Considering Psychotherapy For Your Symptoms?
After a brain injury or concussion, Psychotherapy helps the patient deal with behavioral and emotional problems, as well as psychological reactions to traumatic events. The approaches to this form of treatment incude behavioral medicine, medication therapy (pharmacology), and of course, traditional “talk” therapy.
Behavioral medicine (health psychology) includes biofeedback, which I will mention more in depth in the next blog, and hypnosis. Hypnosis, which uses an altered state of consciousness to teach responses to and control over various trigger conditions, is very helpful for pain reduction.
Traditional psychotherapy can help you identify, understand, and cope with the symptoms and consequences of mTBI. Some psychotherapy approaches include insight therapy, client-centered therapy, and the use of role-playing and family counseling. Other forms of psychotherapy that are highly effective in treating the effects of Post-Concussive Syndrome (PCS) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms are the following: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). The form of psychotherapy used depends on the individual’s needs, although for individuals with mTBI, therapist/patient dialogue and stress management training can be very helpful.
Pharmacology uses medications to help change or regulate mental activitity, mood, and behavior. Pharmacologists are the psychiatrists who specialize in this field and can prescribe medication therapy to lessen or elminate psychological, neurological, and behavioral problems.
It is very important to bear in mind that psychotherapy with mTBI should be provided only by a licensed mental health professional who has training in and experience with this type of injury, especially the areas of Post Concussive Syndrome (PCS), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Grief/Bereavement of loss of self.