Executive Functioning Program

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Davis™ Concepts for Life

Purpose
To help individuals attain tools and skills enabling them to overcome executive functioning struggles and achieve higher success in academics, work life, relationships, career and many other areas of their lives.

Age
This program is suitable for anyone 8 or older who is willing and wanting to create meaningful, lasting changes in their life.

Length of Program
Approximately 30 hours, typically given over the course of 5 consecutive days, plus up to 6 hours of follow-up consultation included without extra charge.

Outcome
At the end of a program, clients can expect to have tools and skills that enable them to initiate, plan and organize, set goals, solve problems, pay attention, remember things, regulate emotions, sustain effort, and monitor behavior. These underlying skills facilitate success in school, work, and life.

Develops

Working Memory
The ability to hold onto information in order to process it. This includes the ability to identify the main point, take all information into account, and tell a cohesive story in a logical sequence. A functional working memory is needed for reading comprehension, following instructions, conversation, and mental math.

Inhibition
The ability to contain the desire to do something in order to stay on task until it is finished. This includes staying focused long enough to complete a task and problem solving. When talking, it includes the ability to stay on a topic and avoiding ‘going off on tangents’ when telling a story.

Planning & Organization
The ability to plan and organize time, information, and procedures effectively and efficiently. This includes carrying out instructions accurately and completing tasks on-time/correctly without procrastinating. It also includes creating and maintaining order in the work/home environment.

Multi-tasking
The ability to deal with interruptions and return to task. This also includes being able to do an action while talking or sequencing according to importance.

Emotional Control
The ability to control escalating emotions in order to complete a task and keep emotions to a level that is beneficial to the individual.

Focus & Energy Management
The ability to alter one’s energy levels according to the task at hand. This includes being able to sit and listen to a lecture or complete a project without daydreaming or feeling the need to get up and move. It also includes the ability to plan ahead and prevent actions that may result in negative consequences.

Initiating
Getting started on a task, including knowing where to start and what to do next. This includes talking, telling a story, writing tasks and projects.

Shifting Focus
The ability to flexibly transition or shift attention if something changes. This includes being able to change how something is being done (when asked) and being able to see multiple possible solutions to a problem. It also includes evaluating a situation and predicting its outcome.

Self-Monitoring
Being mindful, recognizing when a change is needed, and noticing when an error occurs. This includes staying on topic when talking, noticing changes of topics in group discussions, and answering questions accurately. It is the thinking process that allows us to see when we have made a mistake, such as with spelling errors or punctuation in written work. It also involves being relatively accurate in our judgment of our own and others’ behavior.

Abstract Thinking
Being able to understand non-verbal communication including the way we get our message across apart from the words we use – such as tone of voice, body language and facial gestures.