1st Edition

Innovations in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Acquired Brain Injury

Edited By Richard Coates Copyright 2025
    240 Pages 29 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    240 Pages 29 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) allows people with acquired brain injury to develop psychological flexibility, in order to lead a vital life, despite all the difficult thoughts, feelings and brain injury symptoms that are present.

    Innovations in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Acquired Brain Injury brings together contributions from highly experienced clinicians, using innovative approaches in ACT for acquired brain injury, in the context of individuals, working with relatives, groups and multidisciplinary teams.

    This book will be a valuable resource for clinical psychologists, clinical neuropsychologists, counselling psychologists, cognitive behaviour therapists, psychiatrists and counsellors working therapeutically with clients with acquired brain injury.

    CHAPTER ONE

    Ready for MS: A group-based resilience training programme                                                 

       Kenneth I. Pakenham and Ambra Mara Giovannetti

    CHAPTER TWO

    ACT and Yoga intervention to support adjustment to disability following                                      

    acquired brain injury

       Mairéad Jones, Jenn Galvin and Marcia Ward

    CHAPTER THREE

    ACT with older adults after stroke                                                                                                       

      Ana Rita Silva, Paula Castilho and Sérgio A. Carvalho

    CHAPTER FOUR

    Relational approaches: ACT with female relatives of people with brain injury                   

       Jo Johnson

     CHAPTER FIVE

    ACT through the stroke journey: acute, inpatient and community rehabilitation from    

    the perspective of a stroke survivor and two psychologists

       Lucy Martin, Marcia Ward and Fiadhnait O’ Keeffe

    CHAPTER SIX

    Creative interventions with ACT and severe brain injury                                                           

       Richard Coates

    CHAPTER SEVEN

    Informing therapeutic practice after a traumatic brain injury: Values                                          

    identification and achievement during engagement in Acceptance and

    Commitment Therapy

       Diane Whiting, Grahame Simpson and Frank Deane

     CHAPTER EIGHT

    Life asks you questions: Presence as process in Acceptance and Commitment              

    Therapy for adults with aphasia

       Fiona O’Neill

     CHAPTER NINE

    Applying the Relational Frame Theory account of the self to self-related issues                            

    following a Traumatic Brain Injury

       Alison Stapleton, Richard Coates, Fergus Gracey and Louise McHugh

     CHAPTER TEN

    Evaluating a novel, online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy intervention                 

    for allied healthcare professionals in a neurorehabilitation setting

       Karen Kinsella, Marcia Ward and Sharon Houghton

    Biography

    Richard Coates works as a Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist in Independent Practice. He co-founded the Neuro-ACT Facebook group, which aims to connect clinicians and researchers worldwide using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with people with neurological conditions. Richard is engaged with ACT in many contexts: his work with clients, supervision, training, research, community and himself. Connection, creativity, learning and kindness matter to him.

    'Fresh, innovative and needed, this book brings you some of the best and most cutting-edge work on the application of the Psychological Flexibility Model and ACT to the problems of those with Acquired Brain Injury and related conditions. It’s not a cookbook – but more of an inspirational guide that asks you the clinician to explore, evolve and innovate by targeting evidence-based processes as way of rising to the unique challenges faced by ABI patients. These problems are hardly uncommon – it’s time to put clinical creativity into action in the field of neurorehabilitation. This book will help you do so. Highly recommended.'

    Steven C. Hayes, Foundation Professor of Psychology Emeritus, University of Nevada, Reno, Originator of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

    'There are few life events more traumatic than a brain injury. For both client and therapist, the challenges are huge: stress, anxiety, trauma, grief, loss, threat to one’s identity, interpersonal issues ... and the list goes on. And it is no exaggeration to say that this book heralds a genuine revolution in the psychological treatment of brain injury. Within these pages you’ll find a wealth of innovative and practical tools, techniques and strategies to help brain-injured clients adapt to their challenges, handle their difficult thoughts and feelings more effectively, develop self-acceptance and self-compassion and build a meaningful life in the face of their loss.'

    Dr Russ Harris, Author of The Happiness Trap and ACT Made Simple