According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.4 million people sustain traumatic brain injuries every year. Of those, 50,000 die and 1.1 million are treated and released from the hospital. For many of these people, cognitive therapy can help restore brain functioning. In cases where brain functioning cannot be restored, cognitive therapy can be used to teach the brain do things differently.
Computer-Based Cognitive Therapy
Computer-based cognitive therapy programs have helped many individuals suffering from brain injuries, according to the Brain Injury Resource Center. The purpose of computer-based cognitive therapy programs is to provide a cost-effective method to improve the fundamental abilities of various parts of the brain. This is accomplished through a series of structured computer-based activities (such as card games, mystery games, etc.) designed to improve each area of the brain. Computer-based activities allow you to exercise your entire brain or focus on the particular area where you are experiencing the most cognitive difficulties. According to Dr. Joseph Sandford, computer-based cognitive therapy is unique from other types of cognitive therapy because it can actually be fun. This is important because many individuals who suffer brain injuries become easily frustrated, which can be a major barrier to improving. Moreover, the computer-based therapy provides immediate reinforcement and the improvements can be tracked and seen more easily than in other types of therapy.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy can be beneficial to those who suffer from a brain injury. Cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on altering thoughts or perceptions that are causing psychological distress. It is based on the idea that thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors rather than external things. For example, a cognitive-behavioral therapist might work to train a patient to continually ask questions when he is presented with a strong emotional feeling (i.e., What is it that's really making me sad? Did it always make me sad?)
According to Dr. Judith Falconer, behavior problems of head injury victims are often unrelated to the head injury. These behavioral problems can increase the injured person's level of frustration and the frustration and stress level of his support group (usually the family). This individual is unlikely to see significant gains until cognitive-behavioral therapists address these problems.
Home-Based Cognitive Therapy
Cognitive therapy must become a part of your daily routine. Rehabilitation centers and counselors can be expensive, so it may be necessary to integrate home-based cognitive therapy into your life. Think of home-based cognitive therapy as exercise for your brain. Just like with physical exercise, you must work out all the areas of your brain and do so consistently. Researchers at the University of Alabama have listed the different skills you must work on (or different parts of the brain you must work out). These include: fine motor control, attention/concentration, memory-orientation, reasoning/problem solving, visual spatial and language skills.
There are a number of activities that help to improve each of the skill sets listed above. For example, working with clay can help improve your fine motor skills. To find a detailed list of activities matched with skill sets, see the resource listed below.
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