The session starts with some time for you to check in with your body and emotions. We might do an interoception activity to help you become more aware of your body sensations. If you are feeling anxious, we will try some sensory-based strategies for calming down, like using a weighted blanket or gentle movement. If you are feeling sluggish, we’ll try strategies to help you feel more alert. If you are having a rough day, we might spend most of the session on regulation. These days are great opportunities to practice regulation and see what works and what doesn’t.
When you are ready, we will shift our focus to a task. Let’s say it is laundry. Maybe you have overwhelming piles of unwashed clothes. First, we will talk about what you find hard about doing the laundry. Maybe you hate the feeling of touching dirty clothes or the sound of the washing machine. These are examples of sensory needs that we can address with creative problem solving. Or maybe doing laundry is challenging because you have a hard time starting tasks or because there are so many steps. These are examples of executive functioning issues. Or maybe you get stuck on figuring out how to deal with stains and need some information about that. You can always write out your thoughts about the task ahead of time, if talking is frustrating for you.
I might ask you to show me how you usually do a portion of the task – let’s say sorting the laundry. As we work together on the laundry task, I aim to:
- identify ways we could modify the task to minimize sensory discomfort
- identify your executive functioning strengths and challenges and ways we could change the task to make it easier for you
- help you regulate your emotional state and avoid getting overwhelmed
I’ll offer you my ideas on how we might change the task. If you hate touching the clothes I might suggest seeing if it feels better if you wear gloves. If you have a hard time getting started, I might lay out options for creating routines and building momentum. If you get overwhelmed by all the necessary steps, I might offer ideas about how to simplify the steps, create a visual guide or organize your space to make the steps more visually obvious.
You can always tell me if an idea doesn’t work for you, or if you need to think about it for a while before trying it out. Sometimes it makes sense to talk about an option and then try it out at our next session so you have some time to think about it before making a change. If you start to get overwhelmed, we’ll stop the task and switch back to self-regulation strategies.
At the end of the session, we will make a plan. This might include practicing a particular self-regulation strategy or approach to the task. At the next session, you can report to me on how this worked out, and we can modify our plan from there. Over time, our goal is to identify and implement systems, routines and strategies that will make your life easier.