Executive Function Coach Southlake, TX
The Ladder Method coaches Southlake students and adults in executive function: planning the work, starting it, tracking it and turning it in. Sessions run weekly online, over Zoom or Google Meet, with an assigned coach. A written assessment report sets how long they run and how often. The first step is a free 30-minute discovery call.
No Texas board licenses executive function coaching, and that raises fair questions. This page answers them before you book.
What A Southlake Search Turns Up
Search "executive function coach Southlake, TX" and the first page is mostly directories. On 29 September 2026, 5 of the top 9 results were directory listings. The other 4 were 2 profiles of 1 small local business, a Facebook page, and a clinic's executive coaching page.
Zencare, which held 4 of those 9 spots, listed 30 therapists with availability for Southlake under executive functioning coaching that day. Most of the Southlake providers in that search are licensed therapists and clinical practices. They run evaluations and therapy, and they'll talk about planning and follow-through. An evaluation is a different purchase from a weekly skills coach, and it bills differently.
You'll find us under Dallas searches. Southlake coaching with us runs online, and we don't have a Southlake office.
The 4-Question Check: Ask Any Coach These First
Ask any executive function coach in Southlake 4 questions before you pay, and ask us too. Are you licensed, or certified only? Is this coaching or therapy, and which one bills insurance? What's the session fee, and can I see it before I commit? Can you invoice a TEFA account, and under which category?
A coach who can't answer all 4 on the first call has told you something.
Are you licensed, or certified only?
No Texas license exists for this work. Texas licenses psychologists, psychological associates, school psychologists, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists and social workers through its Behavioral Health Executive Council. Executive function coaching isn't on that list, so any coaching certificate is private and voluntary.
A licensed psychologist or LPC answers to a state board. A coach answers to a contract. Coaching can still be the right hire, but a certificate logo on a coach's website isn't a state credential.
At The Ladder Method, every coach teaches the core 8 to 12 tenets of the curriculum our founder, Candice Lapin, developed. Each assigned coach works with our Student Success team, so your child isn't relying on 1 teacher or therapist.
What's the session fee, and can I see it before I commit?
Ask every coach for the session fee, the session length and any minimum term before you book an assessment. Our rate isn't published on this site. Our process puts the free 30-minute discovery call before the assessment, so ask us there.
Then do the division on any monthly price you're quoted. Divide it by the number of sessions, then by the hours in each session. That hourly figure is the one to compare. Multiply the monthly price by any minimum term too, because that total is the real commitment.
Is this coaching or therapy, and which one bills insurance?
We coach. Coaching builds the systems a student uses to plan, start and finish work. Therapy is a separate service from a licensed clinician, and it bills differently.
Health insurance generally doesn't pay for coaching. TherapyCostGuide's June 2026 guide says executive function coaching "is almost never covered by health insurance." University of Washington researchers who surveyed US ADHD coaches reported in January 2026 that coaches' fees aren't covered by insurance.
Therapy at a Southlake clinic can be a covered service, with a diagnosis code behind the claim. If reimbursement is the priority, shop for that first. We wrote more on how coaching differs from therapy.
Can you invoice a TEFA account, and under which category?
TEFA pays approved providers through Odyssey. For tutoring, Odyssey's July 2026 eligible-expense guide says "the tutor must have an active teaching certificate." Educational therapies count when a practitioner provides them and no insurance or government benefit already pays. The guide doesn't list executive function coaching as its own category.
Before you pay any coach from a TEFA account, ask Odyssey 2 things. Is this provider approved? Under which service type? Ask us the same question on the discovery call. A website that says it serves Texas may still be unable to invoice the account.
What Carroll ISD Families Should Check First
Carroll ISD sets a high bar and carries a real accommodations population. The district earned an A in TEA's 2025-26 ratings, and all 11 of its campuses earned A's, as Community Impact reported on 14 August 2026. In 2023-24 data compiled by the Texas Tribune, 9.1% of its 8,280 students received special education services and 15.2% were identified as at risk. Only 1.1% were economically disadvantaged.
If your child already has a 504 plan or an IEP, start with the evaluation behind it and check its date. A coach can't produce that documentation. A licensed psychologist can. Settle it first, then bring the plan to your discovery call so coaching builds on the accommodations already in place.
4 Campus Changes Before Graduation
A Carroll ISD student changes buildings 4 times. Elementary runs through grade 4. Intermediate covers grades 5 and 6, middle school covers 7 and 8, Carroll High School covers 9 and 10, and Carroll Senior High covers 11 and 12. A standard elementary, middle and high school path has 2 changes.
Every change is a handoff: new teachers, a new bell schedule, and a 504 or IEP file that has to reach a new building and get read. Before each move, ask the current counselor who receives the file at the new campus, and on what date. Ask for a meeting in the first 3 weeks. Rebuild your child's weekly system around the new schedule before school starts, since the old one won't fit.
The Bell-To-Bell Phone Rule
Since the 2025-26 school year, Carroll ISD has required phones, smartwatches, Bluetooth earbuds and headphones, and tablets to be "turned off and stored out of sight" from "the first bell to dismissal," lunch and passing periods included, in every grade from kindergarten through 12 (Carroll ISD, 31 July 2025). The state law behind it is HB 1481.
