SERVICES TO PEOPLE WITH ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY
I am a certified Cognitive Behavior Therapist with the Connecticut Department of Social Services Acquired Brain Injury Waiver. I use many of the same approaches with my clients with brain injury as I do with students with learning challenges. For many people who have experienced a traumatic change in their ability to manage their daily lives or in their ability to use their brains and minds, their experience of loss is often glossed over or minimized. People are often encouraged to "just get over it" or to "move on" with their lives. What is missing though in the well-intentioned impulse to help people "move on" is the recognition that people often have to re-invent themselves and their lives after their traumatic life experience.
The investigation of core personality and strengths and needs through the Birkman Method/AboutU and the examination of the relationship to change in the Overcoming the Immunity to Change process can serve as useful guides to help people re-focus their energies and their attention on rebuilding their lives.
I travel to meet with people in their own homes so that they can be as comfortable as possible and so that I can observe their interactions with their support people and their environment to ensure that the recovery and re-building process can be as seamless as possible. I also coordinate closely with my clients health care providers to ensure that medications and therapies are all optimal and that the health care provider has the information they need to make well-informed decisions.