Executive Function Trauma-informed Parenting With Dr. Jerrod Brown
Join me as Dr. Jerrod Brown shares – Executive Function Trauma-Informed Parenting- another in a monthly series (releasing the first Wednesday of every month).
I’m so excited for you to learn from Dr. Jerrod. Grab a pen and paper or open your notes app and get ready for this overview of executive function trauma-informed parenting!
Executive Function
Hi, Kathleen Guire here. Welcome to this episode of Trauma-Informed parenting. Dr. Jerrod Brown is back and he is going to talk about executive function, trauma-informed parenting. Thanks for coming back. Dr. Brown.
You’re welcome, Kathleen. Thanks for allowing me back.
And I’m really excited about this topic and I know you have a lot of information. And as I’ve told the listeners before, if I get quiet, that’s because I’m taking notes.
I figured I would maybe start out with just a general overview of what executive function is and then kind of move in and weave this into parenting. So when you think of executive function, think of it as the boss of the brain, the CEO of the brain. It’s referred to as a multifaceted, multidimensional neuropsychological construct. What that means is it’s related to higher-order cognitive processes. So it really is the hub of the brain related to decision-making and problem solving and reasoning. And it really underlies adaptive behavior, which basically means it guides and drives the bus with how we as humans do in day-to-day life, money management, doing well in school, and making friends. It is so important. It’s one of the most important topics to be aware of when we’re talking about trying to better understand, like, human behavior, human interaction, and why people do the things they do.
executive function working properly
When executive function is working properly, it plays a critical role in the development of all kinds of other domains of functioning. Plays a role in theory of mind development. Theory of mind relates to perspective taking, our ability to understand the internal mental states of other people. The theory of mind relates partially to empathy. Executive function also plays a critical role in social competence. So how we do in the social arena, plays a major role in emotional regulation. So how we regulate our emotions under pressure and when we’re upset, frustrated, confused. And it also really plays a huge role in consciousness, moral development, and how we prepare for school. And it also plays a role in our mental health, physical health. And on the flip side of that, when someone has executive functioning problems, they might have issues in many, if not all of those areas. Under the umbrella of executive function, you have many things.
The big three is going to be
Working memory -that’s been referred to as our brains post it note.
Inhibition -it’s been referred to as our internal pause button, our internal stop sign, where it gives us an opportunity to kind of pause and reflect.
Cognitive flexibility– it’s how flexible we are in our thinking and shifting between one topic or the other. Anyone who sets a goal or develops a goal plan, an intervention plan, a treatment plan, executive function skills are at the heart of goal planning.
So if someone has a really hard time achieving their goals, look through an executive function and lens. If people struggle with time management, organization planning. Those are all red flag indicators of potential executive function impairments. Other things you want to be on the lookout for that are potentially red flag indicators of some problems in this area is that the client or child or adult has a lot of social skill limitations. They have a tendency to have engaged in inappropriate social behavior. They seem to really struggle with planning. They seem really distractible. Maybe they have a long history of impulse control problems. Their memory seems really inconsistent. These are some red flag indicators to be on the lookout for. I’ll go a little bit deeper into that, but I’ll pause there for a minute and see if you have any thoughts, questions, any other areas you want me to go a little bit deeper into?
Well, I was thinking about a processing disorder where often a child can only do one command at a time instead of the two or three, depending on their age. If you’ve got a teenager who can only follow through on one command, and they might have a processing disorder, is that the executive function? Is that what that is?
Yes, partially. You might have something called information processing speed weaknesses. It might be auditory processing speed weaknesses. Basically, if someone has information processing deficits, think of it as a traffic jam in our brain. So someone can’t take in a lot of information in a short amount of time. So it kind of just piles up and up and up, and it’s like being on the freeway in a traffic jam, and eventually you come to a halt. That same analogy can apply to asking someone multi-step questions. Asking them to multitask their brains might not be able to come up with it. And I’ve seen it play out in a lot of ways. In some cases, the client may just shut down and look like they’re falling asleep. I’ve seen it play out where they become very aggressive or loud or irritable and they storm out of the room. Their brains just become overloaded. So slow down. I think it’s very important if people deal with this to make things visual. In some cases. Sometimes they struggle with auditory learning. So making things visual and concrete, those are just a few things. And avoid multitasking at all costs and be okay with long pauses and silence. That may not be an indication they don’t want to talk to you. It may be an indication that their brain just needs extra time to catch up to the question you’re asking them.
