What is Executive Functioning?
Before I get ahead of myself in this blog, I’ll answer the title question: What is Executive Functioning? Executive Functioning (or, EF, as the cool kids call it) is the “supervisor” or “conductor” in your brain. It helps control behaviors, emotions, and thoughts in order to achieve goals.
From the Therapist's Chair: Kate Curran Mire on Solution-Focused Therapy
At Ensemble Therapy, we care deeply about the “why” behind our practice of counseling. We believe there is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach to counseling; each therapist views the counseling process and their clients through a unique lens formed from years of education and experience. This means that as a client, you can choose the counselor who is the best fit for you or your child. While this freedom to choose the best-fit may sound nice at first, it can be difficult to know how to choose when there seem to be so many ways to do therapy. Not only are there lots of theories on how to practice counseling, often the language behind counseling theories is difficult to understand and apply without any previous background knowledge.
Supporting Sibling Relationships
The COVID-19 Pandemic has changed our world in so many ways. It has brought tremendous lows but also some unexpected highs. Case in point, for my family, it has been what I like to call “excessive togetherness.” I don’t know about your family but never before have I experienced so much family time. We are together ALL THE TIME! This has put all of our relationships under a magnifying glass. One, in particular, has been the relationship my daughters have with each other. It has been delightful to observe how much they love each other and then, 15 seconds later, cringeworthy. Sound familiar?
The Ins and Outs of Consequences
Life is full of consequences. In fact, some would argue that consequences (or the fear of them) drive our behavior. As parents, we deal with consequences in spades. Your toddler throws their cup on the ground (for the millionth time!), your teen refuses to get off their phone during dinner, your five-year-old hits their younger sibling when they are arguing. Then what? What’s your next move as a parent? Do you yell? Do you “come down hard” and be authoritarian? Do you let it slide and “lose the battle to win the war?”
