Behavior Changes in TBI: Therapeutic Strategies

This session equips healthcare providers with evidence-based strategies to assess and manage behavioral changes in individuals with TBI across clinical settings. Participants will explore common post-TBI behavioral challenges, including impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, and executive dysfunction, while learning targeted intervention strategies. The presentation will also address how to collaborate effectively with interdisciplinary teams and caregivers to ensure continuity of care and reinforce therapeutic gains beyond the clinic. Emphasis will be placed on individualized treatment planning, progress monitoring, and adaptive strategies to optimize patient outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify and explain typical behavioral challenges seen in individuals with TBI, such as impulsivity, emotional dysregulation, and difficulties with social interactions.
2. Describe evidence-based therapeutic strategies used in sessions to address behavioral changes, including cognitive-behavioral techniques, positive reinforcement, and environmental modifications.
3. Provide caregivers and family members with practical approaches to support behavior management at home, such as establishing routines, using visual cues, and fostering self-regulation techniques.
4. Discuss the importance of collaboration between healthcare professionals and family members to ensure consistency in behavioral interventions across different settings.
5. Describe methods for tracking behavioral improvements, recognizing setbacks, and modifying therapeutic approaches based on the individual’s evolving needs.

Speaker

Dr. Chrystal Fullen is a Clinical Neuropsychologist serving the Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Trauma Surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). She also spends time providing neuropsychological services to a local acute rehabilitation institute. She graduated from Our Lady of the Lake University with a doctorate in Psychology and completed her clinical internship at the South Texas VA in Clinical Neuropsychology. Her fellowship training was completed at UAMS, where she focused on furthering her specialization in neuropsychological assessment and treatment of acquired brain injury and rehabilitation. To that end, she has developed and co-directs a multi-tiered cognitive rehabilitation program at the hospital. In 2022, she developed an inpatient neuropsychological service to expand cognitive assessment and intervention in UAMS’s level I trauma center. Dr. Fullen’s research has focused on rehabilitation, epilepsy, brain injury, and performance validity measures. She is also a clinical supervisor for neuropsychological assessment in inpatient and outpatient settings.

Includes 1 ACBIS CEU.