Executive Functioning Therapy

Executive Functioning Therapy

Helping Your Brain Manage Life: Focus, Plan, Regulate, Achieve

If your child is bright, capable, and full of potential, but still struggles to get started, stay organized, follow through on tasks, complete reading and writing assignments, manage emotions, or keep up with daily demands, executive functioning may be part of the picture.

At Be A Problem Solver Services, we provide executive functioning support for children, teens, and young adults in Cary, Chapel Hill, and Fuquay Varina. We help build the skills behind independence, follow-through, self-management, and success at home, at school, and in everyday life.

What is Executive Functioning?


Executive functioning is the brain’s self-management system. It refers to the brain-based skills that help us plan, organize, begin tasks, manage time, remember information, regulate emotions, shift between tasks, and follow through. These are the skills that help us actually do what needs to get done. You can think of executive functioning as the CEO of the brain, organizing all the moving parts so the rest of the body can carry out daily life with more confidence, control, and flexibility.

A child with executive functioning challenges often knows what to do, but struggles to do it consistently. They may have the ability, but not the systems, regulation, or self-management skills to carry it out smoothly.

A child with executive functioning challenges often knows what to do, but struggles to do it consistently. They may have the ability, but not the systems, regulation, or self-management skills to carry it out smoothly.

Executive functioning challenges can affect things like:

  • organization
  • planning
  • task initiation
  • time management
  • working memory
  • emotional regulation
  • impulse control
  • flexible thinking
  • follow-through
  • independence with routines and responsibilities

For neurodivergent children and teens, including those with ADHD, autism, anxiety, learning differences, and twice-exceptional (2e) profiles, executive functioning is not just a small challenge. It is a foundational skill set that is often overlooked and misunderstood. These struggles are common in neurodivergent kids, but executive functioning challenges can also show up in children without a formal diagnosis.

Helping Your Brain Manage Life: Focus, Plan, Regulate, Achieve

If your child is bright, capable, and full of potential, but still struggles to get started, stay organized, follow through on tasks, complete reading and writing assignments, manage emotions, or keep up with daily demands, executive functioning may be part of the picture.

At Be A Problem Solver Services, we provide executive functioning support for children, teens, and young adults in Cary, Chapel Hill, and Fuquay Varina. We help build the skills behind independence, follow-through, self-management, and success at home, at school, and in everyday life.

What is Executive Functioning?


Executive functioning is the brain’s self-management system. It refers to the brain-based skills that help us plan, organize, begin tasks, manage time, remember information, regulate emotions, shift between tasks, and follow through. These are the skills that help us actually do what needs to get done. You can think of executive functioning as the CEO of the brain, organizing all the moving parts so the rest of the body can carry out daily life with more confidence, control, and flexibility.

A child with executive functioning challenges often knows what to do, but struggles to do it consistently. They may have the ability, but not the systems, regulation, or self-management skills to carry it out smoothly.

Executive functioning challenges can affect things like:

  • organization
  • planning
  • task initiation
  • time management
  • working memory
  • emotional regulation
  • impulse control
  • flexible thinking
  • follow-through
  • independence with routines and responsibilities

For neurodivergent children and teens, including those with ADHD, autism, anxiety, learning differences, and twice-exceptional (2e) profiles, executive functioning is not just a small challenge. It is a foundational skill set that is often overlooked and misunderstood. These struggles are common in neurodivergent kids, but executive functioning challenges can also show up in children without a formal diagnosis.

What can Executive Functioning challenges look like?


Executive functioning struggles can show up in many ways.

Your child might:

  • have a hard time getting started on homework, chores, or projects
  • lose papers, materials, or personal belongings
  • forget directions or only remember part of what was said
  • have difficulty with writing assignments
  • find it challenging to maintain reading routines or answer reading comprehension questions
  • struggle to break down larger tasks into steps
  • rush through work or miss important details
  • get overwhelmed easily
  • have big reactions when plans change
  • procrastinate until the last minute
  • have difficulty managing time or transitions
  • need repeated reminders for everyday tasks
  • know what to do, but still have trouble following through

These struggles are real, frustrating, and often misunderstood. They are not simply about laziness, lack of intelligence, or not trying hard enough.

