what does an executive function coach do?

As an executive function (EF) coach, I provide personalized guidance and strategies to help tweens, teens, and young adults improve skills like organization, planning, time management, prioritization, focus, and self-regulation. By working to understand your unique strengths and challenges, I can help develop tailored tools and systems to improve your academic and personal performance, foster confidence and self-awareness, build motivation, and enhance overall life satisfaction.

What ages do you work with?

I work primarily with teenagers (high school students) and adult students in undergraduate and graduate programs. I occasionally work with middle schoolers who may be academically talented but struggling with some aspects of their educational experience.

what is your background and training?

I hold both a Master’s degree and PhD in social work. I was trained in clinical practice/family therapy, but decided to pursue a career in academia rather than therapy. After more than a decade as a professor, with many years of experience helping neurodivergent graduate students, I sought out special training in executive function coaching so that I could better support my neurodivergent students. I have completed two training programs and am currently in the process of becoming certified as an executive function coach.

how is coaching different from therapy?

As a coach, I focus primarily on helping you identify and build skills. You may want to work on skills related to organization, motivation & task initiation, task completion, or communication—all of these are areas that can sometimes be taken for granted in educational settings, but require practice and training. I can help you identify the strategies that work best with your unique strengths and preferences, and then we will practice them until you feel confident in implementing them on your own.

In therapy, the focus tends to be more on your internal life—self-talk, how you perceive yourself and others’ reactions to you, and how you regulate your emotions. Often, these are also areas that are helpful to work on while you engage in skills-based coaching—and I’m happy to communicate with your mental health provider if that would be helpful to our work together or your work with them.