The ADHD Roller Coaster is the first website of any kind on adult ADHD. Since 2008! It has won numerous awards and is favored by many professionals in the field.

You'll find a broad range of original reporting and first-person essays by adults with ADHD and their partners.

The comments alone offer a wealth of insights and "lived" experience.

Public Service

Gina served, in a pro bono capacity, as coordinator of CHADD Silicon Valley 2000-2024. She was named CHADD 2007 National Volunteer of the Year.

In her previous career as a print journalist, her work for USA Weekend Magazine won

—the prestigious Best Magazine Edition Award from The Association for Women in Communications

—The Unity Award in Media, recognizing accurate exposure of issues affecting minorities and disabled persons.

She holds a BS in Mass Communications (magna cum laude) from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, Dr. Goat.

Highly Endorsed Body of Work

Gina's first book is Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.?: Stopping the Roller Coaster When Someone You Love Has Attention Deficit Disorder (1201 Alarm Press, 2008).

It remains popular and relevant. Translated now into Turkish and Spanish, the book garnered four national awards, including ForeWord Magazine’s Psychology Book of the Year.

She co-wrote Adult ADHD-Focused Couple Therapy: Clinical Interventions with psychologist Arthur L. Robin, PhD.

Dr. Russell Barkley invited Gina to contribute the first-ever chapter on couple therapy to his leading ADHD clinical guide: Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Handbook for Diagnosis and Treatment (Fourth Edition) (Guilford Press, 2014).