Adult Executive Functioning Coaches In Philadelphia, PA
Our adult executive functioning coaches work with Philadelphia professionals online, weekly or biweekly, on the skills that decide whether work gets planned, started and finished. Every coach completes specialized training in our proven coaching framework.
The 6 coaches on this page come from law, counseling, psychology, sociology and corporate leadership. Of the 6, 4 hold graduate degrees and 2 draw on their own experience with ADHD. Each one works with clients on Zoom or Google Meet.
Clients include new managers, senior leaders, business owners and people changing careers. We've coached executive function for over a decade, with hundreds of clients across the US.
Why Philadelphia Professionals Hire an Executive Function Coach
Most adults who call us are good at their jobs. What breaks down sits under the expertise: choosing what comes first, starting the task you've avoided all week, guessing how long a project will take, keeping every deadline in your head at once. Those are executive function skills. From the outside, a gap in them looks like procrastination.
ADHD is often part of it. The CDC estimates 15.5 million US adults, 6.0%, had a current ADHD diagnosis in 2023, and 55.9% of them were diagnosed at 18 or older (CDC, MMWR, October 2024). A diagnosis in adulthood explains the pattern. It doesn't come with a system for next Monday.
About 70% of our clients, across every age group we coach, come to us with ADHD, autism or executive functioning challenges. Our framework is built for different learning profiles, with structure, flexibility and positive reinforcement written into it.
Most clients begin noticing improvements within 4 to 8 weeks. The common results are better organization and time management, less procrastination and anxiety, and more confidence and self-reliance.
The work stays practical. Your coach helps you break large projects into steps and hold your focus through heavy weeks, with the goal of building sustainable work habits that don't run on willpower.
MASTER EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING COACHES
We match you with a coach after your assessment, based on your personality and goals. These are the coaches in that pool, summarized from their own profiles. Each name links to the full profile.
Stephanie D manages our executive functioning program and develops its curriculum. She holds a bachelor's in psychobiology from UCLA and a master's in psychology from CSUN, with an emphasis on cognition. She has ADHD and received coaching for it as a UCLA student. She has more than 10 years of experience and works with adolescents and adults who have ADHD and executive functioning challenges.
Samantha B is our Student Success Manager, and she mentors our new coaches. She studied English at UCLA and has 14 years of tutoring experience. Her focus areas are time management, organization, prioritizing, goal-setting and breaking a big task into steps. Her profile describes her style as "no-nonsense yet supportive." Philadelphia clients work with her online.
ADULT EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING COACHES
Jasmine M. spent over a decade in the corporate world, where she led diversity, equity and inclusion work and advised senior leaders. She graduated magna cum laude from Howard University with a B.B.A. in marketing and holds a master's in mental health and psychological counseling from Teachers College, Columbia University. She brings her own experience with ADHD into her coaching, which she describes as neuroaffirming. Her favorite tool is time blocking.
Katherine F earned a B.S. in sociology at Cal State San Bernardino and has gone on to graduate study in social work. She has led service trips in Central America and worked as a substitute teacher. She builds the working relationship first, which she sees as the base of any coaching.
Rebekah C holds a master's in counseling from the University of Texas at San Antonio. During her practicum she led social and emotional skills groups at Gary Job Corps. She has taught remotely, 1-on-1 and in small groups, and her coaching centers on working memory, organization and accountability.
John H is a professional development manager at an international law firm, where he works with associates on career development. Before that he was a civil litigation associate and an appellate consultant. He holds a BA in history from UCLA and a JD from Pepperdine, and has 3 decades of teaching and mentoring behind him.
Tell us on the consultation call which of these backgrounds sounds closest to your week. An associate juggling court deadlines and a first-time manager buried in meetings need different coaches.
What Your Coach Works On, and the Strategy Behind Each Skill
Here are 6 core skills adult clients work on, with the strategy behind each. Your coach adjusts every strategy to your goals and the way you learn.
Organization: visual planners, digital systems and workspace management.
Time management: time-blocking, reminders and realistic scheduling.
Task initiation: micro-goals and structured accountability to build momentum.
Working memory: note-taking frameworks and recall techniques.
Emotional regulation: mindfulness and reflection to reduce overwhelm.
Cognitive flexibility: adapting your methods and adjusting to feedback.
For adults, the end product is a set of productivity systems, planning tools and self-motivation strategies you run on your own.
