By Melisa De Seguirant, LPC, LMFT ~ Oct 2024
Better Understanding Executive Functioning
Executive functioning weaknesses can have a significant impact on a person’s mental health.
But what is executive functioning? How can we strengthen it?
In our brains, the executive functions are the higher-level cognitive skills that help our internal systems work effectively.
We can’t talk about strengthening executive functioning without talking about external supports, meaning the tools and resources outside of ourselves that can offer us assistance.
In my clinical practice, I sometimes see resistance to utilization of external supports, especially for my late-diagnosed neurodivergent clients struggling with executive functioning who are still battling the belief that they “should” just be able to function without them.
Let’s normalize using tools to help us function, even if we don’t have debilitating struggles with executive functioning. We live in a time in which we are constantly asked to keep up with too much… if we aren’t using tools like calendars, reminders & organizers, we aren’t supporting our brains as much as we could be.
Examples of executive functioning supports include:
- Alarms / Reminders (for things like meals & chores, not just appointments!)
- Visual Timers
- Calendars
- Financial Organization Apps
- Meditation Apps w/ practice streaks and reminders to pause & breathe
- Productivity Apps
- Visual Lists/ Charts
REFLECT ~ What other external supports have proven useful to you while working to improve your executive functioning?
One thing to keep in mind is that sometimes we need help figuring out how to consistently use these kinds of external supports.
Engaging with a new resource involves a shift in habit, which can be difficult to execute for people with weaknesses in executive functioning. Elicit the help of a therapist or coach if needed to learn how to engage with resources more regularly over time.
A lack of organization, either physically or cognitively, can both impact mental health and be a symptom of an underlying mental health issue.
Conditions such as depression, grief and PTSD along with neurodivergence and specific cognitive differences all can lead to pronounced difficulty with organization. There are also conditions that can lead to an excess of rigidity around organization which can also impact mental health, including certain presentations of OCD, anxiety and autism.
That said, our ability to stay organized and even preference for organization has a lot to do with a whole lot of factors that aren’t about mental health. Socioeconomic level, childhood environment, cultural values and gender expectations are just a few examples.
The point here is that while our ability to be organized impacts our mental health, there is no standard organizational level or system that is necessarily “healthy”. Instead of aiming for an imagined gold-standard, engage in reflection to explore your own relationship to organization, and if there are any areas you could use support or improvement.
Reflection Questions:
~ What is your relationship with organization? Are there any ways that you can improve it?
~ Do your thoughts & words often feel scattered?
~ Are you constantly losing things in your home environment?
~ Are appointments difficulty to remember?
~ What systems or supports might be helpful in improving your mental or physical organization?
~ How do you feel about using systems to increase your organization?
~ What might be the impact of using organizational systems if you were able to engage with them organically?
~ How might you need to elicit support to begin engaging with organizational systems? What is your plan for finding that support?
Self-monitoring, one of the brain’s executive functions, is the ability to tune-in and accurately perceive oneself in a given moment, in relation to the rest of the environment.
The term self-monitoring may also be used to refer to the skills of tracking & monitoring behavior or performance over time, and making adjustments as needed.
When people struggle with self-monitoring, it can be difficult for them to perceive or understand their impact on others and the environment around them. This can lead to issues with functioning at home, work and in interpersonal relationships.
Strengthening self-monitoring often involves engaging with practices such as journaling, mindfulness/ meditation and reflection in order to increase intentional time observing oneself. It is additionally helpful and sometimes even necessary to incorporate others’ feedback to assist with accurate self-perception. If you are struggling with self-monitoring, elicit the support of coaches, therapists or even friends and family to get you started.
It is common for people with executive functioning difficulty to be unfairly judged and labeled because of their weaknesses, and to internalize those harmful beliefs
When working to address executive functioning weaknesses, I see two therapeutic tasks:
- Dismantle unhelpful self-beliefs resulting from executive functioning weakness
- Locate/ establish systems that work to support executive functioning
The emotional work without the behavioral intervention falls flat, because the unaddressed executive functioning weaknesses continue to create problems that reinforce the negative beliefs being worked through.
The behavioral work without space to process the emotional impact of executive functioning weaknesses leaves negative self-beliefs unaddressed, creating a fragile system whereby self-esteem hinges upon perfect adherence to the systems of support identified (an unrealistic goal for someone with executive functioning weakness)
Take some time to consider what assumptions, beliefs and judgments related to someone’s (or your own) executive functioning skills that you may need to release.
#executivefunctioning #neurodivergence #autism #adhd #processingdisorders #therapythings
Melisa is a licensed psychotherapist practicing in the states of Oregon and California, and specializing in working with individuals within the queer, polyamorous/ ethically non-monogamous and neurodivergent communities.