Introducing Cognitive Remediation at ACTS
What is Cognitive Remediation?
Cognitive Remediation is direct brain training exercise that engages the client’s specific areas of neurocognitive functions. Utilizing the brain’s neuroplasticity, Cognitive Remediation allows the client to practice tasks and improve functioning skills overtime. Cognitive Remediation exercises are not “brain games” that one may encounter on commercial sites or apps, but rather actual
neuropsychological tasks in which clients engage specific brain regions determined to be adversely affecting their functioning, resulting in improved daily functioning. In using these specific brain regions, Cognitive Remediation allows clients to hone in on and improve skills through everyday real-world practice and exercise both in office and at home.
Neurocognitive Functioning
● Attention
● Memory
● Executive Functioning
● Auditory Processing
● Social Functioning, Knowledge & Judgment
● Theory of Mind
● Visual-Spatial Reasoning
● Language Processing
Clinical Treatment
● ADHD/ADD
● Dyslexia
● Addiction and Substance Use Disorders
● Traumatic Brain Injury
● Dementia
● Parkinson’s Disease
● Obsessive Compulsive-Disorder
Cognitive remediation will open a whole multitude of possibilities to assist our patients that have clinical disorders and/or those that are seeking optimization/increasing cognitive capacities. As neurofeedback trains the neurophysiological structures of the electrical brain and improves functioning of the "hardware" systems in the brain, cognitive remediation provides real-world use of the aforementioned neurophysiological functions. Cognitive remediation trains the "software" dimension of the brain and is where “the rubber meets the road” in demonstrating the use of brain functions that are essential to everyday life functions. In other words, neurofeedback builds and develops new “muscles,” while cognitive remediation is able to utilize these specific brain regions that have been improved and continue to hone in/improve skills through everyday real-world practice and exercise.
As you might've guessed, ACTS’ cognitive remediation program has a research base to the application of this treatment modality. Therefore, there will be an entire process including an intake, treatment planning, consistent monitoring of progress in session and throughout the program itself. Guided by psychologists and clinicians, this is a very hands-on clinical program that will enable patients to make significant improvements. All clinicians have the capability to refer patients and each psychologist will be managing the overall program for each individual patient on the psychologist’s caseload. Our CR program will require 1-3 hours a week of in office training( as well as at-home training availability) over the course of 16 weeks. Of course, the length of the program (number of weeks) may be shorter or longer, depending on the severity of the patient's symptoms and the nature of their disorder.
Treatment will be at the discretion of the psychologist with ACTS guidelines. For example, a mild case of AD/HD may require fewer weeks of training length than the length of training for a more severe disorder, like dementia. Training will be attuned to the level of the patient's neurocognitive and neuropsychological diversity and the intensity and duration of the diagnosed condition.
Please do not hesitate to contact our office today if you have a patient that may benefit from Cognitive Remediation at ACTS. Call us today at (717) 208-6599 or email us at [email protected]