Executive Functioning Coaching

Service Description

Veronica provides targeted strategies to support teenagers and adults's unique executive functioning challenges. Before coaching begins, student's current level of executive functioning performance is evaluated through the Brown Executive Function Scale. This scale measures student's current ability in the areas of activation, focus, effort, emotion, memory, and action. Veronica also facilitates a record review of student's IEPs, psychological evaluation, current grades, as well as interviews with student and family members. Coaching is facilitated virtually typically through 1-2 one on one sessions per week. Coaching is most successful when rooted in student centered goals and includes teaching student's about their neurocognitive profile from a strengths based perspective. Skill development is facilitated through a balance of isolated practice opportunities as well as working through student's current courses. Isolated skill practice involves explicitly teaching strategies to target memory, attention and focus, emotional regulation, communication strategies, and problem solving. Together we then apply these strategies to support students in initiating, completing, and turning in individual and multi-step assignments. These same strategies can help students in test preparation. Learning goals are set after the record review and Brown's scale have been completed, but prior to coaching beginning. A session report is sent at the end of every session that contains student's progress towards to their learning goals. A team meeting is conducted in between quarters or semesters. Who is executive coaching right for? Executive coaching is best for student's who do not have any significant academic challenges related to areas like math, writing, or reading. This is because coaching sessions are targeted to executive functioning skills rather than academic deficits. Veronica successfully supports students who have co-existing challenges with emotional regulation that may accompany diagnoses such as anxiety. If student's executive functioning ability is impacted significantly by any co-existing mental health challenges, Veronica may recommend that the student or family also pursue therapeutic services, and can provide a referral if necessary. What is the role of family members in executive functioning coaching? Veronica will meet with student's and families in a team meeting between quarters and share environmental recommendations to support progress.