Person-Centered Approach in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation

Abstract

In the last few decades we have seen important changes in the neuropsychological rehabilitation of brain injury patients. First, the notion of neurorehabilitation has been extended to incorporate psychotherapy as a necessary component. Historically, neurorehabilitation was understood as a synonym for cognitive rehabilitation, which excluded psychotherapy. This person-centered change was based on a comparative analysis of effectiveness of different approaches to neurorehabilitation and increasing awareness of the importance of working with emotional sphere and personality of the patients and their families, as well as of clinic and rehabilitation centre staff. The paper presents a review of two such approaches. One of the first programmes of brain injury patient rehabilitation incorporating psychotherapy was developed by Yehuda Ben-Yishay. This programme spanning two years addressed patients and their family members who were involved in solving everyday life tasks. This ecological orientation combined with therapeutic support resulted in high efficiency of the programme. Another well-known approach was developed by George Prigatano, who formulated thirteen principles of neuropsychological rehabilitation. Many of these principles cover psychotherapeutic work targeting patients, family members, as well as members of the rehabilitation team who confront a number of psychological and behavioral problems associated with brain injury. These programs belong to a holistic approach in neuropsychological rehabilitation which was shown to be highly effective. By approaching patients in combination with their environment, addressing motivation and emotional issues, the effectiveness of rehabilitation sessions can be increased by increased cooperation of patients who gain better awareness of the aims and possibilities of rehabilitation.