Find an Executive Function Coach

An executive function coach is a specialized professional who helps individuals develop and strengthen the cognitive skills needed for daily life success. Executive functions are the basic skills of self-management that allow us to set goals and achieve them. They include areas like staying focused, being organized, planning and prioritizing and recognizing when we're off track and figuring out how to recover.

Executive Function Coaching (EFC) is a personalized, structured support service that helps individuals strengthen these key mental skills. Unlike traditional therapy, which often focuses on processing emotions and past experiences, executive function coaching is action-oriented and skill-building focused. Coaches work collaboratively with clients to develop practical strategies for managing daily tasks, improving organizational systems, and building sustainable habits.

Executive function coaches typically address core areas including working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, time management, task initiation, organization, planning, and self-monitoring. These professionals bridge the gap between clinical mental health services and practical life skills training.

People with ADHD are more prone to struggle with these critical cognitive skills, but they're not the only people looking for support. ADHD executive function coaches specialize in understanding the unique neurological differences that affect attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. These coaches are particularly valuable because they recognize that ADHD brains work differently, not deficiently.

An ADHD executive function coach focuses on helping clients work with their brain's natural patterns rather than against them. They understand that traditional organizational systems often fail for individuals with ADHD and instead develop personalized approaches that account for dopamine-driven motivation, hyperfocus periods, and attention regulation challenges.

These coaches often incorporate ADHD-specific strategies such as body doubling (working alongside someone for accountability), breaking large tasks into micro-steps, using external motivators, and creating environmental modifications that support focus and organization.

Executive skills training through coaching involves systematic skill development across multiple domains. The process typically begins with a comprehensive assessment to identify specific strengths and challenges. EF coaching is a designed alliance that empowers clients to improve their ability to experience successful outcomes in school and life.

Training components usually include:

Time Management and Planning: Learning to estimate time accurately, create realistic schedules, and break projects into manageable components. Coaches help clients develop systems for prioritizing tasks and managing competing demands.

Organization Systems: Developing personalized systems for managing physical spaces, digital files, and information. This includes creating sustainable filing systems, managing paperwork, and organizing living and working environments.

Task Initiation and Completion: Building skills for starting difficult or overwhelming tasks and following through to completion. Coaches teach strategies for overcoming procrastination and maintaining momentum.

Attention and Focus Management: Learning techniques for maintaining concentration, managing distractions, and optimizing work environments for sustained attention.

Self-Monitoring and Metacognition: Developing awareness of one's own thinking processes, recognizing when strategies aren't working, and adjusting approaches as needed.

Emotional Regulation: Building skills for managing frustration, anxiety, and overwhelm that often accompany executive function challenges.

The training is highly individualized, with coaches adapting their approach based on each client's learning style, life circumstances, and specific goals.

College presents unique executive function challenges, as students must navigate increased independence, complex schedules, and higher academic demands. EF coaching teaches students how to organize, plan, prioritize, manage time, maintain focus, and study efficiently.

Executive function coaching for college students typically addresses:

Academic Planning: Developing semester-long planning strategies, managing multiple course requirements, and balancing academic, social, and work responsibilities.

Study Skills and Learning Strategies: Teaching effective note-taking methods, study techniques that work with individual learning styles, and test preparation strategies.

Transition Support: Helping students adjust to college life, navigate new social environments, and manage homesickness or anxiety.

Independent Living Skills: Supporting students in managing daily life tasks such as laundry, meal planning, financial management, and maintaining living spaces.

Course Load Management: Learning to balance challenging coursework, understand when to seek help, and make informed decisions about course selection and academic pacing.

Many colleges now offer executive function coaching services through their disability services offices or counseling centers. Some institutions have dedicated executive function specialists who work specifically with students who have ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, or other conditions affecting executive function.