Psychological Assessment and Intervention in Rehabilitation

Abstract Patients often present with diverse cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial comorbidities following physical injury that can substantially impact their participation in and outcome following rehabilitation if not effectively managed. Accordingly, psychological assessment and intervention frequently play a critical role in evidence-based interdisciplinary rehabilitation. Specifically, objective psychological and neuropsychological assessment can contribute to overall patient care by assisting with differential diagnosis; characterizing strengths/weakness to inform rehabilitation therapies and disposition planning; monitoring cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning serially; and identifying factors that can adversely affect participation. Psychological interventions further contribute to rehabilitation via providing critical education to patients and family; remediation of acquired neurobehavioral deficits following injury (e.g., disinhibition) or other problematic behaviors (e.g., noncompliance with rehabilitation therapies); cognitive remediation/compensatory strategy training; assisting patients with adjusting to disability; and psychotherapeutic treatment for comorbid psychiatric disorders (e.g., depression; anxiety). Finally, both psychological assessment and intervention are inherently flexible clinical services that can (and should) be tailored to the physician’s clinical question(s) and the unique rehabilitation needs of the individual patient to maximize overall patient outcome and quality of life.