Right. And I’ve seen both of what you described, the angry running out of the room and then also the just silent stare. And I’ve also heard of parents saying to me, my child’s being really defiant because I asked them to go do A, B, and C, and they’re not listening. And it’s like, no, they are listening. They’re not processing. And I really like the visual cue things because one of the things that I had to do for several of my kids was to make cards for them. For instance, if they were to clean their room and draw a picture or write a list of these are the things that you need to do instead of listing them verbally and then walking away and doing one of the things and saying, okay, I’m finished. So I think that’s a huge thing because it can cause a lot of division between the parent and the child if the parent doesn’t understand what’s going on in the child’s brain. So that’s why I wanted to bring that up, because I think that’s very common, especially with children who have had trauma who are on the spectrum or have some sort of processing disorder, correct?
Absolutely. Yes. If executive functioning impairments co-occur with so many different disorders, everyone with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is going to have executive functioning impairments. A very high percentage of children that have had extensive trauma in their histories will probably be dealing with some level of executive functioning problems. But we’re all prone to it. Chronic sleep deprivation in a parent can contribute to executive functioning impairments. Depression can exacerbate this. People that are trying to constantly multitask, and they’re dealing with just burnout. They’re on their screen all the time. They’re not taking care of their emotional or physical health. That can impact our executive function. Obesity can impact executive function. Binging on sugar can impact our executive function. Dealing with diabetes. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. So we’re all prone to this on some level. But there are certain disorders where it’s a hallmark deficit of the actual disorder.
Right. And I wanted to just kind of get you to define this because some of those that you described are things that we can make changes in our lifestyle and avoid. But some of the other ones that you described are something that are a brain impairment that will not go away, but you need to make life adjustments for. So can you talk about the ones that we can do by lifestyle changes?
Yeah. Some of its common sense, getting sleep under control can make a huge difference. Being in support of relationships can make a huge difference. So, like social isolation, people that don’t have anybody in their social network can absolutely increase some of these problems. Just being around positive, encouraging, supporting people can be helpful. Eating healthy, keeping our blood sugar levels regulated, keeping our weight at normal levels, getting optimal levels of movement. So there’s research that shows that people that live a sedentary lifestyle who lay around all the time and maybe they’re on their gadgets watch TV and don’t really move that much, that can exacerbate this. People that don’t take care of their physical health. So, like, chronic pain issues, untreated diabetes, these kinds of things, a lot of it is common sense stuff. But when we’re talking about biochemical factors like prenatal drug and alcohol exposure, this stuff can be permanent. It can get better, but I don’t think you’re not going to cure it, but it can be more manageable. Kind of like what you mentioned. So I think if we make modifications to parenting approaches, if teachers can really become executive function informed, counselors and therapists, social workers, better outcomes can happen for that child. Teenagers or adults diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder or who has had extensive trauma in their histories or even fractured attachment patterns have been shown to be a factor that can contribute to more executive function problems.
Well, I think that what you just said, being able to differentiate between the two is so powerful because then you know where to go from there. And it’s interesting when you said -these things are common sense. They’re common sense and they are. But often as parents, we’re still in the trenches and especially if you’re raising a child with a capital letter syndrome, FASD, ADHD, GAD, all of them, or a child who has experienced trauma, those common sense things kind of fly out the window and you need to be reminded of them. So this is a really great reminder. It’s always a reminder to me when I talk to you like, oh my goodness, am I? I’m check-listing in my brain, am I sleeping enough? Am I moving enough? I’m not eating sugar right now? Those kinds of things, they’re so important and they do have a huge impact. But if we do not care for those things, then the build up of that and then we get to that executive dysfunction and we’re kind of like, what happened? What’s wrong with me? You know what I mean?
