Executive function skills are what help us to plan, organise, and prioritise what we want to do in life.  This might be schoolwork, keeping our home tidy, remembering the right kit for sports practice, or planning out how we would like a project to go.

We don’t finish developing these skills until around our mid 20s. Many rangatahi/teens struggle with these skills, and life can be even more challenging with ADHD, Autism, and other forms of neurodiversity.

Difficulties with executive function skills can affect family life, school, hobbies, sports and many things that are important to us.

Knowing what we need to do is only part of doing it – sometimes we need support with how to make things happen, and this is what Executive Function Coaching works to improve.

Our coach Stephanie will work together with you on finding realistic ways to approach the challenges that are important to you. She focuses on taking a warm, practical, and positive approach to help rangatahi/young people build skills for a happier and more comfortable life.

Anyone who’d find it helpful to get support with executive function challenges can benefit from coaching.

No diagnosis is required to access coaching but most clients identify as being “wired differently” in some way, for example ADHD, Autistic, gifted (and many others!)

Stephanie works mostly with young people aged 13-25, but is happy to discuss working with younger people age 10+ if they are very motivated to problem solve together.

We focus on what is important to the person doing the coaching work - this can be any aspect of life where planning, organising and prioritising would make life easier and better. For many rangatahi / young people this is the 3 Ss - their study, sports and hobbies, or stuff.

By choosing a specific, relevant, focused challenge we can gain two benefits at once. We work to improve the specific situation which was challenging, but we also help to build transferrable skills in identifying a problem, assessing what is currently not working without shame or blame, and planning ways to work on it that are achievable and practical.

Executive Function Coaching focuses on building skills by working together on day to day challenges that are relevant to the individual person.

Any time we work on changing our skills or behaviour, we experience emotions that can sometimes be difficult. Although the main focus of coaching is on practical problem-solving, Stephanie aims to be consistently sensitive towards the emotional aspect of this process, and to ensure rangatahi / young people feel able to acknowledge this part of the work.

Where rangatahi / young people are needing support with their emotions, processing difficult experiences, or making sense of life, support with this from a Psychologist or Counsellor is likely to be more beneficial than coaching. Although coaching can happen in parallel with therapy or counselling, the additional mental and emotional workload it places on rangatahi / young people may mean it is best to wait until they are feeling ready themselves to take on new challenges.

You will meet with Stephanie, our Executive Function Coach. This can be face to face in our peaceful clinic in Hauraki, Auckland, or via telehealth video call.

The first steps are to talk and get to know what is important to you.

Next we focus in – what do we need to know about this problem?

Opening out – what options do you have to try and solve this?

Choosing – what do you think is achievable?  What would you like to try?

Planning – how can we make it work?  What resources and support will you need?

Finally we work to decide a commitment – what will you do, when, or how often?  When will we review how things are going?  Do you need a plan B? 

We focus on “process goals” rather than outcome goals, as these are more under our control - for example, committing to spending 10 minutes each day revising new Spanish words as a goal, rather than achieving a specific grade.

After your session Stephanie will send you a reminder of what you worked on, what actions you committed to trying, and what the next steps of your plan are.

Absolutely - whānau are a great support, particularly in the first session, and are always welcome and encouraged. Parents and caregivers can also provide useful feedback for rangatahi / young people on how feasible their plans are within the whānau.

In addition, attending together can allow collaboration and skill-building to be shared rather than the parent’s responsibility entirely. We aim to come up with a solution that is practical for the young person to be responsible for most or all of themselves.

The cost is $150 (GST incl) per 45-minute session.

Please contact our Executive Function Coach Stephanie directly on Stephanie@podhealth.nz with any questions or if you wish to book.

We recognise and celebrate that parents and whānau are usually the primary supporters of our rangatahi / young people, and believe that building up their skills in using a coaching approach is of huge value for many families.

At the moment Stephanie does not have capacity to offer specific coaching skills support to individual parents/caregivers, but we are hoping to offer small group workshops very soon.