This book brings together narrative approaches and brain injury rehabilitation, in a manner that fosters an understanding of the natural fit between the two. We live our lives by narratives and stories, and brain injury can affect those narratives at many levels, with far-reaching effects. Understanding held narratives is as important as understanding the functional profile of the injury. This book explores ways to create a space for personal stories to emerge and change, whilst balancing theory with practical application. Despite the emphasis of this book on the compatibility of narrative approaches to supporting people following brain injury, it also illustrates the potential for contributing to significant change in the current narratives of brain injury. This book takes a philosophically different approach to many current neuro-rehabilitation topics, and has the potential to make a big impact. It also challenges the reader to question their own position, but does so in an engaging manner which makes it difficult to put down.

This book is an exploration of key systemic and socio-political considerations when working with people whose lives have been impacted by neurological injury and those who care for them. Expert contributors consider the impact of intersectionality across domains that include gender, sexuality, class, education, religion and spirituality, race, culture, and ability/disability. It offers relevant literature in the field of neuropsychology as well as clinical case studies that provide inspiration and key reflections for clinicians, neurological specialist therapists, and medical staff alike. Chapters discuss navigating intersectionality in couple therapy, hidden social inequalities in paediatric neurorehabilitation, racial microaggression in inpatient settings, and more. This book is essential for all health and social-care practitioners working in the field of brain injury and chronic illness who want to challenge the status quo and advocate for diversity and inclusion.

Children, young people and families living with an acquired brain injury (ABI), whether through accident, illness, injury or abuse, are rarely offered psychological therapy, and yet the benefits of such interventions can be profound. This important new book, providing a selection of practice examples and insights from frontline practitioners, will be essential reading for any paediatric therapist or clinician. Beginning with a "life story" of the brain where emphasis is placed on how brain development is fundamentally related to its environment, the book offers key background knowledge before showcasing the core topics of assessment, psychological formulation and intervention. It features a range of therapeutic models, includes direct and indirect work, group work and family therapy, with settings varying from inpatient neurorehabilitation to community work and the transition to education. The long-term needs of those in the criminal justice system are also addressed. The closing chapters focus on the debate around effective outcome measurement and outline a vision for better services. Elevating the voices of our children, young people and families living with ABI, this pioneering book will provide practitioners with the confidence to work collaboratively across a range of children and young people with disorders of consciousness or communication to those with behaviour that challenges others to manage. It offers new ways to understand both children’s pasts and their futures, and will be essential reading for anyone in the field.

Patients' perspectives on their experiences of illness and treatment are increasingly valued by the medical profession as a source of information to enhance professional development, peer support and the quality of care provided. This book explores the development of an in-depth, relational and reflexive approach to narrative inquiry, drawing on counselling and arts-based approaches to researching accounts of illness. The significance of patient stories is explored through narrative research conversations with people whose personal accounts of a range of conditions provide powerful insights into the impact of illness on identity, life stories and the experience of patienthood. It offers suggestions for using narrative methods in medical education and practice to help professionals to both attend to patients' narratives and reflect on their own stories. Developing a Narrative Approach to Healthcare Research will be of interest to educators, practitioners, students and researchers in healthcare and the social sciences. 'I will recommend this book to my students; I hope other healthcare professionals will do the same and that some, like me, will go on to explore how narrative and story can be harnessed to both explore experience and to teach within healthcare.' - from the Foreword by Karen Forbes 'I would recommend this book to everybody who is involved in caring for people who suffer serious illness - whether they are professionals, family or friends. I also recommend it to social scientists and health professionals who want to conduct research in ways that capture the richness of peoples' lived experience.' - Kim Etherington, Professor of Narrative and Life Story Research, University of Bristol, UK.

Encephalitis is a devastating condition whose impact upon people should not be underestimated. It robs people of abilities most of us take for granted, it leaves people without their loved ones, and even in those families where the person affected survives the person they once knew can be dramatically changed. Life After Encephalitis provides a unique insight into the experiences of those affected by encephalitis, sharing the rich, perceptive, and often powerful, narratives of survivors and family members. It shows how listening to patient and family narratives can help us to understand how they make sense of what has happened to them, and also help professionals better understand and engage with them in practice. The book will also be useful for considering narratives associated with brain injuries from other causes, for example traumatic brain injury. Life After Encephalitis will appeal to a wide range of professionals working in rehabilitation settings, and also to and survivors of encephalitis, their families, and carers.

