CBIS Spotlight: Laura Fendler

Laura Fendler, M.S., CBIS, is a Clinical Coordinator at Main Line Rehabilitation Associations located in Exton, Pennsylvania. Main Line provides home and community based cognitive rehabilitation therapy for survivors of brain injury and other neurological conditions. She became a Certified Brain Injury Specialist (CBIS) in 2014, and believes the training provided by ACBIS has assisted her in furthering her career in the field of brain injury. During her time at Main Line, Laura presented at several conferences educating care-givers, survivors, and providers on the purpose of cognitive rehabilitation therapy and the benefits of healthy lifestyle practices for brain health. Laura graduated with a master’s degree in Experimental Psychology with an emphasis in Cognitive Psychology from St. Joseph’s University in 2012.

Why is having your CBIS important to you and how has it benefited your practice and career?

It was very important for me become a CBIS. There are many professionals within the field of brain injury and I felt that becoming a CBIS demonstrated a level of training and knowledge to others in the field, as well as the clients we serve in the community. I would highly recommend that anyone working within the field of brain injury looks into becoming a CBIS.

At Main Line Rehabilitation Associates, we provide services in a home and community setting and typically serve clients several years post initial injury. The training provided by ACBIS assisted me with developing a better understanding of the experiences and treatments clients likely received immediately following their injuries in residential rehabilitation facilities. The training furthered my knowledge of working with military populations, which has been especially useful when providing services to those within the Wounded Warriors program.

What are some of the latest trends in the literature and practice that you are seeing in cognitive rehab therapy practice with survivors of brain injury?

Over the past two years, we’ve been incorporating education and treatment planning around healthy lifestyle practices. It seems to be more widely recognized and supported in the literature that regular exercise, healthy diet, and mindfulness techniques are important during the initial recovery process and for on-going brain health. We’ve particularly noticed improvements in client’s sustained attention abilities, mood, and energy levels after the completion of short mindfulness exercises.

We’ve also increased our efforts to ensure that activities that address metacognition are embedded consistently into cognitive rehabilitation therapy sessions. The literature strongly supports the relationship between metacognition and awareness. Improving client’s awareness of challenge areas through metacognition assists with increasing client buy-in to services, treatment progress, and self-directed compensatory strategy use. Through consistent and long-term use of metacognitive practices during session, we have noticed improvements even among clients who demonstrate severely impaired awareness.

Why have you chosen a career in brain injury? What are you most passionate about in the field?

My interest in the brain started at a young age. It was awe inspiring to me that this organ controlled all of our thoughts, emotions, and physical responses. Being involved in the field of brain injury, I am able to combine my strong interest in learning and memory with my desire to help others. My passion lies in the desire to help individuals learn how to overcome challenges they face while increasing their understanding of how the brain works. It’s extremely rewarding to see survivors of brain injury increase their independence and self-confidence through the use of skills and strategies they’ve developed during the course of cognitive rehabilitation therapy services.