How Matching and Sessions Work
Coaching starts with a free 30-minute consultation. An assessment coach then evaluates your needs and goals, and we match you with the coach best suited to your personality and objectives.
Sessions run weekly or biweekly. They cover skill development, accountability and applying the skills to your real work, with regular progress check-ins. Your coach tracks your progress with our Student Success team and adjusts strategies when something stops working.
Coaching ends when you show consistent independence and mastery of the strategies. The full program for Philadelphia adults is on our adult coaching page.
What Philadelphia Employers Owe You at Work
Philadelphia's disability protections at work reach smaller employers than state or federal law. The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to employers with 15 or more employees, according to the EEOC. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act applies at 4 or more, per the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. Philadelphia's Fair Practices Ordinance applies to any employer with 1 or more employees, not counting the employer's parents, spouse, life partner or children (Philadelphia Code, Section 9-1102).
The City of Philadelphia lists refusing a reasonable accommodation for a worker with a disability as employment discrimination. The city code defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits 1 or more major life activities. Complaints go to the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations within 300 days of the alleged discrimination.
Whether your ADHD or executive function problems meet that definition is a legal question. We're coaches, so take that one to the Commission or an employment lawyer.
The overlap with coaching is practical. The Job Accommodation Network, a free service funded by the US Department of Labor, lists ADHD accommodations that include written instructions, reminders, to-do lists, help with prioritization, a quiet workspace, white noise and uninterrupted work time. Reminders, planners, time blocks and a workspace set up for focus are also what we build with clients. You can run those systems at any job, covered by the ordinance or not.
5 Questions to Ask Any Adult Executive Function Coach
Pennsylvania doesn't license coaches, so your questions do the screening. The Department of State oversees 29 professional licensing boards, including one for psychology and one for social workers, marriage and family therapists and professional counselors. None of the 29 covers coaching.
National data shows what that leaves you with. In January 2026, Margaret Sibley and colleagues at the University of Washington School of Medicine published a survey of 481 US ADHD coaches in JAMA Network Open. Only 15.0% held a health care license, and 9.5% received clinical supervision from a licensed clinician. 62.5% had completed a training curriculum endorsed by the ADHD Coaches Organization. 60.9% started practicing during or after the COVID-19 pandemic, and 4.4% accepted health insurance.
Ask every coach on your shortlist these 5 questions. Our answers follow each one.
What training did you complete, and who wrote it? Every Ladder Method coach completes specialized training in our framework, which combines executive functioning, evidence-based learning techniques and emotional awareness. Our founder, Candice Lapin, developed it.
How long have you been coaching? We've provided executive function coaching for over a decade. On this page, Stephanie D has more than 10 years of experience, Samantha B has 14 years of tutoring and John H has 3 decades of teaching and mentoring.
What's your background? Our coaches come from education, psychology and learning science. Of the 6 on this page, 4 hold graduate degrees: 3 master's degrees and 1 law degree.
Who reviews my progress besides you? Your coach tracks your progress with our Student Success team, so a second person knows your plan. Clinical supervision by a licensed clinician is a separate thing, and we don't claim it.
How do you decide we're finished? When you show consistent independence and mastery of the strategies.
If a coach can't answer these in plain terms, keep looking.
FAQs
Are sessions in person or online?
Online. Every adult coach on this page works virtually, on Zoom or Google Meet.
How often are sessions?
Weekly or biweekly. Frequency is set after your assessment, based on your needs and goals.
How soon will I notice a change?
Most clients begin noticing improvements within 4 to 8 weeks. The common results are better organization and time management, less procrastination and anxiety, and more confidence.
Is executive function coaching only for adults with ADHD?
No. About 70% of our clients come to us with ADHD, autism or executive functioning challenges, which means about 30% don't. Our framework is built for different learning profiles.
Does Philadelphia law protect adults with ADHD at work?
Philadelphia's Fair Practices Ordinance protects workers with disabilities at employers with 1 or more employees, and defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. Pennsylvania's law covers employers with 4 or more employees, and the ADA covers 15 or more. Whether a specific case of ADHD qualifies is a question for the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations or an employment lawyer.
Is executive function coaching the same as therapy?
No. Therapy focuses on emotional processing. Executive function coaching focuses on practical skill-building, time management and goal execution.
When does coaching end?
When you show consistent independence and mastery of the strategies from your sessions.
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