Session Description:
Executive functions (EF) are crucial cognitive processes that help individuals manage the demands of college life effectively. For students with mental health conditions (MHCs), challenges with EF can be significant barriers to academic persistence and success. This workshop is designed for supported education providers assisting postsecondary students with MHCs, offering a comprehensive exploration of executive functioning support strategies. We will review primary categories of EF, understand the impact of executive dysfunction on educational pursuits, and discuss practical strategies and interventions tailored to strengthen EF skills. Participants will gain insights and guidance on supporting students with MHCs in enhancing their executive functions, ultimately promoting their academic persistence and overall well-being.
Session Objectives:
- Define executive functioning.
- Identify the primary categories of executive functions.
- Describe executive dysfunction.
- Discuss strategies and interventions to enhance executive function skills.
Presenter Bio:
Amy Banko, MS, LAC, NCC, CIPS, CPRP is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions at Rutgers University. In addition to providing course instruction, Ms.Banko serves as an implementation consultant at the Integrated Employment Institute of Rutgers. Within this role, she facilitates trauma-informed, Supported Employment and Supported Education training and technical assistance to enhance practitioner competencies and program outcomes. She is a co-investigator on two federally funded studies exploring postsecondary education, mental health conditions, and trauma. Additionally, Ms. Banko co-authored several best practice manuals for providing career services to transition-age youth and adults with mental health conditions.
Ms. Banko’s research agenda focuses on rehabilitation counseling, social/transformative justice, and critical disability theory as she seeks to build interventions and counseling services that bolster the social determinants of health for those with mental health conditions. She is passionate about addressing systemic injustice and improving the social determinants of health for people with disabilities and those who experience the intersectionality of disability with other marginalized and oppressed identities. Additionally, Ms. Banko leverages her lived experience of a mental health condition to inform her research, course instruction, and counseling. Ms. Banko is currently attending her doctoral studies at Kean University for Counseling and Supervision, focusing on trauma and resilience counseling.
