Coping Effectively With Spinal Cord Injuries A Group Program Therapist Guide

Abstract

Designed for therapists working with patients who have suffered a spinal cord injury, this Therapist Guide helps clinicians to guide patients through coping effectiveness training (CET), which aims to improve skills for assessing stress, teaching a range of coping skills that can be used to tackle stress, and provide an opportunity for interaction with others who have similar experiences of spinal cord injury. CET includes the identification of effective and ineffective responses to stress, especially those that are particularly unhelpful, such as disengagement, general avoidance, long term denial, and the expression of extreme emotion. By encouraging individuals to think critically about their behaviour in response to stressors, CET helps people avoid unproductive ways of coping. CET has proven to successfully reduce levels of depression and anxiety in individuals with spinal cord injury, and also resulted in changes in negative self-perception and improved self-efficacy. A corresponding workbook provides monitoring forms, homework exercises, and other user-friendly techniques to continue the work outside of therapy.