EF Coach Santa Monica, CA
The Ladder Method coaches executive function (EF) for Santa Monica students and adults: planning the week, starting assignments, keeping track of materials and turning work in on time. Sessions run in person on the Westside or by video on Zoom or Google Meet. Start with a free 30-minute discovery call at (310) 684-2543.
Our in-person coaching map puts Santa Monica in Los Angeles West, with Brentwood, Venice and Pacific Palisades. We coach students from elementary school through college, plus adults, and about 70% of the people we coach have ADHD, autism spectrum conditions or executive functioning challenges.
How Executive Function Coaching Works at The Ladder Method
Coaching moves from a phone consultation to graduation, with a team behind each coach.
Consultation. You talk with one of our enrollment specialists about what's happening at school, work or home. The first call, a 30-minute discovery call, is free.
Assessment. An assessment coach meets with the student and family for a deeper evaluation.
Plan and match. Our evaluation team and Student Success department build the plan, recommend a weekly schedule and match the student with a coach.
Supervised sessions. A team of administrators regularly reviews our coaches' work. The coach and the Student Success team set milestones and change strategies as the student meets them, and we get in touch with you if the plan needs adjusting.
Graduation. Students graduate when they use the strategies on their own, consistently.
Students join 1 of our 3 coaching programs. Executive Functioning Mastery is built for students struggling at school and in daily life: a 60-minute weekend session and a 60-minute midweek session, for 2 to 3 semesters. Academic Accelerator pairs study skills with select executive function modules, in 1 weekend and 1 midweek session of 60 to 90 minutes each. Targeted Learning combines tutoring and study skills for a student who does well in most classes but struggles in 1 subject, with 2 sessions of 60 minutes a week per subject.
What Santa Monica High School Already Offers
Santa Monica High School (Samohi) already offers content help. A coach should cover what its report card doesn't list: weekly planning and follow-through.
In 2024-25, Samohi enrolled 2,588 students in grades 9-12, and 12.6% were students with disabilities, according to its School Accountability Report Card. The report lists an AP tutoring center, a Writing Center, a house system and 2 school psychologists. It also shows about 1 academic counselor for every 172 students.
For students with disabilities, graduation looked strong at 99.0%, close to the 98.9% schoolwide rate. Attendance didn't: 35.6% were chronically absent, against 20.5% schoolwide. Every missed day adds make-up work, and keeping track of make-up work is planning work.
A counselor responsible for 172 students can't run a weekly planning session with yours. Start with what Samohi offers. Use the AP tutoring center and Writing Center for content, and ask your student's counselor about a Section 504 plan, which can set accommodations such as extended time. For a special education assessment, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) Special Education office (310-450-8338) lists a program contact for Santa Monica High and for each other group of schools. The district's child find notice confirms your right to refer your child for an assessment.
Private School Students and the District Split
If your child attends a nonprofit private school inside Santa Monica, SMMUSD handles the special education evaluation, wherever your family lives.
Private schools aren't required to write individualized education programs (IEPs). Under federal special education law, the public district where a nonprofit private school sits is responsible for finding and evaluating its students with suspected disabilities. For Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences on 21st Street or New Roads School on Olympic Boulevard, both nonprofits, that district is SMMUSD, and its Special Education office lists a contact for private-school students. If the private school is for-profit, your home district handles child find instead. A private-school student has no individual right to the full public package, and the district may offer a narrower service plan. Ask your child's school for its own learning plan before you pay for a second one.
The district is changing too. In December 2025, the SMMUSD board and the Malibu City Council approved agreements to split SMMUSD into separate Santa Monica and Malibu districts. The split still needs state action, and a Malibu councilmember said that month it wouldn't happen in 2026 or 2027. Until it does, SMMUSD runs evaluations and 504 plans for public schools in both cities.
How Santa Monica Families Pay for Coaching
Most families pay out of pocket. In the JAMA survey, about 90% of clients did, and only 4.4% of coaches accepted health insurance.
Insurance, HSA, FSA and employer funds
In the same survey, 27.0% of coaches accepted HSA or FSA funds and 22.7% accepted payment from a client's employer. Check with your plan administrator or HR team before the first session.
Self-Determination Program
The Self-Determination Program gives eligible clients an individual budget to direct, but using it for coaching is contested. In February 2026, the state Department of Developmental Services upheld a regional center's refusal to let a family spend that budget on autism coaching. The decision found autism coaching wasn't an evidence-based intervention. Treat it as case by case, and ask your service coordinator before you commit.
529 plans
Federal law has allowed 529 money for some K-12 tutoring since July 2025, but California didn't adopt that change. The earnings part of a K-12 withdrawal is taxed by the state, plus a 2.5% additional tax. Talk to a CPA before you withdraw.
Westside Regional Center
Santa Monica is in Westside Regional Center's service area. The center moved from Culver City to 777 South Aviation Boulevard, Suite 105, in El Segundo, and celebrated the new office on August 30, 2026. Its number is 310-258-4000. Regional center services require a qualifying developmental disability: autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, intellectual disability or a condition closely related to intellectual disability. ADHD by itself isn't on that list.