Absolutely. 100% spot on. And doing this in a team environment, working with professionals, working with other caregivers, joining a support group, bouncing ideas off one another, actively taking trainings, listening to podcasts like this. It’s only going to help enhance our parenting skills, how we are as coworkers, how we are as friends. If professionals are listening to this, it doesn’t matter what field you’re in. If you work with people, becoming executive function informed is only going to enhance the good work you’re already doing now. A couple of parenting practices that have been shown to help promote executive function development in children. Again, some of this is common sense, but it is just a good reminder. The research points to the fact that children who live in homes where a parent comes off as positive and non intrusive and uses those trauma-informed parenting practices we’ve talked about and attachment based parenting practices and some of the other segments we’ve done that’s been shown to have a very positive impact on the development of executive function in children. Parental warmth has been shown to be helpful too. So maybe there’s conflict going on, but still being warm and caring and sensitive and attuned and empathetic and being very mindful of your body language, your voice tone. That’s been shown to be very helpful and really taking into account too, sensitivity, being very sensitive, kind, calm, patient and curious, especially if you’re raising a child who’s had an extensive trauma history before that child came to your home and had some fractured attachment patterns. Enhancing attachment can enhance executive function, helping that child feel safe and secure and valued and known. These are all things that can help improve brain and body development. And it’s also important to be aware of, I think, just the general literature in terms of things that can help promote early childhood development, good nutrition, meeting with healthcare providers, being in a stimulating and enriching environment. So what I mean by that is the child in an environment where they’re read to, they have opportunities to play, learn new things, or are they in an environment where the parents are checked out, everybody’s on their gadgets, you never sit down at the dinner table to have any conversations. So the child might be just left to their own devices. Maybe the child has technology in their room and they’re allowed to watch whatever they want, stay up as late as they want. These are all things that can be extremely detrimental to overall childhood development.
Right? And that one is such a big issue now that often we parents don’t want to address it and some parents, just especially younger parents, think this is the way the culture is, therefore it is okay. And that is not necessarily true. And I was thinking about play therapy and how it was developed in the 1970s because inner city children were not being played with in the way needed to help their brain grow. And I think that’s really a time to reinstitute that in our own homes. Because kids need to be playing with their parents, playing with play-doh, putting puzzles together, putting Lego kits together, doing those sorts of things that are going to grow their brain and plus attach to the parent and make them feel safe, make them feel loved, make them feel like they can accomplish something. And those are so important. And the device, every kid having their own iPad or their own TV, that just really bothers me because I know how harmful that is. They don’t need to be sitting in their room on a device and then expected to be able to regulate when you go out in society. All of a sudden you take this child away from that device and you take them out and you expect them to be able to regulate. It’s just an unrealistic expectation in my eyes. I don’t think it works very well. So I think that that point about play is so important. And although you say it is common sense for some people, I don’t think that they grew up in an environment where grown ups played with them. So now they’re having their own children and they do need maybe play therapy or they need to go to occupational therapy or some intervention. I hate to use that word, but someone helping them.
Some support, some coaching, modeling -we all need it on some level. And play therapies, wonderful art based approaches, animal assisted interventions, exercise programs, mindfulness based strategies have been shown to be potentially helpful in helping people improve their executive function. Maybe it’s hiring the services of an executive functioning coach who can provide the family or the school or other workers involved. Some helpful strategies and really to modeling your behavior. Parental modeling, parental coaching, learning how to stay regulated under pressure in front of your child, and really promoting self-control and self-regulation and the ability to delay gratification. These are all things that are going to have positive effects on one’s executive functioning capabilities, right?
Yeah. I didn’t mean to use the word intervention. I think of it, we pay to go take a Pilates class or join a gym or take a college course or those sorts of things. So there is absolutely no shame or should be no shame or guilt in getting some coaching or some help with something that’s important to you and your family and building in those practices. And like you said, modeling those things for our children.
And the other area I don’t think people think about enough is nutrition. If someone eats a Western diet that is full of processed foods and sugar sweetened beverages and gas station food and fast food and microwaveable food, and they’re not getting a lot of nutrients, that’s been shown to have a negative impact on cognition and brain health, too. So it might be helpful in some cases for the family to consult with their medical doctor and maybe work with a nutritionist or a dietitian or a functional medicine specialist. Because at the cellular level, there’s a lot going on as well. And think about the gut brain health connection. I give talks on that too. What goes on in our gut impacts our brain. So really supporting our digestive health is equally important when we’re talking about our brain health because there’s a bi directional communication that goes on in our gut and our brain. So supporting gut health is actually supporting brain health as well, right?
Exactly. And our youngest son went to a trauma-informed pediatrician and nutritionist, and we worked with them. And one of the things, because of being on the spectrum, that he ate gluten-free and it really helped him. And I remember visiting my brother, and my brother was going to order pizza and he said, you know, it’s going to have a gluten crust. And he asked my son, can you eat this? And he said, well, if I eat gluten, then my inner Hulk comes out. So he knew that when he got gluten in his system, he got angry. That was his definition, not mine.
Those are things to consider. I’ve heard it so many times from so many people. I’m not giving any nutritional advice here, but I hear that too. Like sometimes gluten can throw people off as well as a large amount of sugar. I hear this often too. So someone has tons and tons of sugar, processed foods, all these things, or even skips a lot of meals and their blood sugar dips or goes too high by consuming binge, eating on fast food and drinking tons of cola. I’ve heard this can just throw people into high levels of irritability or depression, anxiety. So there’s a lot going on on the nutritional level as well to take into account when we think about kind of brain health. Right?
