What Is Rehabilitation Psychology? – Mental Health – WebMD

If you’re living with a disability due to an injury or a long-term health condition, you might not be able to do all of things that you used to do. It could take a toll on your emotions or on your mental health.

Seeing a specialist called a rehabilitation psychologist might help. They can teach you ways to overcome the psychological, social, and work-related challenges you might face when you have a disabling injury or condition. The skills you learn could boost your quality of life.

Rehab psychology can help motivate you, lift your self-esteem, increase your independence, and make you more able to adjust to the physical, emotional, or mental health changes you’re going through. The psychologists will make a treatment plan just for you based on your unique lifestyle and needs.

They help people who have a wide variety of health issues, like:

They also diagnose and treat mental health conditions, like:

• PTSD
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Somatic symptom disorder (a condition that brings on physical symptoms due to psychological distress)

How Can a Rehabilitation Psychologist Help?

They start by checking on your thinking-related skills and psychological well-being. Then, depending on your needs, they can treat you with options like:

• One-on-one or group therapy (including counseling and talk therapy)
• Skill building to maximize your thinking-related abilities and make up for any shortfalls (also called cognitive remediation)
• Tactics to help you take charge of any issues that affect your behavior
• Tips to help you use any assistive tools or technology better
• Lifestyle changes that boost your health

Your rehab psychologist will consider your preferences, needs, and resources as they come up with your treatment plan. They should also be respectful of things like:

• Your race or ethnicity
• Language
• Age
• Gender identity
• Sexual orientation
• Social network
• Where you live
• Socioeconomic status (based on things like your education level, income, and job)

Along with helping you, your rehabilitation psychologist can teach your close family members – or a caregiver if you …….

Source: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/rehabilitation-psychology-overview