What is executive functioning and why is it important?
You may have heard the term but do you really know what it means and why it’s important? Both children and adults need these skills in order to make appropriate decisions and to be productive adults.
If these skills weren’t learned and practiced in a persons formative years, it’s likely they will struggle with them in adulthood. This is why Balanced Health Wellness Consulting offers our executive functioning coaching services to clients of all ages.
At its root, executive functioning is the ability to plan, focus our attention, remember instructions and multitask. A person with good grasp of these skills is able to prioritize a list of tasks, set goals and achieve them successfully while controlling impulsive behaviors that are likely to get in the way.
A few examples of these important skills include…
- self-awareness
- inhibition
- non-verbal working memory (the ability to remember things that aren’t described or spoken of such as a persons face or an appointment)
- verbal working memory (the ability to remember things that are usually required to be verbalized such as vocabulary definitions, math facts or details of an event)
- emotional regulation
- motivational regulation
- planning
- problem solving and more!
What causes poor executive functioning?
We’re not born with good (or bad) executive functioning, although we can be born with disorders that make learning them more difficult, thus requiring intervention. These disorders can have both biological as well as non-biological roots, however, the vast majority of causes are a result of a biological condition, illness or injury. To improve our executive functioning we have to learn, develop, practice and apply them in real world scenarios.
Examples of biological disorders, illnesses or injuries that can lead to poor executive functioning include…
- ADHD
- autism
- depression or anxiety
- obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- dementia
- traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and more
How can Balanced Health Wellness Consulting help me?
Every client presents their own set of unique circumstances and no plan is “one size fits all”. Our coaches have decades of experience working with individuals of all ages with learning challenges and with those who simply learn differently. If executive functioning is an area that you or your child struggles with reach out to us to see what we can do for you!
To learn more about what we can do for you reach out to us for a free consultation!