Understand Your Child’s Executive Functioning.

Learn How to Help

Psychologist-led workshops for parents navigating challenges with getting started, organization, time management, follow-through, and emotional regulation.

Practical, research-informed strategies you can use at home.

No diagnosis required.

View Parent Workshops
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Located in lovely Madison, WI. Available online nationwide.

We’re Here To Help

You might be here if:

• Your child has ADHD - or struggles with organization, follow-through, or emotional regulation
• You’re constantly reminding, prompting, or managing things behind the scenes
• Your teen or young adult should be more independent… but isn’t quite there yet
• You’ve started to realize… you might struggle with this too

Whether there’s a diagnosis (like ADHD) or not, executive functioning challenges are real- and they can make it really hard to meet your goals (even just if it’s remembering to brush your teeth).

A Practical Way to Understand Executive Functioning

Improving executive functioning isn’t about motivation or effort…it’s about building flexible skills

These skills help with planning, organization, time awareness, emotional regulation, and follow-through.

Executive functioning can be negatively impacted by:
ADHD, anxiety, depression, stress, hormonal changes, or simply the demands of everyday life.

Instead of asking “what’s wrong?”, we focus on:

  • Which skills are under strain

  • What supports actually help

  • How to build flexible systems that work in real life

Because when you understand the system, everything starts to make more sense.

What We Offer

The good news is that executive function skills can be built!

Here’s how to work with us:

  • Workshops for Parents
    Learn what executive functioning is, understand what may be getting in your child's way, and leave with practical strategies to try at home.

  • Executive Function Parent Lab

    An 8-week small-group learning experience for parents who want to take a deeper dive into executive function skills and learn how to apply strategies at home.

  • Schools & Organizations
    Psychologist-led parent education, professional development, and consultation focused on executive functioning and neurodivergent learners.

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Who We Help

mom with gray hair smiling at young adult son
mom standing with teen working on homework

Parents of Teens and Young Adults

Parents of Kids and Tweens

Learn how to support executive function skills at home, reduce conflict, and build independence over time.
Support planning your young adult's planning, follow-through, and independence, without taking over.
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School Teams 

Help your staff understand your students with executive function challenges better to help them thrive

A Little About Our Founder

Hi, I’m Dr. Liz.

I’m a psychologist, adult educator, and coach who supports families everyday.

Through my clinical practice, Capital City Psychology, I work with tweens, teens, young adults, and their families navigating ADHD, anxiety, and executive function challenges.

Through Empowered Focus, I provide educational workshops and coaching programs designed to help parents better understand their child’s (and their own) executive function skills.

I also come from a family deeply shaped by ADHD, and I know firsthand what it feels like to support others while quietly running out of steam yourself.

As a midlife mom who’s been to the edge of burnout and back, I believe you deserve:

  • clarity instead of constant worry

  • tools instead of guilt

  • community instead of doing this alone

I share practical, actionable ideas that help you transform overwhelm into clarity and confidence- while balancing the demands of work, family, and (yes!) time for yourself.

headshot of founder Liz Gaebler smiling and leaning on wall
Learn More About Me

  • I recently attended a presentation by Dr. Gaebler, and it was incredibly insightful & relatable. She has such a down-to-earth way of explaining executive functioning skills, especially for busy moms and entrepreneurs who are trying to do it all.

    I love her approach with the different “team members” in the brain—it makes everything so much easier to understand and even kind of fun to think about. What really stood out to me was that her approach goes way beyond just time management. She helps you see how executive functioning touches everything—planning, staying focused, managing emotions, and being flexible when life inevitably throws curveballs.

    I left the presentation with real strategies I could start using right away. I’d absolutely recommend her to anyone who wants to feel more in control of their time and energy in a way that actually feels human.

    -Jill B., Workshop Participant

  • “(The workshop) helped me identify the “why” behind some of my own struggles and how to use strategies for myself and my daughter”

    Workshop Participant

  • “This was a very wonderful, informative, and concise presentation about very important topics. I loved interacting and discussing with my colleagues about the information.”

    Workshop Participant

  • Thank you so much. So much useful information clearly presented. The (activity) ingeniously gave us time and focus for discussion amongst ourselves.

    Workshop Participant

What This Is…

and What It’s Not

Empowered Focus is not therapy (if you’re looking for therapy, check out my Madison, WI therapy practice Capital City Psychology)

Empowered Focus offers structured, skills-based workshops and learning opportunities to help you understand executive functioning and build real-life skills.

 FAQs

  • Empowered Focus provides psychologist-led workshops and educational programs designed to help parents better understand executive functioning challenges.

    Our goal is to make complex psychological ideas practical and accessible, giving parents clear strategies they can use at home and in daily life.

    Most Empowered Focus programs are offered as workshops and educational sessions, with group learning opportunities available for adults who want additional support in strengthening their own executive function skills.

  • Empowered Focus workshops are designed primarily for parents who want to better understand executive functioning and how to help their children of all ages.

    Many of the parents who attend are thoughtful, busy adults trying to support a child who struggles with staying on task, managing their regulation, and meeting their goals. Many of our parents have children who are neurodivergent. They are looking for clear, practical strategies that go beyond the overwhelming or conflicting advice often found online.

    While the focus is on parent education, many participants are also midlife working moms juggling career, family, and the mental load of everyday life, who find that learning about executive function and behavior helps them better understand both their children and themselves.

  • No. A formal diagnosis is not required to benefit from Empowered Focus workshops.

    Many parents attend because their child struggles with executive functioning — whether or not ADHD has been formally diagnosed.

    These workshops focus on helping parents understand how executive function skills affect everyday behavior, learning, and family dynamics. The strategies discussed can be helpful for children with ADHD, as well as for many children who simply need more support with planning, focus, or emotional regulation.

    Our goal is to provide clear, practical guidance that helps parents better understand what may be driving their child’s challenges and how to respond in ways that are more effective and less stressful.

  • Empowered Focus workshops and group programs are educational and skills-focused, not therapy.

    In these programs, Dr. Liz Gaebler shares research-informed guidance on topics such as ADHD, executive function skills, behavior, and parenting strategies. Workshops focus on helping parents and adults better understand how these challenges affect everyday life and learn practical approaches they can try at home.

    Group programs focus on helping to build skills related to executive functioning to support your family’s needs.

    Because workshops and coaching are educational services, they do not provide individualized mental health treatment or replace therapy with a licensed provider.

    If you are looking for therapy services, Dr. Gaebler provides clinical care for tweens, teens, young adults, and parents in Wisconsin through her practice, Capital City Psychology.

  • Yes. Most Empowered Focus workshops are offered virtually, so parents and participants can join from anywhere.

    These educational workshops focus on topics such as ADHD, executive function skills, behavior, and parenting strategies, and are designed to be accessible to families regardless of location.

    For organizations, schools, or professional groups interested in hosting a training or workshop, please feel free to reach out to discuss virtual or in-person training opportunities.

  • The easiest way to begin is by exploring the upcoming workshops offered through Empowered Focus.

    These psychologist-led workshops cover topics such as ADHD, executive function skills, behavior, and parenting strategies, and are designed to provide practical guidance that parents can start using right away.

    You can view current workshop offerings and register directly through the workshop page.

    If you are interested in the parent lab or school/organizational trainings, you please reach out directly to learn more about those options.

  • No, this is not something we currently offer. We offer workshops, the executive function parent lab, and group learning opportunities. Sign-up for our newsletter to stay in the loop.

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Wow-you made it the bottom!

Still have more questions…or an idea for something not listed that you’d like help with?

Reach out — I love to talk (I am a psychologist after all…).

Reach out today!