Eastwood Psychologists

  • 44 Main Street South, Brampton, ON L6W 2C4
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Psychoeducational Coaching and Groups

*New* Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for Adults with Executive Function Deficits.

Offered by Bernadette “Beejay” Street, M.Psy., Psychotherapist, the goal of this group is to help adults build essential executive function skills such as planning, organization, and time management skills.  The group is based on evidence-based cognitive-behavioural therapy treatment models used by Dr. Mary V. Solanto (2008) and Drs. Russell Ramsay and Anthony L. Rostain (2007).

Why Group Therapy?

Group therapy helps build accountability and allows participants to learn from each other in a supportive, nonjudgmental environment.  Our groups are small (maximum sixadults) to allow meaningful sharing among participants.

This group may be right for you if:

  • You are an adult (18+) who is currently working or attending school,
  • You have been diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts your executive function skills, such as ADHD, Learning Disorder, or Asperger’s Disorder,
  • You want to work on improving your time management skills and work habits,
  • You are prepared to commit and attend all 12 sessions,
  • You want to contribute to a supportive group environment,
  • You do not have another significant mental health disorder.

What are the details?

  • When: Once a week for 12 weeks; Thursdays from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
  • Where: Online, using a secure telehealth platform

Each session begins by reviewing the previous week’s take-home exercise, presenting and discussing new material, in-session exercise, and a discussion of the take-home exercise.  Session topics are as follows:

Session 1: Orientation and Expectations

  • Introduction to the goals and methods of the group
  • Psychoeducation on executive dysfunction
  • Identify personal goals, inner resources and strengths to draw upon to facilitate change
  • Identify emotions that contribute to resistance to change

Sessions 2 – 6: Each session will address time and task management

  • Time awareness/ time estimation
  • Task initiation and completion by breaking down large/aversive tasks into manageable chunks
  • Scheduling and prioritization
  • Contingent self-reinforcement
  • Visualize importance of activities using an “urgency grid”
  • Neurobiology of executive function deficits and environmental interactions
  • Identify negative automatic thoughts, emotional distractors, and oppositionality
  • Self-activation with the use of adaptive compensatory strategies
  • Visualization of rewards

Sessions 7 – 9: Implementation and maintenance of organizational systems

  • Identify and follow through with the use of environmental accommodations (e.g., physical space for efficiency, how to reduce distractions)
  • Application of self-management techniques
  • Working through a plan
  • Discuss rewards that help keep organizational systems going

Sessions 10 – 11: Project planning and implementation

  • Use “starting with the end in mind” to further support planning for a project
  • Breakdown of tasks into subtasks
  • Establish check-in points for self-monitoring
  • Enlisting others’ support
  • Check-in on each other’s projects
  • Use small reinforcements for accomplishing smaller tasks

Session 12: Looking into the future

  • Self-evaluation
  • Summarize and reinforce participants’ progress
  • Highlight areas for continued practice/ improvement
  • Formulate specific plans to meet future goals

Sounds perfect for me; how do I sign up?

Please contact our office manager to request the intake application form.  We screen all group applicants to ensure that group therapy is indicated/recommended.  In some cases, we may recommend individual treatment instead.  Please note we require a minimum of 5 participants to offer the group.

Psychoeducational Coaching

What is psychoeducational coaching and who is it for?

Psychoeducational coaching involves direct teaching of skills needed for the educational context. This includes learning skills, work habits, academic skills, time-management and organization skills, and key social skills needed in the education context.

Psychoeducational coaching is often used to support individuals whose success at school and/or work has been impacted by neurodevelopmental disorders including: Learning Disability, ADHD, or Asperger’s Disorder.

How is the intervention plan developed?

Your coach will design an individualized intervention plan to address identified skill gaps. Each client’s strengths and needs are assessed using multiple sources of information, including:

  • Psychological assessment reports (if available)
  • School report cards (if applicable)
  • Interviewing the client and/or their parents about current concerns, as well as the history of those concerns.
  • Interviewing the client’s teacher (if applicable) over the phone

Using all the available information, specific goals are set. Once psycho-educational intervention is underway, the client’s progress is continually monitored, and goals can be revised as needed.

Our aim is to help our clients discover and learn about their strengths and challenges, work through their difficulties, and find resources and strategies that they can use to increase their success at school.

What are some examples of skills that are taught during psychoeducational coaching?

  • Phonological awareness and phonics
  • Reading fluency
  • Reading comprehension
  • Problem-solving strategies
  • Mathematic fluency
  • Written expression skills
  • School-based social skills (e.g., raising one’s hand, waiting for your turn to speak or act, asking for help).
  • Organization skills
  • Time management
  • Study habits
  • Planning and completion of projects
  • Compensatory strategies
  • Assistive technology
  • Tablet/iPad apps for learning and organization