Adapting Psychological Therapies for People with Cognitive Impairment

This short course will help you develop valuable skills in adapting cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and other psychological therapies for people with cognitive impairments associated with conditions affecting the brain.

Designed for practising psychologists in areas such as clinical neuropsychology, clinical psychology and health psychology, the 5 weekly classes will introduce you to evidence-based approaches to psychological interventions for people with brain injury and illness.

You'll be taught by La Trobe Associate Professor Dana Wong, who is nationally renowned in the field of neuropsychological interventions and the lead author on the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Anxiety and Depression: Adapted for Brain Injury (CBT-ABI) treatment manual.

The short 10-hour course is will be delivered via Zoom over five 2-hour weekly sessions and is accessible to psychologists throughout Australia.

CBT and other psychological therapies can be challenging for clients with cognitive impairment because of the demands on learning, memory, mental flexibility and metacognitive awareness.

Yet evidence has found these therapies can be adapted for people with cognitive impairments. They've been shown to successfully treat anxiety and depression, and facilitate their adjustment to life with a brain injury or illness.

Through this short course, you'll learn to:

• identify common presenting features of depression and anxiety in the context of brain conditions
• understand the current state of research evidence for CBT, ACT and other psychological therapies in people with brain injury and illness
• deliver the key components of the manualised Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Anxiety and Depression: Adapted for Brain Injury (CBT-ABI) program
• observe, learn and practise key adaptations to CBT and other psychological therapies for people with cognitive impairments
• outline challenges when working with cognitively impaired cohorts and explore potential ways to manage them
• explore how adapted psychological therapies may be applied in a range of clinical contexts.