Brain Therapy and Care- what is it and why do we need it

Closing the Gap between psychological and medical Care

What do people do when they experience any condition that impacts their brain health and function? Such conditions can arise from neurological disease, injury, stress, or life-saving medical treatment. And can we do something about it? The answer is always a resounding ‘YES’. In my experience, the most detrimental condition for a person in a vulnerable position is experiencing a lack of social support. Social support here means more than empathy and understanding from the people around you. Social support also includes accessibility to the needed expertise to understand the condition in order to provide the required professional interventions, funded by the social system. Fortunately, much support can be provided when science supports it. Brain therapy is certainly a general term, which involves many professional domains. What combines these professional domains is the focus on a condition that interferes with brain function by impacting for example your intellect or by interfering with your ability to remember and reason. It can decrease your independence and quality of life, and thereby impact your mental health and emotional well-being.

Natural treatment such as Brain therapy is often needed to address challenges arising from these conditions and optimize recovery or ease the journey and support independence as long as possible when the condition is progressive. For example, dementia is a progressive disease that affects a person’s brain and interferes with reasoning and memory. You can read more about what is dementia or whether dementia is a normal part of ageing by clicking on the embedded links.

More generally, the Vancouver Foundation posted at Vancouver General Hospital that 1 in 3 Canadians will be affected by a brain disease, disorder, or brain injury, and you can read about their efforts here. As we age, the probability that we experience medical conditions increases. And, of course, the first line of treatment is generally provided by the medical system. But, eventually, people are discharged from medical rehabilitation services.

Yet, a medical condition that affects the brain, be it a stroke, disease, infection, injury, brain surgery due to a tumor, or the medical treatment itself (eg., chemotherapy), will likely affect your life for longer and more frequently than the medical treatment and care can reasonably provided.

Heike Dumke, RCC, Ph.D. cand, has seen and helped many clients of all ages, who benefitted greatly from medical treatment, but who also noted the challenges in finding additional treatment services during their search for cognitive and emotional support systems when faced with worries about potential or actual dementia, or when in search for help to optimize their recovery after injury and to gain support in their rehabilitation efforts during their journey back to life.

When these clients find me, I provide them with the reassurance they need that life can get better, their quality of life can improve, and that they have the capacity to get there with appropriate treatment, interventions, and support including caregiver support.

The Science behind Brain Therapy

For example, cognitive reserve and neuroplasticity are two important principles on which Heike’s approach rests. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change in response to input or environmental demands. This principle is used in rehabilitation after brain damage as well as in ageing care. If you would like to read more on brain therapy for ageing, you can read it here (coming soon).

Cognitive reserve is a concept about the brain’s power to build processing approaches and compensatory strategies. Thereby, the cognitive reserve protects the brain against brain pathology or age-related changes. It also allows a person’s brain to better cope with brain damage. Thus, a person can function successfully despite brain pathology (eg., disease processes in an ageing brain that could lead to the expression of dementia symptoms, but do not always do so as shown in the famous nun studies by Dr. Snowden).

Integrating Science

Heike’s approach to Brain Therapy and care is an approach to treatment that integrates her clinical in-depth knowledge of neuroscience, neuropsychology, rehabilitation, and clinical psychology to provide natural and non-invasive brain therapy to people who have been living with a condition that impacts their brain’s capacity to function as efficiently as before. Her treatment approach is grounded in the integration of her scientific knowledge base through attending various doctoral programs and translating this information to fit your life via her counselling approach. You can read more about Heike’s education.

Together, we’ll figure out what is the best way to move forward, what information is helpful to you, and what strategies will increase your independence.

For all the services I provide as a therapist, please see my Services, or the links below for

Resources on Aging

Resources for Brain Injury

Resources for Brain Health

If you would like to set up a 15-20 minute free Telehealth Consultation, you could contact Dr. Heike at mindyourbrain1@gmail.com, or schedule it here.