Neurobehavioural disability (NBD) follows many forms of serious brain injury and is a major constraint on social independence. This book brings together a group of leading academics and practising clinicians to provide an overview of the nature of NBD, considering how it translates into social handicap, and what can be done to address associated problems, through social and behavioural rehabilitation, vocational training and family education. This fully revised edition takes into account advances in the field, exploring the range of cognitive, emotional, and behavioural effects of brain damage most commonly associated with damage to the frontal and associated structures of the brain that govern social behaviour. This edition also features increased emphasis on psychological interventions, as well as new chapters on brain imaging, pharmacotherapy and assistive technology for disability. Neurobehavioural Disability and Social Handicap Following Traumatic Brain Injury is essential reading for clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and neurologists working in brain injury rehabilitation. The book will also be of interest to relatives of those with brain injury seeking better knowledge to understand neurobehavioural disability, as well as the growing number of therapy care assistants, case managers, support workers, and social workers responsible for the day to day care of brain injured people in the community.

The book aims to acknowledge the complexity of working with clients who have an acquired brain injury but aims to give the interested reader practical and useable guides to develop their practice. Throughout the text, case studies and practical suggestions are forwarded to facilitate do-able practice. It is hoped that the book will become a gold standard in this particular area and is aimed at a range of professionals in training (for those responsible providing training in psychopathology, neuropsychology and psychotherapy), and those who have an interest in working with the issues commonly seen post acute brain injury rehabilitation settings.

Comprehensive overview of illness narratives in practice, divided into eight distinct parts. The clear layout allows the readers to focus on the area essential to them and get a comprehensive overview and reflective stance of narratives in that field.

Identity (Re)constructions After Brain Injury: Personal and Family Identity investigates how being diagnosed with acquired brain injury (ABI) impacts identity (re)construction in both adults with ABI and their close relatives. To show how being diagnosed with ABI impacts identity (re)construction, this book investigates key patterns of identity construction. Discourse analysis, especially on the concept of positioning, provides an understanding of the changes and developmental processes in these self-narratives. These narrative (re)constructions point to a developmental change of identity in the course of the different phases of the recovery process for both persons with ABI and their relatives, including conflicting voices from society, service providers, relatives, and other adults with ABI. In addition, the (re)construction process is characterized by much ambivalence in both ABI survivors and relatives. Three perspectives are triangulated: (1) an insider perspective from ABI survivors; (2) an insider perspective from relatives; and (3) an outsider perspective from the researchers. This allows us to see how identities are negotiated and constructed in concrete situations. This innovative book will be required reading for all students and academics working in the fields of disability studies, rehabilitation psychology, sociology, allied health, and social care.

Inspired by the author’s personal experience of sustaining acquired brain injury (ABI), this path-breaking book explores the (re)construction of identity after ABI. It offers a way of understanding ABI through a social scientific lens, promoting an understanding that is generated through close engagement with the lives and experiences of ABI survivors. The author follows the everyday experiences of six male survivors and critically investigates their identity (re)construction after their ABI. As well as demonstrating identity (re)construction after ABI, the experiences of the participants allow the reader to investigate neurological rehabilitation from their perspective. This book suggests that rehabilitation after ABI is often a continual process that extends beyond the formal, medically prescribed period. It also shows that identity after ABI is often (re)constructed in an unpredictable way; a way that emphasises the importance of reciprocal support and the uncertainty of future life. A Sociological Approach to Acquired Brain Injury and Identity is essential reading for academics and students from a range of social scientific disciplines with an interest in biographical or ethnographic research methods. This book offers a social scientific view of rehabilitation and as such is also essential reading for academics, students and professionals with an interest in health and illness, particularly neurological rehabilitation and brain injury rehabilitation.