About Monica
As Dubai’s leading Wellness and Executive Function Coach, Monica is passionate about helping her clients – both neurodiverse and neurotypical alike – reach their optimal performance in Executive Function, be it at school, at work or at play.
The term Executive Function refers to a group of mental skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. We all use these skills in our everyday lives to help us navigate the world. Having trouble with these skills can make our lives extremely difficult whatever age we are. Dealing with multiple projects, ever-changing deadlines, and either teachers or managers with different priorities can be a real challenge if our Executive Function skills are not optimized. Add to this the fact that problems with Executive Function skills can make it harder to see a task through or on time and you have a recipe for what appears on the outside like lack of motivation, laziness and/or low performance and on the inside can lead to a deep feeling of failure that can further lead to anxiety and/or depression.
Nobody is born with Executive Function skills. We develop them over time, generally from the preschool years to our mid-20’s. However, many people don’t notice their struggles until well into their 20s or even later, often because the part of the brain that controls executive function — the prefrontal cortex — develops relatively late.
After twenty years of successfully working as a corporate lawyer, watching and witnessing not only people in the workplace but equally her own two wonderful children as well as many of their friends struggle with these invisible disabilities, four years ago Monica took the decision to switch careers so that she could help people tackle Executive Function from the inside out.
Realizing that Executive Function difficulties were historically connected to ADHD/ADD/ASD, Monica witnessed early in the corporate world a very different reality and quickly understood that many, many more people struggle with these skills. “Struggling with Executive Function is not a reflection of someone’s desire to do good work” says Monica “yet too often I’ve seen people being judged as having little motivation and it being perceived as a character flaw rather than a cognitive process that can be worked on and improved.”
This became the driving force for Monica to follow her passion and retrain in an MSc in Psychology and Wellness Coaching, with a specific focus on executive function, neurodiversity (ASD, ADD/ADHD, giftedness) and top performance.
Working with pre-teens, teens and adults alike – on a 1:1 basis, as well as in prominent schools in Dubai and with groups in workplaces across the UAE – Monica has successfully helped many people understand and re-dress these invisible barriers to success so that they are able to attain optimal satisfaction from school, work and play.
Developing a strong partnership with her clients, Monica will ensure that their concerns are heard and that their unique strengths and abilities are celebrated. She helps you identify your goals and work to uncover the practical strategies and effective support needed to achieve them.
Using various Coaching models and techniques, as well as CBT, DBT and positive psychology informed Coaching, At One Life Coaching we are ardent in helping people create better Executive Functioning through tailored, clear and practical Executive Function Coaching so that you can triumph in your life, your relationships and your academic and career success.
Our role is to use her knowledge and expertise to support YOU in finding your voice and your inner resources so that you can build the life you want and deserve.