Working with Brain Injury

This book provides a hands-on resource for the development of essential skills and competencies in clinical neuropsychology. On a very practical level it addresses a question frequently asked by students, trainees, interns, and newly qualified psychologists: what do I need to know in order to perform the everyday tasks involved in clinical neuropsychology? The authors distil, from a vast knowledge base, the practical skills and knowledge needed to lay the foundations for working with brain-injured patients, especially within the developed and developing world where time and resources are limited.

The book is divided into three main sections: Basic Foundations, Clinical Practice, and Professional Issues. Together these sections cover 18 fundamental topics, each representing a key part of the life of a practitioner. Each chapter contains practical tips, points for reflective practice, and suggested further reading, with a particular emphasis on issues pertaining to working in under-resourced clinical environments. The book draws upon landmark academic papers and textbooks, and also the authors’ experiences of working in state hospitals in both South Africa and the National Health Service in the United Kingdom.

Working with Brain Injury will be essential reading for clinical psychology trainees and their supervisors, for newly qualified psychologists in clinical settings, and for students and practitioners in other clinical professions seeking an introduction to clinical neuropsychology.

Ross Balchin is a clinical neuropsychologist and a Clinical Research Fellow for the University of Cambridge's NIHR Global Health Research Group on Neurotrauma. He is based in the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, and is a member of the UCT Neuroscience Institute. Dr Balchin is also a Program Director for the Neuropsychoanalysis Foundation in New York. He has formerly held both the National Research Foundation (NRF) NPPD and the Claude Leon Foundation postdoctoral fellowships. Dr Balchin is currently the Chairman of the Board of The Brain Injury Trust, a non-profit organization which is involved in the prevention of brain injury and which supports patients and their families from the acute stage of brain injury and on through the recovery process.