Befriend Your Brain
Executive Function and Visual Thinking
Led by Brandy Agerbeck, Loosetooth.com
Four-week workshop series | 2-hour sessions
November 1, 8, 15, 22, 2024 | Live online
$397 Registration Fee
Jump to Registration
In our time together, you will:
🟡⚪⚪
Grasp the Executive Functions
⚪🟡⚪
Gather Visual Tools to Boost Thinking
⚪⚪🟡
Increase Self-Awareness and Compassion
Workshop Dates and Format
Befriend Your Brain is a virtual workshop that goes live on Zoom four consecutive Fridays:
- November 1
- November 8
- November 15
- November 22
Each session is two hours long from 10:00 am to noon Chicago time (CST, GMT-5)
Hello from Brandy —
At age 49, I got a diagnosis of an 'executive dysfunction disorder.'
I felt like a three-year train journey was pulling into its final station.
But the route I took to get there looked like a giant squiggle.
The train doors open.
I step onto the platform.
I had just arrived in Broken Brain.
My mind had adapted bold new ways of working and being in the world.
And it was working.
Broken? There was too much evidence pointing to a different route.
While my path and yours may be different, I know I am not alone.
Teaching people all over the world, I see what we have in common:
Our brains are fast, noisy, and hard to control.
When our minds are challenged and fixed on what we love, we are unstoppable.
Other times we struggle to point our brainpower in the right direction.
We tend to either be dialed up to 11... or zero.
When we give, we give it our all.
And then, we crash.
Hard to modulate our energy or focus when all of our senses are wide open.
We are lifelong learners and infinitely curious.
We are quick to explore new topics, ideas, and tools, to question norms, and are always looking to improve ourselves and the world around us.
Our interests can send us off on side quests, or falling down a rabbit hole.
With my uncomfortable diagnosis, I got curious.
So, how do we get derailed?
What exactly are the executive functions?
How did I get this far in life and had never really heard of them? Only to be told mine aren't working?
Executive Function
is how the mind executes what it envisions.
Psychologists, educators, neurobiologists have been shaping definitions of executive function for decades.
Even if lists and labels differ slightly, these are the processes your brain constantly fire to control your behavior and keep you on task to reach a goal.
For example:
- Task initiation gets you going on your project.
- You plan and prioritize with good organization skills.
- 'Goal-directed persistence' takes you across the finish line.
Unfortunately, most of what is studied and written about is student or patient dysfunction:
- Procrastination leads to starting your project at the very last minute.
- Impulsivity and 'emotional dysregulation' makes making yourself feel better more important than working towards your goal.
- With Poor working memory, the next step falls out of your head before you can accomplish it.
Mental Health Express to the end of the line, Broken Brain.
Working with a specialist in therapy, I learned:
⬜ What the executive functions are.
⬜ What function and dysfunction looks like.
⬜ What circumstances and actions help me think more clearly, or lose steam.
⬜ That I had taken my stronger executive functions for granted
This new level of understanding made it crystal clear that:
⬜ Goal #1
Grasp the Executive Functions
In Befriend Your Brain, you will learn the executive functions and how they relate to day-to-day life and work.
Jump to RegistrationThe 'knowability' of executive function and gentle self-assessment is the first step.
Now what?
Riding my train of thought.
With every executive function I explored, I could point to the specific tools I used to keep up with my freight train of a brain.
Getting out of my head with hands-on tools was precisely why I had found a place in the world that works for my kind of mind.
My constant drive to make the intangible tangible was a feature, not a bug.
Some tools are the learnable techniques that address specific executive functions.
Others are physical materials and tools that keep us focused and engaged.
Visual Thinking
is drawing out your thoughts, feelings and ideas.
Making a drawing to make sense of yourself, your work, the world around you.
⬜ Goal #2
Gather Visual Tools to Boost Thinking
Over our four sessions together, Brandy shares repeatable techniques and hands-on tools specific to each executive function.
Jump to RegistrationSoon you'll know what is working, what isn't working, and what visual tools help you with both.
But, what stops us in our tracks?
A large part of developing executive function is the shift in childhood from external guidance to your own inner voice.
Self-control, getting started, knowing the next steps, remembering information, staying focused, persisting until you are done... and being your own coach and cheering section all along the way.
