Neuropsychotherapy and Community Integration: Brain Illness, Emotions, and Behavior (Critical Issues in Neuropsychology)

The first time I walked onto a neurology ward during my graduate training I was shocked (much as family members of people with brain illnesses probably are). I had learned a great deal in class about aphasia, amnesia, agnosia, apraxia, and other cognitive disorders, but I had not been prepared for the behavioral disorders I was to encounter, for the severe physical disabilities, for the indignities of the patient role. Bit by bit I overcame this shock. I learned to look people in the eye who seemed to have more tubes than the New York subway system, people whose faces had been scraped off the pavement and who were drooling, incontinent, and severely dysarthric. I learned to see beyond what frightened and repulsed me to the human beings within. I wish I could say that I saw in each person a deep human soul yearning to breathe free and to love, an essence, an intrinsic goodness, a wholeness; I did not. Rather, it seems like each and every unique element of human behavior, one's abilities, and one's desires can be destroyed by some brain lesion, while leaving a uniquely human person behind. Not only are there losses, but behaviors emerge at times that are not seen in people with intact brains but which still reveal a human attempting to cope. I do feel that I saw and still see in each such person something intrinsically human, but not the same thing in each. Front Matter....Pages i-xxiv Introduction....Pages 1-14 Front Matter....Pages 15-15 Neurology and Neuropsychology....Pages 17-29 Education and Psychotherapy....Pages 31-37 Cognitive Rehabilitation....Pages 39-48 Front Matter....Pages 49-49 Assessment....Pages 51-83 Fundamental Issues....Pages 85-105 General Techniques of Neuropsychotherapy and Related Interventions....Pages 107-135 Intervention Strategies for Problem Feelings and Behaviors....Pages 137-152 Front Matter....Pages 153-153 Psychological Reactions to Illness....Pages 155-180 Organic Emotional Changes....Pages 181-211 Executive Functions....Pages 213-243 Cognitive and Medical Problems....Pages 245-259 Front Matter....Pages 261-262 The Family....Pages 263-289 The Community....Pages 291-312 Conclusions and Future Directions....Pages 313-319 Back Matter....Pages 321-371 This volume provides comprehensive coverage of interventions for emotional and behavioral problems following all types of brain illnesses and injuries in adults. It is a unique guide to different settings, families, cultures, illnesses and levels of severity it takes neuropsychotherapy outside the clinic to the real life situations and dilemmas of people with brain illnesses. The principles of the book are amply illustrated with case studies. Major techniques and principles are summarized in frequent tables which can serve as clinical guides. A multi-cultural and international perspective runs throughout the book. Interventions can be applied by psychotherapists, rehabilitation professionals, paraprofessionals and families This volume provides comprehensive coverage of interventions for emotional and behavioral problems following all types of brain illnesses and injuries in adults. It is a unique guide to different settings, families, cultures, illnesses and levels of severity. It takes neuropsychotherapy outside the clinic to the real life situations and dilemmas of people with brain illnesses. It contains case studies, summaries of major techniques and principles in frequent tables which can serve as clinical guides.