Exactly. And another thing to consider when it comes to nutrition, if children come home to you or you’re fostering or they’re coming home to you through adoption is what kinds of foods did they not have that they need to build up that nutrition in their bodies? For instance, I’ll just give another instance of my son. He had a cleft palate and when he was in the orphanage, he really didn’t get much nutrition at all. It was just a kind of rice cereal mixed with water and what they called kisiel, which is like our jello. So when he came home to us, air quotes, I was putting things in the food processor. I could get nutrient dense food into him. So that’s something to consider, that their development may be lacking because they’ve been missing those nutrients.
Huge thing. And that brings me to another point. If your audience has not heard of the first 1000 Days of Life research, I recommend taking a look at some of that literature. The first thousand days of life are from conception to the age of two. And that research really talks about things that people can do to optimize brain and body development. And again, a lot of it is common sense, eating healthy, making sure the pregnancy is free from drugs and alcohol and other kinds of harmful substances and gives a really good context. If people go online and just Google the First Thousand Days of Life research, you’re going to find all kinds of resources, websites, and fairly fascinating stuff to be aware of.
Okay, I’ll make sure I put that in the show notes too. That’s right, yeah, I’m ready to Google it. I want to see what it says.
Definitely. We could definitely do a talk just on that sometime if you’d like. It’s really fascinating. And if the people have adopted a child, obviously you weren’t there during the prenatal years, but there’s still plenty of things that can be done to enhance the overall development of the child. It doesn’t mean it’s going to make some of the deficits go away 100%, but you learn how to manage them more effectively and I think it can lead to much better long term outcomes as that person gets older.
Right. And I think that’s important to always have hope and know there are things you can do, there are things that you can change, there are things that you can add to your routine and your habits that will help the child. I don’t like when people get into this mindset of, well, that’s just the way it is because that’s the way it was and there’s nothing I can do about it. There’s always something we can do and enhance and modify to make things better. I truly believe. So, finishing up today, since we kind of covered lots of topics other than the one we started with, what would you like to end up with about executive function?
Well, some approaches that are found in the executive functioning literature that you can use through an executive functioning lens at any time you can coach or model or teach a strategy seems to be more effective than asking them how and why questions. So demonstrating it in action, practicing it at home, but then practicing it maybe on the playground, on the bus, on the job, chunking things out, have been shown to be helpful. So maybe just focusing again on one task at a time, providing plenty of opportunities to allow the person to practice the skill to demonstrate back to you. And not just demonstrating competency at home or like in a controlled office setting, like a therapist office, but practicing the skills learned in other settings. So helping to be able to generalize those skills. Teaching self- awareness can be very helpful. Teaching people how to have delayed gratification. So being okay with not getting one’s way right away and learning how to sit with discomfort is actually a big skill that we can do. Keeping things simple, keeping things developmentally and emotionally appropriate. So we want to really not take into account how old they are chronologically, but how old they function developmentally and emotionally and socially. So, really important doing that, focusing on the relationship, relationship building, healthy trauma-informed attachment, things can be very helpful. And as parents, too, just being aware of your own self care, know that it’s okay to feel frustrated, but learning how to keep one that’s cool around your child and modeling appropriate behaviors are only strengthening that child’s executive functioning skills, awesome. Those are really good things to work on.
Me. So thank you for being on the podcast again. And we will be covering some other topics which we were talking about before we started recording, so stay tuned for another podcast from Dr. Jerrod Brown.
Thanks again for joining. Thank you, Kathleen. Truly appreciate it.
Check out Dr. Jerrod’s bio below-
Jerrod Brown, Ph.D., M.A., M.S., M.S., M.S., is a professor, trainer, researcher, and consultant with multiple years of experience teaching collegiate courses. Jerrod is also the founder and CEO of the American Institute for the Advancement of Forensic Studies (AIAFS). Jerrod has also provided consultation services to a number of caregivers, professionals, and organizations pertaining to topics related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), confabulation, suggestibility, trauma and other life adversities, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and youth firesetting. Jerrod has completed four separate master’s degree programs and holds graduate certificates in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Other Health Disabilities (OHD), and Traumatic-Brain Injuries (TBI).
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other resources:
3 Tips For Repairing Breaks In Attachment
3 Things You Need To Know About Felt Safety
3 Things You Need To Know About Felt-Safety Parent Edition