When we procrastinate, lose focus, don't follow through, or are just feeling fried and unmotivated, the inner critic can drown out our inner knowing.
Over time, we listen to our inner critic far too much.
We forget our own past accomplishments and what we are capable of.
Put that inner critic in their place with paper and pen.
Make your inner voice seen.
Every time you get your ideas out of your head and onto paper, you are:
- Shushing the inner critic.
- Tuning into your intuition.
- Accessing past experience.
- Showing yourself what you are capable of.
- Making progress towards your next completed goal.
I will teach you how to change the conversation with yourself.
Do I still have my own very real and constant mental glitches to navigate?
Absolutely.
Have I filled up my own mental toolbox with tons of tools to amplify the best parts of my brain and reduce those glitches?
A whole workshop full of tools.
Do I use these visual tools to shove that inner critic out of the way?
Every day.
Join me at Befriend Your Brain and let me show you how.
Let's get to know our brains better.
Let me show you all the wonderful ways you can create clarity and make meaning for yourself.
At your fingertips.
⬜ Goal #3
Increase Self-Awareness and Compassion
When you better understand yourself, and you hold the tools to improve your thinking, you can improve your focus, mental organization, and self-talk anytime anywhere.
Jump to RegistrationIn Befriend Your Brain , Brandy Agerbeck will illustrate the executive functions that take you from the spark of an idea through to the finish line of a completed project.
As we go, you will discover a world of visual tools that keep you focused and fired up all along the way.
Over these four sessions, you will grasp what the executive functions are, what visual thinking is, and how you can bring them together to:
Befriend your brain and work to your strengths.
Gather concrete tools and techniques to improve your weak spots.
Live a more creative, engaged, and self-compassionate life.
Join Brandy to boost your executive functions with visual thinking to make your brain shine!
Befriend Your Brain is for you if:
- You are eager to learn new tools to harness your fast and unruly brain.
- Your inner critic is winning, and you need to shift your self-talk.
- Your concentration and follow through have tanked and you need new methods to regain your focus and drive.
- You are neurodivergent, and making your thinking more hands-on just makes sense.
- Your brain feels like a bowl of crispy noodles, and you need restorative tools.
- You've gotten a diagnosis of an executive dysfunction disorder and you want more concrete detail about what that is and what you can do about it.
- You've been diagnosed and are sick of being seen as broken or a problem to be fixed.
- You work in a field helping folks with executive function challenges, and want to add more tools to your repertoire.
- You want to understand a loved one with these challenges better.
Brilliant is NOT for you if:
- You are looking for medical advice. Brandy is an internationally recognized expert in visual thinking. Brandy is not a neurobiologist, psychologist, or other medical professional.
- You are looking for a group therapy experience. While we will be sharing the live session together, this workshop is designed for individual reflection.
- You are certain that your fast brain is untamable or your challenges are impossible to improve.
- You are not relating to a darn thing on this page. That is AOK!
But if you know someone who could use this workshop, please share this page with them, will ya?
Now that we've got that out of the way...
If you are ready to befriend your brain, let's get you registered.
We meet live online via Zoom on:
Friday,
November 1
10:00 am to Noon
Friday,
November 8
10:00 am to Noon
Friday,
November 15
10:00 am to Noon
Friday,
November 22
10:00 am to Noon
All times Chicago (CST, GMT-5)
Registration Fee
Join Befriend Your Brain for
$397 USD
Click on the image to begin registration and payment —
Frequently Asked Questions
Who
Visual Thinking? If I can't draw, how does this relate to me?
I attended before. Can I register again?
Can I invite friends and colleagues to register?
What are Brandy Agerbeck's credentials?
Is this suitable for kids?
What
What is included in the registration fee?
What materials do I need?
Will there be any prep work or homework between sessions?
I am eager to learn this material. Do you teach this elsewhere?
When
I can't make all 4 sessions. Will the sessions be recorded?
This set of dates don't work for me. When will Befriend Your Brain be offered again?
The timing is lousy. What can I do?
Logistics
If I arrive late to a session, what happens?
Do you offer group rates?
Can Befriend Your Brain be taught privately to my group?
I can no longer attend the workshop. How do I cancel?
If your question hasn't been answered, reach out to Brandy using her contact form.
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