The Westside Coach Check: 8 Questions Before You Pay
California's Board of Behavioral Sciences noted in January 2022 that life coaches "are not regulated by a governmental entity" and are barred from practicing within the professions it licenses. The JAMA survey shows the result: 89.3% of the coaches had no professional background in mental health, and 90.5% weren't receiving clinical supervision. Yet 53.0% covered substance use with clients, 48.7% covered trauma and 41.6% covered suicide, abuse or harm to self or others.
Where do sessions happen: in person, by video or both?
What training did you complete, and what did it require? Credentials vary. The National Board of Executive Function Certification requires 150 hours of training plus a proctored exam, and it runs that training itself. In the JAMA survey, 62.5% of coaches had completed a curriculum endorsed by the ADHD Coaches Organization.
Who reviews your work, and how often?
How do you measure progress, and how will we hear about it? Only 44.8% of the surveyed coaches used progress monitoring, and 30.6% used no assessment at all.
Who do you refer clients to, and when? 78.9% of the surveyed coaches referred clients to a clinician for a formal diagnosis.
What happens if anxiety, trauma, substance use or self-harm comes up in a session?
What does a month cost, how long is each session, and what's the minimum term?
What has the school already put in place: a 504 plan, an IEP or a private-school learning plan?
Our answers to questions 1, 3 and 4 are on this page: in person in Los Angeles West or by video, a team of administrators who regularly review our coaches, and a Student Success team that tracks milestones with each coach. We get in touch when the plan needs to change. Ask us the other 5 on the discovery call.
When Coaching Is the Wrong First Step
Coaching builds planning and follow-through. If something else is driving the problem, start with that.
The school already covers it. Samohi's AP tutoring center and Writing Center handle content, and a 504 plan can set accommodations. Use them first.
There's no diagnosis and the pattern is new. Ask for an evaluation first. Coaching builds systems, but it can't tell you why they keep failing.
The problem is anxiety, depression, disordered eating, substance use or self-harm. See a licensed clinician. Our article on how executive function coaching differs from therapy covers where the line sits.
A learning disability such as dyslexia is behind it. An educational therapist works on the underlying skill, and coaching works on the organization around it.
The gap is 1 subject. A tutor teaches the content. Our Targeted Learning program pairs subject tutoring with study skills.
Skills We Coach and the Strategies Behind Each
We coach 6 executive function skills. Each has its own tools.
Organization: visual planners, digital systems and workspace setup
Time management: time-blocking, reminders and realistic scheduling
Task initiation: micro-goals and structured accountability
Working memory: note-taking frameworks and recall techniques
Emotional regulation: mindfulness and reflection to reduce overwhelm
Cognitive flexibility: adapting study methods and adjusting to feedback
The focus shifts with age. Younger students start with organization and task initiation, along with emotional regulation. Middle and high school students work on time management, study techniques and independent work habits. College students and adults build planning systems and self-motivation strategies, and adults can also take our adult coaching courses: Inner Leadership, an Executive Functioning course and a Time Management mini course.
Who Coaches Santa Monica Students and Adults
Our coach directory lists 9 coaches for Los Angeles West, the in-person area that includes Santa Monica.
Their roles include study skills coach and academic tutor, and Katherine B. is listed as a senior study skills coach. Every coach trains in the curriculum developed by our founder, Candice Lapin. Candice built a career as an entrepreneur in fashion and technology, then began mentoring teens and young adults after burning out. She found that the students she mentored had the intelligence and the effort but lacked structure and systems, and The Ladder Method grew out of that finding. She also wrote Parenting in the Age of Perfection.
Behind each coach, a team of administrators reviews the work and a Student Success team tracks the student's milestones. Our Locations page lists tutoring hours of 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays and 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Sundays, so sessions can fit around school and practice schedules.
ADHD Coaching in Santa Monica: Questions Families Ask
Do you coach in person in Santa Monica?
Yes. Santa Monica is part of our Los Angeles West in-person area. Video sessions run on Zoom or Google Meet, and you can ask on the discovery call where in-person sessions would meet.
Is the discovery call free?
Yes. It's 30 minutes, and you can book it online or at (310) 684-2543.
Does insurance cover executive function coaching?
Rarely. 4.4% of the coaches in the JAMA survey took health insurance. HSA, FSA or employer funds are more common routes, so check with your administrator first.
Can Westside Regional Center pay for coaching?
Only for clients with a qualifying developmental disability such as autism, and even then it's case by case. A February 2026 state decision upheld a refusal to fund autism coaching through the Self-Determination Program.
Should we talk to Samohi first?
Yes. Ask about a 504 plan, and use the AP tutoring center or Writing Center for subject help. Coaching covers the weekly planning those services don't.
My child attends a private school in Santa Monica. Who handles an evaluation?
SMMUSD does if the school is a nonprofit, because it sits inside the district, even if you live outside it. For a for-profit private school, your home district handles it.
Is executive function coaching the same as tutoring?
No. A tutor teaches a subject, and a coach teaches how to plan the work, start it and turn it in. Our Targeted Learning program does both for 1 subject.
Do you coach college students and adults?
Yes. College students work on planning and self-motivation. Adults can book a custom plan or join our Inner Leadership, Executive Functioning or Time Management courses.
How long does coaching last?
It depends on the program. Executive Functioning Mastery runs 2 to 3 semesters, and the median engagement in the JAMA survey was 24 weeks. Graduation comes when the strategies stick without a coach.
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