What is executive function coaching?
"Executive function" is a trendy phrase that we are hearing a lot in schools, work-places, and in the mental health world. We understand them to be the way we organize our thoughts and actions in order to complete tasks.
As a speech-language pathologist, I have treated clients with attention deficits, memory loss, organizational language, planning, social and pragmatic perspective taking, sequencing, comparing, cause-effect and so many other cognitive foundations for executive function. I have been working with and training for executive function processes for 11 years, and have been managing my coaching business for over 6 years.
I use a meta-cognitive approach in order to train my clients to understand their own brains. I like to educate them, and use their lived experience of success and struggle in order to devise concrete steps forward. People are often curious about diagnoses related to executive dysfunction, though I prefer to emphasize that each person has a unique process and lifestyle that brings them to my office door. ADHD, Autism, language disorders, dyslexia, gifted learners, and everyday stresses can bring struggles with executive function.
Subdomains to consider include:
Attention
Impulse control
Task initiation
Task persistence
Self-monitoring
Shifting & flexibility
Social awareness & perspective taking
Organization (spatial)
Time management & planning
Executive function coaching may look like structuring binders, color coding systems for categorization, scheduling with timers and calendars and creating a system of cues to keep someone "focused" or "on track". I may employ some of these techniques, but my expertise is in the cognitive process that underlies each of these strategies. I can create a system that may work this time, but I prefer to teach my clients and their support team WHY we are using a tool, and how to modify it for the next thing which may be similar, but different.
Did you know that there are multiple types of attention? "Focus" is simply one small skill set.
Did you know that "working memory" isn't about recalling information, but about how you manipulate it in your mind while solving a problem?
How do we store memories? Can we recall something we never stored in the first place?
What is the role of dopamine, adrenaline, and other body-chemistry in executive function?
Have you thought about how our emotions impact our perspective on time? "Time flies when you're having fun" and "a watched pot never boils". How do our feelings about the work we have affect our perception? How it this related to planning and attention?
Do you think that our feelings impact our spatial experiences as well?
What does it mean to "transition" and how different do two tasks need to be in order for us to PLAN to transition?
Did you know that we use the past to predict the future?
Have you heard that the teenage brain is in the middle of a neurological deconstruction/reconstruction phase (from about 12-23)?
I use a meta-cognitive approach in order to train my clients to understand their own brains. I like to educate them, and use their lived experience of success and struggle in order to devise concrete steps forward. People are often curious about diagnoses related to executive dysfunction, though I prefer to emphasize that each person has a unique process and lifestyle that brings them to my office door. ADHD, Autism, language disorders, dyslexia, gifted learners, and everyday stresses can bring struggles with executive function.
Subdomains to consider include:
Attention
Impulse control
Task initiation
Task persistence
Self-monitoring
Shifting & flexibility
Social awareness & perspective taking
Organization (spatial)
Time management & planning
Executive function coaching may look like structuring binders, color coding systems for categorization, scheduling with timers and calendars and creating a system of cues to keep someone "focused" or "on track". I may employ some of these techniques, but my expertise is in the cognitive process that underlies each of these strategies. I can create a system that may work this time, but I prefer to teach my clients and their support team WHY we are using a tool, and how to modify it for the next thing which may be similar, but different.
Did you know that there are multiple types of attention? "Focus" is simply one small skill set.
Did you know that "working memory" isn't about recalling information, but about how you manipulate it in your mind while solving a problem?
How do we store memories? Can we recall something we never stored in the first place?
What is the role of dopamine, adrenaline, and other body-chemistry in executive function?
Have you thought about how our emotions impact our perspective on time? "Time flies when you're having fun" and "a watched pot never boils". How do our feelings about the work we have affect our perception? How it this related to planning and attention?
Do you think that our feelings impact our spatial experiences as well?
What does it mean to "transition" and how different do two tasks need to be in order for us to PLAN to transition?
Did you know that we use the past to predict the future?
Have you heard that the teenage brain is in the middle of a neurological deconstruction/reconstruction phase (from about 12-23)?
If you're interested in any of these thoughts, feel that these topics are applicable to you or your loved one, or feel these questions are the beginning of a longer conversation, please contact me for a free consultation!
