Abstract
Clinical care following a severe brain injury often requires a host of physical and psychological rehabilitation interventions. However, a brain injury affects the entire family. Therefore, a family-level approach to neurorehabilitation services should be favoured over an individual one. Social workers are often well positioned to assess and address family-level processes. By exploring key family-level theories, models, and approaches to brain injury intervention, this article provides clinical social workers with practical guidance. Illustrated through a descriptive case example, it serves as a user-friendly resource for application in real-world settings. The skills and tools discussed will likely be familiar even to those without practice experience in neurorehabilitation. The value of emphasizing clinical process skills related to common factors in therapy rather than content expertise related to brain injuries is discussed. References for comprehensive brain injury family interventions and reliable sources of information for clinicians and families are provided throughout the article.
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We do not analyse or generate any datasets in this manuscript as the work is theoretical and based on a case example.
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The author is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé.
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McCrossin, J. Clinical Social Work with Families Affected by Brain Injuries: A Case Example. Clin Soc Work J 52, 61–70 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-023-00909-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-023-00909-8