Show Notes
Executive Functioning & MI
In this episode Glenn and Sebastian discuss executive functioning and MI with Tamara Hamilton, LCSW, CMBT. Tamara is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than thirty years of experience in behavioral health. For the past ten years, she has been at Cliff Valley School, a pre-K through 8 progressive independent school in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where she serves on the administration team as school counselor and director of the Cliff Valley Institute. She has focused on issues impacting the well-being of children with a particular emphasis on integrating social/emotional learning into academic curricula. Tamara earned her Master’s Degree from the Indiana University School of Social Work, and she holds a graduate certificate in Mind, Brain, and Teaching from the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University. Tamara is a frequent consultant and invited speaker regarding various topics related to child development. Her presentation style is informative, warm, and relatable as she combines her training in neuro-learning, clinical professional experience, and personal stories as a mother of three.
Episode index:
Executive functioning and Motivational Interviewing
Tamara Hamilton explores executive functioning and Motivational Interviewing, with particular attention to children, families and coaching. She explains executive functions and considers how emotional climate, context and individual differences affect learning, planning and behaviour change.
The conversation explores applying MI to executive-function coaching, working collaboratively with parents and shifting from labels towards the more useful question, “What do you need?” These themes connect with Motivational Interviewing in Education, Partnership and Empowerment.
In this episode
00:00 – Opening and episode preview
04:10 – Tamara’s early MI story
08:25 – What are Executive Functions (EF)?
14:20 – “Learning is changing”
20:40 – Tamara’s journey as a mother of a child with autism
28:00 – “Setting the emotional climate” when working with children and families
30:30 – Applying MI to EF coaching
41:30 – Parallels when working with parents
46:00 – EF skills in context
50:00 – From labels to “What do you need?”
57:15 – Preparing for this summer’s Cliff Valley Institute
60:25 – End of episode
Contact information:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.cliffvalleyinstitute.org/
Listen to Episode 68
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