Counseling Individuals Post Acquired Brain Injury: Considerations and Objectives

Abstract

Survivors of acquired brain injuries (ABIs) all need to cope with the suddenness of an unexpected, life changing injury. Survivors will vary in terms of severity of challenges, from subtle to very pronounced. The framework within which the survivor views the injury will also affect his or her emotional status. All these factors must be considered in understanding the survivor and facilitating an effective post-injury counseling experience. Very common counseling goals include improving awareness, mood, frustration tolerance, attitude, stress management, self-esteem, and the reintegration to meaningful roles. The counselor/psychotherapist is oftentimes the survivor's primary partner in the neurorehabilitation process, due to the clinician's awareness of the individual's fears, motivations, vulnerabilities, and triggers. It is highly important to integrate efforts with all other team members to assure that emotional and behavioral difficulties are not interfering with the survivor's progress in any domain. This type of close team communication and collaboration enables the survivor to receive consistent feedback from different team members and also highlights the fact that the team is working in concert, guiding the survivor toward goal achievement and reintegration to meaningful roles. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)