Cognitive Rehabilitation: An Integrative Neuropsychological Approach

In the past, research about the efficacy of treatment and rehabilitation for individuals who suffered acquired or traumatic brain injuries was limited. However, a surge of research and literature over the past ten years has opened up possibilities for both clinicians and clients. Clinicians need to keep abreast of the advances in technology and treatment that help to further their understanding of clients with cognitive difficulties.

In 1989, McKay Moore Sohlberg and Catherine A. Mateer published Introduction to Cognitive Rehabilitation: Theory and Practice. The need for a text that both reviews the literature to date on cognitive functioning and provides a comprehensive overview of theory has encouraged these authors to produce a second book to address the growth in the field of cognitive rehabilitation and neuropsychology.

The new book thoroughly examines a variety of cognitive disorders (some developmental, others a result of acquired and/or traumatic injuries) and informs the experienced clinician, as well as the layperson, about the anatomy and etiology of a disorder, the relationship between the brain and behavior, and the type of treatment that best suits the problem. This book addresses the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects of brain functioning required to practice effectively and efficiently in cognitive neuropsychology and rehabilitation. It is recommended for all practitioners who work with individuals with brain injury, as well as for students.

Within the context of advances in cognitive rehabilitation, Part I introduces theories, models, and disorders associated with cognitive impairments, along with the principles of cognitive rehabilitation, new perspectives shaping the field, including advances in technology, emphasis on empowerment, functional approaches to treatment, and the impact of emotions on treatment. Recovery and assessment procedures are specifically defined.

Part II comprehensively reviews the theories, assessment procedures, and approaches to treating and managing the areas of cognitive functioning, such as attention, memory, awareness, communication, and executive functioning, that can be affected by brain injury. Along with realistic case examples, the authors provide practical questionnaires, exercises, tasks, and worksheets, including a handout on attention strategies, tasks to assess for executive functioning, charts to record daily thoughts, and specific strategies and instructions for classroom accommodations for children with cognitive impairments.

It is noteworthy that the authors discuss realistically the important issue of reduced awareness in relation to an individual's ability to benefit from treatment. Interviewing tips, including specific questions, are provided to assess self-awareness and adaptive functioning skills. In addition, they provide functional suggestions to increase awareness in clients, and they emphasize the importance of support networks, specifically family members. Interventions for psychological sequelae of a brain injury, as well as approaches to working with children and individuals with mild brain injury, are covered in Parts III and IV. Greater coverage of the research and literature on the benefits of neuropsychiatry of traumatic brain injury would be helpful, but this is a minor criticism.

The authors' new work has expanded to cover the growing field of cognitive rehabilitation. It presents the research and clinical interests pertinent to questions of brain–behavior relationships in children and adults, with a range of disabilities, at a variety of levels of functioning. It is highly recommended as an adjunct to other texts on rehabilitation, cognitive deficits, and neuroanatomy for neurologists, neuropsychologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, speech and occupational therapists, caseworkers, and students.