5 - The Understanding Brain Injury (UBI) Group

Summary

Introduction

The Understanding Brain Injury (UBI) Group, it could be argued, is the most important group of the programme at the Oliver Zangwill Centre (OZC) for Neuropsychological Rehabilitation. It is, perhaps, the main way of helping clients understand what has happened to them, how they have been affected by their brain injuries and what kind of recovery to expect. This information forms the basis of increasing awareness and self-esteem, and significantly contributes to the process of developing both a ‘shared understanding’ and a safe ‘therapeutic milieu’ as described in Chapter 4. Although the consequences of brain injury (e.g. memory, attention and emotional problems) are covered in more detail in other groups, without the knowledge and acceptance that we try to instil in the UBI Group, the other groups are thought to be less likely to succeed.

Central to the philosophy of the Centre is giving clients, where possible, the opportunity to develop good awareness of their strengths and weaknesses, and learn to self-advocate. Brain injury can be a bewildering experience, particularly in the context of cognitive impairments that make it more difficult to notice, understand or respond to problems. For the vast majority of clients, knowledge of brain injury and its consequences is limited to the client's own prior experience of it. One of the aims of the UBI Group is to normalize the consequences of brain injury; the educational, seminar-style format is used to describe how the brain works and how it may be affected by injury.