About This Site
I'm Mark Dombeck, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist in California (PSY25695) with thirty years of professional experience. I specialize in complex trauma (CPTSD), adult neurodiversity (ADHD and autism), and relationship issues—particularly situations where these challenges overlap and amplify each other.
For much of my clinical career, I have worked with clients dealing with trauma, anxiety, and complex emotional challenges that get in the way of functioning. Somewhere in that work, I noticed a pattern: many otherwise intelligent, capable people would come in overwhelmed regarding their productivity. Not because they lacked capacity or effort, but because they were trying to force their brains to work in ways that fundamentally didn't fit their neurological state.
As I working more directly with neurodivergent clients—particularly adults with ADHD—I saw this struggle with striking clarity. The gap between their capabilities and their actual output. The constant battle with organization and focus. The intelligence that, rather than being an asset, often trapped them in cycles of procrastination and last-minute rushing. I recognized that neurodiversity was one clear pathway into executive dysfunction.
And then I realized that they were not alone. The traumatized people I was working with frequently displayed similar executive dysfunction patterns. Their brains arrived at being stuck in a different fashion, dysregulated by past overwhelm rather than organized differently from birth, but their functional outcome was eerily similar. They described the same productivity paralysis, displayed the same gap between capacity and output and the same struggle with shame about how they functioned.
That's when it became clear: executive function support needed to be trauma-informed. It couldn't assume a baseline of nervous system safety. It couldn't shame people into compliance. It had to account for the fact that executive dysfunction emerges from multiple sources, neurodevelopmental differences, trauma history, or both, and each pathway requires an understanding rather than a forceful approach, if it is to improve.
That's when I started developing EEFS—Embodied Executive Function Support.
What This Site Is
This is where I explore how executive function actually works, why traditional productivity advice so often fails for neurodivergent brains and people dealing with dysregulation, and what approaches actually help when you stop forcing and start understanding.
Every post here reflects thirty years of psychological and neuroscientific thought and experience. I write about the five components of executive function, about how your nervous system affects your capacity to plan and focus, about why transitions matter more than most productivity advice acknowledges, and about how parts of you that seem to be in conflict can actually be brought into alliance.
Who This Is For
This site is for neurodivergent professionals (especially those with ADHD and autism), for people dealing with the aftermath of trauma who find traditional productivity systems counterproductive, for executives and leaders looking for sustainable productivity approaches, and for anyone exhausted by conventional productivity culture's pressure and shame.
If you've tried every system, read every article about time management, and something still breaks down—you're probably going to find something useful here.
The Core Idea
Most productivity advice assumes standardized brains and standardized willpower. When you don't fit the template, you either get shamed ("you're not disciplined enough") or over-accommodated ("just accept your limits"). Both of these responses miss the point.
Understanding how your nervous system and brain actually work—how you manage attention, plan, initiate tasks, handle transitions—lets you distinguish between pushing past your genuine limits (which depletes you) and pushing through resistance (which builds your capacity). That opens up the possibilities, enabling you to push yourself to your actual limits while doing so in a sustainable manner.
The posts on this site are designed to help you develop that understanding. They're paced generously because processing complex ideas takes time. They're validating rather than shaming because shame actually prevents learning. And they're grounded in both research and what I've learned from working with real people dealing with real productivity challenges.
About Me
I'm a licensed clinical psychologist in California with thirty years of professional experience. I specialize in complex trauma (CPTSD), adult neurodiversity (ADHD and autism), and relationship issues—particularly the situations where these challenges overlap and amplify each other. That last area has become a real niche for me: working with couples where one or both partners are neurodivergent and/or dealing with trauma histories. The intersection points are complex and fascinating.
I'm the founder of both Embodied Executive Function Support (EEFS) and Trauma Explained, two complementary frameworks for understanding how our nervous systems, past experiences, and neurobiology shape what's possible for human functioning.
I'm continually learning—about psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, artificial intelligence, etc. I'm deeply fascinated by consciousness, identity and trauma, how people actually change, about what works in the real world versus what sounds good in theory. This site reflects that ongoing learning.
How to Connect
This site offers free educational content about executive function and productivity. It's also part of a larger ecosystem of resources:
For deeper exploration of trauma and nervous system healing, visit Trauma Explained—a comprehensive exploration of how trauma affects your system and what healing actually involves.
If you live in California and are interested in working with me directly, whether for psychotherapy or executive function coaching, visit my practice website to learn about my services and schedule a consultation.
Welcome. Let's explore together.