That takes the phone alarm and the smartwatch timer out of the school day. Students with executive function trouble often use both as reminders. So the school-day system has to run on paper: a planner, a written task list for each class, and 1 teacher who checks it.
Carroll ISD allows device accommodations when they're written into a 504 plan or an IEP, and the district's example is medical monitoring. If your child's plan depends on a reminder app, get that written into the plan.
How Southlake Families Pay For Coaching
Coaching is usually paid out of pocket. Here's what each account covers and whether it can pay a coach.
Health Insurance
Generally no, for the reasons in question 2. Ask any coach whether they bill insurance before you assume either way.
HSA And FSA
Only when the expense passes the IRS test. The IRS medical-expense FAQ, reviewed 23 September 2026, says medical expenses "must be primarily to alleviate or prevent a physical or mental disability or illness." They don't include costs "merely beneficial to general health." A doctor's recommendation doesn't change that on its own. The IRS example is exercise, "even if recommended by a doctor." Your plan administrator decides, so get the answer in writing before you count on it.
TEFA
TEFA is for private school and homeschool students. The 2026-27 awards are $10,474 for private school students, up to $30,000 for students with an IEP on file, and $2,000 for homeschool students (Texas Education Freedom Accounts). Applications ran from 4 February to 31 March 2026, after the Comptroller extended the original 17 March deadline. More than 229,000 students had applied by 17 March. The 2027-28 window hasn't been announced. The account pays approved vendors only, and tutors need an active teaching certificate.
PDSES
PDSES is for Texas public school students receiving special education services through an IEP. SPEDTex describes it as a one-time $1,500 grant for listed services such as tutoring and speech therapy, bought through the program's marketplace. A 504 plan alone doesn't qualify. In a district where 504 plans and IEPs cover different students, that line decides who can apply.
How Coaching Works, Step By Step
3 stages take a student from the first call through the program.
1. Discovery Call And Assessment
It starts with a phone consultation with one of our client services enrollment specialists: the free 30-minute discovery call. Once we understand what your family needs, we assign an assessment coach. That coach runs an in-depth evaluation with the student and the family together.
3. Ongoing Evaluation
The assigned coach works with the Student Success team to assess progress and pick the next skill to build. When a strategy needs changing, the team changes it.
2. The Plan
Our evaluation team works with the Student Success department to build a personalized plan from the assessment. Sessions run weekly over Zoom or Google Meet. The assessment report sets how long each session runs and how often, so the schedule comes from the assessment instead of a package tier.
How We Measure Results
We track every student on the same skills before they start, through the 18 months they work with us, and after the program ends. We assess skill development and emotional growth. Published results cover 4th to 12th graders and university students who completed at least 2 semesters of coaching.
Our student results page publishes the 2024-25 cohort results, and the 2023-24 results before them. Results aren't a guarantee, and that page says so in the same words.
Who Coaches
Candice Lapin founded The Ladder Method and developed its proprietary curriculum. Every coach and tutor teaches your child the core 8 to 12 tenets of her method, adjusted to your child's situation. Read how the company began.
The team works as a group. Each assigned coach works with the Student Success department, and the evaluation team builds each plan, so more than 1 professional sees your child's progress. Meet our coaches.
Who This Isn't For
We'd rather lose the booking than sell the wrong service. Skip us if:
Your child needs testing, a diagnosis or a new 504 evaluation. Start with a licensed psychologist, and come back to coaching after.
The main problem is anxiety, depression or another clinical concern. A licensed therapist treats that, and insurance may pay for it.
You want sessions in person. Southlake coaching with us runs online.
You need a grade fixed by Friday. We track students across 18 months.
Questions Southlake Parents Ask
Do you have an office in Southlake?
No. Southlake coaching runs online, over Zoom or Google Meet.
What does coaching cost?
Our rate isn't published on this site. Ask for the session fee, the session length and any minimum term on the free 30-minute discovery call, which comes before the assessment.
Does insurance or an HSA pay for coaching?
Insurance generally doesn't. An HSA or FSA covers expenses that are primarily for a diagnosed condition under the IRS test, and your plan administrator makes the call. Ask in writing before you rely on it.
Can we use a TEFA account or a PDSES grant?
TEFA pays approved vendors through Odyssey, for private school and homeschool students. PDSES is a one-time grant for Texas public school students with an IEP. Before you pay, ask either program whether the provider is approved. Ask us on the discovery call too.
My child has a 504 plan at Carroll ISD. Where do we start?
Check that the evaluation behind the plan is current. Then book the discovery call and bring the plan. Coaching builds on the accommodations and can't replace the evaluation.
How does the phone rule change coaching?
Carroll ISD keeps phones, smartwatches and earbuds off and out of sight from the first bell to dismissal. The school-day system has to run on paper, and any device accommodation has to be written into a 504 plan or an IEP.
Does executive function coaching help with ADHD?
It targets the skills ADHD makes harder: starting tasks, judging time, staying organized. It runs alongside medical care and doesn't replace it.
How long until we see a change?
Most students and adults notice improvements within 4 to 8 weeks of consistent coaching. We track progress across the full 18 months.
What ages do you coach?
Middle school, high school and college students, and adults. Our youngest clients are usually in 6th grade.
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