Services

TBI and Cognitive Rehabilitation Overview

Patient and family needs vary significantly depending on the type and severity of the TBI or impairment. So in the program, I work closely with you and your family to develop and implement individualized treatment goals and plans. This overall treatment process typically involves five main areas:

Assessment: I will usually start the treatment with neuropsychology testing. It may be a brief screening (20-30 minutes) or more comprehensive testing (3-4 hours) to see where you are in terms of memory, attention, thinking speed, and other cognitive abilities.
Education: I will work on educating you and your family about your current cognitive functioning and what to expect regarding the recovery process.
Goal Setting: We will then create your short- and long-term goals. This process will be a collaborative process where the treatment team (both of us as well as your caregivers) come up with things that would maximize your recovery in terms of improving your abilities in cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions.
Rehabilitation: You and I will be working together on implementing these goals by coming up with concrete plans, organizing steps to achieve these plans, and problem-solving possible setbacks that may arise.
Supportive Counseling: Throughout the process, I will help you to regularly monitor and review your progress, daily functioning, and mood. This, in turn, will help inform and guide brain injury-specific psychotherapy for improving mood, coping, and quality of life for both you and your family.

Assessment

Neuropsychological assessment measures your overall brain functioning. Attention, memory, thinking speed, language, visual perceptions, and executive functioning are some of the things measured in the assessment. A wide range of neuropsychological tests will be given during the process, lasting anywhere from 45 minutes to 6 hours depending on each case. Each assessment will be tailored to the unique need of your current medical situation and the results will be used to better understand your brain functioning and to guide future treatment.

Education

Psychoeducation provides you with information about your illness, what to expect in the TBI recovery process, and how to cope with current symptoms or setbacks. Information about the recovery process will not only help you and your family to better understand your condition but also help you feel better prepared for future uncertainties and possible setbacks. Another important role of psychoeducation is how it helps you to regulate your current lifestyle and environment to avoid problems such as recognizing early signs of fatigue and taking steps to reduce such feelings.

Goal Setting

Neuropsychological rehabilitation goal setting is a collaborative approach between you, your family, and the therapist. You and your family will be involved in selecting, developing, participating, and evaluating what you would like to achieve during treatment. It is an opportunity to work as a team to create systematic ways to improve and achieve your recovery. Goal setting draws on your strength and motivation to achieve tangible short-term goals which will then help you to see the steps to get to your long-term goals. Setting short-term and long-term goals will help you gain a better perspective on your overall recovery and enable you to take charge of your progress.

Rehabilitation and Remediation

The goal of my neuropsychological rehab program is to improve your daily functioning and maximize your recovery. In my program, I work closely with you and your family to set and achieve goals for improvement. Specific program elements are individual and impairment specific but frequent focus areas include: improving and maintaining your cognitive functioning, modifying your environment, increasing your awareness, fostering self-management and self-regulation, time pressure management, and coping strategies. In the program, I leverage both cognitive rehabilitation and remediation techniques. Cognitive rehabilitation programs are designed to help rebuild lost skills and tend to focus on specific cognitive domains, such as memory, language, and executive functions. By contrast, remediation focuses on compensatory training procedures that make environmental changes to provide greater independence and productivity in your daily life when skill recovery is slow or unlikely.

Supportive Counseling

After your TBI or brain illness, you may experience depression due to difficulty adjusting to the current medical situation. You may also feel anxious about your future recovery, and frustrated with your mind not being as efficient as it used to be. Physiological effects of your brain illness may create additional emotional changes such as mood swings, irritability, and difficulty reading social cues. It is also very common that there may be tension and difficulties between you and your loved ones due to caregiving stressors. Left untreated, these issues may not only impact the quality of life but they can significantly impair your rehabilitation process and recovery. For these reasons, I believe it is vitally important that you and your family have supportive psychotherapy throughout the entire rehabilitation program. In the program, I offer brain injury-specific therapy for you and your family to address the full range of emotional challenges to improve communications with your loved ones.

Individual Psychotherapy

I also provide psychotherapy for individuals and couples. My areas of specialties include chronic medical illnesses, caregiver burnout, and stressful life transitions. I generally use cognitive behavioral therapy and short-term, strength-based approaches to empower you to create and implement your own goals for therapy as well as to help reduce your current emotional difficulties. In treatment, I also utilize additional evidence-based treatments such as environmental modifications or mindfulness practices to tailor treatment to your unique needs. I believe that by developing insights and practicing effective coping skills, you don't have to settle for living with current difficulties, instead you can create a more meaningful and fulfilling life.