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Families’ Early Sessions, Emotional Status, and Treatment Themes

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Psychotherapy for Families after Brain Injury

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Abstract

This chapter describes the initial consultation with a psychotherapist who is incorporating family members into the neurorehabilitation process for their loved one. The role of family as a critical adjunct to the treatment of the patient is clarified, also including the limits of a doctor–patient relationship. Factors and considerations in early sessions are provided, encompassing important and common emotional and behavioral presentations by family members, which influence early working hypotheses. A semi-structured interview approach is presented to assist the psychotherapist in obtaining germane aspects of the family’s prior social history as well as their current functional and psychological status. Criteria to establish a baseline of the family’s level of awareness, acceptance, and realism are offered, and are divided into patient-related inquiries and caregiver/support network topics. Later in the chapter, an overview of prominent emotional reactions and psychosocial changes in families after brain injury are provided. These include depression, anxiety, and demoralization; anger and frustration; grief and loss; denial; guilt; identity and social role changes; subjective care burden; and shattering of the assumptive world and loss of sense of self. Lastly, global factors for psychotherapists working effectively with families as well as pervasive treatment themes are described.

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  1. Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

    Pamela S. Klonoff

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Klonoff, P. (2014). Families’ Early Sessions, Emotional Status, and Treatment Themes. In: Psychotherapy for Families after Brain Injury. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-8083-0_2

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