Substance Abuse and Head Injury-Intervention

Intervention Programs

Survivors of head injury need intervention after completing a rehabilitation program.

They need to be in an environment where shared experiences can be expressed because they are coping with the effects of brain damage and withdrawal from drugs or alcohol.

Traditional Substance abuse programs:

The traditional approach of substance abuse treatment for survivors of traumatic brain injury does not always successfully address all the issues of this population. Survivors often leave these settings because of their inability to work within the rules imposed. They end up back in the same situtions and cycle back into substance abuse treatment programs.

Barriers to success in traditional substance abuse treatment programs include:

Memory	Decision making abilities
Judgement	Attention
Problem solving skills	Thought flexibility
New learning	Social skills
Emotional control	Appropriateness of behavior
Reduced Self-Esteem	Frustration
Denial	Coping skills
Motivation	Self-perception

Traditional Program	- is likely to fail because the focus is on acceptance of a higher being -requires abstract reasoning skills and higher level thinking, too difficult for brain-injured patients with cognitive deficits
Fast Paced Program	-keeps patients busy morning to night, 30-40 hours per week -group and individual meetings each week -may be too overwhelming for brain-injured patients because constantly dealing with fatigue
Small, Structured Groups	-small size helps facilitate participation -brain-injured patient may keep attention better -program paced to each participant's behavior, physical, and cognitive ability

**Survivors of traumatic brain injury can benefit from the services of an inpatient substace abuse setting if there is a team approach to treating both the injury and the abuse. These survivors can benefit from individual or group therapies, and it is good for them to figure out the dynamics and issues of their recovery. However, it is critical that there is a coordinated team effort to help the person with a TBI be successful. The counselors need to be educated on brain injury and its effects. With a team approach, the survivor will be able to addres cognitive, physical rehabilition, psychological, employment, housing, legal, and other issues with professional and nonprofessional guidance.

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