Executive Functioning Sessions


Executive functioning sessions are practical, supportive, and individualized. These sessions are focused on skill-building, problem-solving, and helping your child function more successfully in daily life.

Depending on your child’s age and needs, sessions may focus on:

  • creating organization systems that work in real life
  • improving planning and time management
  • breaking down overwhelming tasks
  • building routines
  • strengthening task initiation and follow-through
  • improving emotional regulation
  • increasing flexible thinking
  • learning how to manage school demands more independently
  • developing self-awareness and self-advocacy

We also help parents understand what is getting in the way and how to support skill-building outside of sessions. Parent involvement is essential to the success of executive functioning support. These skills usually do not improve from one session a week alone, so parents play an important role in helping strategies carry over at home.

There is often “homework” between sessions, such as practicing routines, using new tools, or supporting follow-through. Our goal is to help your child build strategies that work in real life, not just during the session.

We use a variety of evidence-based frameworks that may help you and your child improve these skills sets. Some examples of these strategies include Declarative Language, Zones of Regulation, Social Thinking, Cognit Connections, Seeds of Learning, Lindamood-Bell, and many others.

Executive Functioning Intake & Report


Our executive functioning intake is a comprehensive evaluation designed to help us better understand how your child manages daily demands, where they are struggling, what strengths they already have, and what kind of support will be most helpful.

This evaluation is not just a formality. It helps us build a clear clinical picture so we can make meaningful recommendations and guide treatment in a targeted way.

During the intake, we look at areas such as:

  • planning and organization
  • working memory
  • attention and follow-through
  • task initiation
  • emotional regulation
  • flexible thinking
  • independence with routines and responsibilities
  • language demands related to learning and daily functioning
  • how challenges are showing up at home, school, and in everyday life

The intake may include:

  • parent or caregiver interview
  • discussion of concerns, goals, and history
  • direct interaction with your child or teen
  • observation
  • structured tasks and activities
  • review of current functioning across settings
  • recommendations for next steps and support

The goal is not simply to say that executive functioning is “hard.” The goal is to understand how hard it is for your child, how it is affecting daily life, and what support is most appropriate moving forward.

After the evaluation, you will receive a written report.

This report typically includes:

  • a summary of your concerns
  • your child’s strengths
  • areas of difficulty
  • Testing scores and percentile results
  • clinical impressions and interpretations
  • Individualized measurable goals
  • recommendations for other support
  • suggested next steps and referrals
  • guidance related to treatment planning and frequency of
  •  services when appropriate

Our Executive Functioning Providers


Our executive functioning services are provided by qualified professionals with specialized backgrounds in communication, child development, education, executive functioning, and skill-building. These providers have also worked with a range of students during their years in practice, and with a variety of profiles, including ADHD, Autism, and related neuro-developmental profiles.

All executive functioning intake evaluations are completed by a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist to help ensure a thorough understanding of the underlying skills affecting daily functioning. Ongoing executive functioning support may then be provided by either a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist or an Executive Functioning Specialist, depending on your child’s needs, goals, and the type of support that makes the most sense clinically.

Fees and Insurance


Executive functioning services are self-pay. We are not in network with insurance for executive functioning sessions.

Families may request a superbill for possible out-of-network reimbursement when services are provided by a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist. Reimbursement is not guaranteed and depends entirely on your insurance plan and out-of-network benefits.

Current rates

  • Comprehensive executive functioning intake: $600
  • 60-minute session: $140
  • 45-minute session: $105
  • 30-minute session: $70

Resources


If you are starting your journey into executive functioning therapy and would like to learn more,
please check out our favorite resources by clicking here.

Frequently Asked Questions


Do you accept insurance for executive functioning sessions?

Executive functioning services are self-pay. We are not in network with insurance for EF sessions. Some families may choose to submit a superbill for possible out-of-network reimbursement when services are provided by a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist.

What is a superbill?

A superbill is an itemized receipt you can submit to your insurance company if you want to request possible out-of-network reimbursement. It does not guarantee payment, and reimbursement depends on your individual plan.

My child has already completed psychological testing or educational testing. Can’t you use the report from our previous testing?

We are happy to review previous testing, and those reports can provide very helpful background information. In many cases, however, psychological or educational evaluations do not take a deep enough look at executive functioning in a way that helps guide ongoing EF treatment.

