Client Handouts on Executive Functions

Kristen McClure's 14-page Executive Functioning Support Series offers practical teaching and reflection tools. Choose the handout that fits the actual barrier; a client does not need to complete the whole series.

Find the Handout You Need

PDF page
Handout
Main practice
1
Executive Functioning: Support, Not Shame
Describe the difficulty and available capacity before turning inconsistency into a character judgment.
2
Make Any Task Easier
Change the environment, task, support, reason, or practice. A reduction from effort 8 to 4 can be useful even if the task never becomes effortless.
3
Build a Pause, Not More Willpower
Add a visible cue or a little friction before an automatic response; practice a brief pause.
4
Get It Out of Your Head
Externalize information with short checklists, written next steps, and reminders placed where they are needed.
5
Regulate Before You Problem-Solve
Notice emotional capacity and choose a tolerable settling option before complex problem-solving.
6
Plan B Is a Skill
Prepare a transition and an alternative: a speed bump, detour, or pause does not have to become a lecture about failure.
7
Find Your Way Back
Practice returning after distraction; use process goals, planned breaks, and a visible return point.
8
Make Starting Smaller
Clarify the barrier and choose the first visible action rather than treating all delayed starts as one problem.
9
Turn a Big Task Into a Map
Name the outcome, gather steps and materials, choose priorities, include buffers, and identify help.
10
Create a System You Can Maintain
Test a simple organization setup for a week; ease of maintaining it matters as much as the initial arrangement.
11
Make Time Visible
Compare estimates with actual time, use external cues, and allow transitions and buffers.
12
Stay Connected to the Finish Line
Keep a small next goal visible and connect it to a repeatable process or routine.
13
Step Outside the Moment
Notice what worked before reviewing what failed; use observation to adjust rather than building a shame loop.
14
Protect Your Capacity
Reduce avoidable stressors and plan recovery before and after demanding activities.

Use One Small Experiment

Choose one task, one change, and a review point. Ask whether the task required less effort, became easier to begin or return to, and felt less punishing. Keep what helped and change what did not.

The series uses a broad clinical list of everyday executive skills. Research models commonly distinguish core processes such as inhibition, working memory, and flexibility from the many daily activities that draw on them. Emotional control and stress tolerance are not classified identically across models.

The handouts are educational tools, not a validated 14-part assessment or evidence that every ADHD person needs the same intervention. Movement, mindfulness, sensory changes, reminders, and interpersonal help should fit the person, setting, access, and preferences.

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Source: Executive_Functioning_Client_Handouts_Kristen_McCLure (2).pdf, supplied and reviewed @Monday. This index refers to the supplied 14-page edition. The existing PDF resource remains below.

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Executive_Functioning_Client_Handouts_Kristen_McCLure (2).pdf193.1 KiB