A previous report may identify concerns with attention, organization, working memory, planning, or self-regulation, and it may even recommend executive functioning therapy. But it often does not fully show how those challenges are affecting your child at school, in day-to-day life right now, or what specific supports and strategies would be most helpful in treatment.

Our executive functioning intake is designed to look more closely at the practical skills your child uses to manage daily demands at home, at school, and in everyday routines. We use that information to make individualized recommendations and build a treatment plan that fits your child’s current needs.

Previous testing gives us background. Our intake helps us plan individualized treatment.

 

We don’t want speech therapy. Why is a Speech-Language Pathologist doing the intake evaluation?

This is a common question, especially when parents hear the word “speech” and think only about articulation, stuttering or the way speech sounds.


Actually, Speech-Language Pathologists are trained in a diverse range of cognitive processes that impact language, brain function (cognition), swallowing, speech, hearing, and voice. During schooling, clinicians learn about all of these processes, but many clinicians choose to specialize in a specific area. At our practice, our clinicians have specialized clinical training in executive functioning, education, and language.


Executive functioning is closely connected to language, processing, organization, comprehension, memory, and the ability to plan, explain, and carry out tasks. A licensed Speech-Language Pathologist is trained to evaluate many of the underlying skills that affect how a child takes in information, organizes it, and uses it effectively.


That matters because oftentimes a person’s challenges are not just about being disorganized. They may also involve how the person is processing language, understanding directions, organizing thoughts, or managing the language demands of school and daily life. It is extremely common for people with executive functioning challenges to have difficulty with reading and writing, as these processes are rooted in language and cognition.
Having the intake completed by an SLP helps us build a stronger clinical picture and make more informed recommendations from the start.

What are you looking for in the evaluation?

We are looking at the skills that affect daily functioning, including organization, planning, working memory, task initiation, emotional regulation, flexible thinking, follow-through, and how those challenges show up in real life at home, at school, and in everyday routines.

What tests do you use?

We do not use a one-size-fits-all testing approach, this is actually called “dynamic evaluation.” The evaluation may include parent interview, clinical observation, structured tasks, rating scales, and other measures selected based on your child’s age, needs, and presenting concerns. Examples of some forms that you or your child may be asked to complete include the Brief-2The McCloskey Executive Functioning ScalesThe Self-QThe Kaufman Interview, and several others.

Is executive functioning support the same as tutoring?

No. Tutoring focuses on academic content. Executive functioning support focuses on the skills that help a child manage tasks, stay organized, plan ahead, start work, follow through, regulate emotions, and function more independently. We may use schoolwork, planners, backpacks, or current assignments as tools for practice, in fact, we prefer that so that we are not giving the child “extra” work. These services may complement one another, but they are not the same thing.

How often should we meet?

That depends on your child’s age, needs, goals, and the level of support needed. Many families begin with weekly sessions, while others may meet less often depending on the situation. We make recommendations based on the intake findings and your child’s treatment goals. Session length will also vary based on your child’s stamina and treatment plan.

My child already has a therapist. Why would we add executive functioning support too?

That is a completely reasonable question.

Executive functioning support is not always necessary for every child, and we never want families to feel like they need to add one more appointment just for the sake of it. But for some children and teens, executive functioning challenges are a major reason life continues to feel hard even when they are already in therapy.

Therapy can be incredibly helpful for things like anxiety, emotional regulation, self-esteem, coping skills, relationships, and processing life experiences. Executive functioning support is different. It focuses more directly on the practical skills needed to manage everyday demands, such as planning, organization, time management, follow-through, task initiation, and independence.

In some cases, therapy and executive functioning support work very well alongside each other because they are addressing different parts of the picture. For example, a child may need therapy to manage overwhelm, anxiety, or frustration, while also needing executive functioning support to build the tools and systems that help daily life run more smoothly.

That said, more services is not always better. We consider the whole child, the family’s schedule, and whether this support makes sense right now. Sometimes executive functioning support is a strong fit alongside therapy. Sometimes it makes more sense to wait. Our goal is to make thoughtful recommendations, not overload your child.

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Ready To Learn More?


If your child is struggling with follow-through, organization, emotional regulation, planning, or independence, executive functioning support may help.

We would be glad to help you better understand what is going on and what next steps may be the best fit for your child.