From What can you do with a degree in psychology?

Contents 1 Job Title (Katie McCreight) 1.1 General Overview 1.2 Job Duties and Responsibilities 1.3 Educational Requirements and Other Qualifications 1.4 Relevance of Psychology Undergraduate Degree 1.5 Salary Potential 1.6 Job Outlook 1.7 To Know More

[edit] Job Title (Katie McCreight)

Post Acquired Brain Injury Rehabilitation Specialist

[edit] General Overview

After acquiring an injury to the brain, many dimensions and aspects of the lifestyle are affected and must be rehabilitated for the person to re-enter society. The acquired injury of the individual also submits consequences upon the family that also require attention towards their needs of understanding the situation. A rehabilitation specialist gives direct attention to the needs of the individual who has acquired the brain injury by building upon the deficits the injury has subsequently caused. Deficits can range from behavioral, emotional, and physical, thus a rehabilitation clinic includes an array of professionals who can attend to each of these manners. Specifically tailored programs are developed by the rehabilitation specialist to serve on developing and rebuilding the areas of the brain that were injured to create neuroplastic synapsis in the areas of the brain that were injured. Although the individual generally does not recover fully to the lifestyle they had pre-injury, the rehabilitation therapist will help guide them into the transition of becoming acquired to living with their deficits.

[edit] Job Duties and Responsibilities

Each individual who has acquired a brain injury is created a specifically tailored portfolio that is directed towards rebuilding the areas of their brain that were affected. The rehabilitation specialist will work directly with the individual and develop a schedule of events for each of their days they spend within the clinic. It is up to the neurosurgeon how long the individual stays within the clinic but it is the job of the rehabilitation therapist to work individually with the patient to rebuild the deficits acquired. Injuries of the brain range from a variety of different cognitive, behavioral and physical aspects and can consequently impair motor abilities, speech-language capacities, visual-spatial awareness, thus it is upon the therapist to critically interpret the best and most efficient programs to help rebuild these impairments. A tailored schedule an individual may receive would involve time spent in physiotherapy, time spent engaging in program work with the therapist, which could be a computer game, board game or writing work which are all dependent on the needs that individual has, and time for breaks and lunches. Program work with the therapist can be extremely fatiguing and exhausting for the patient and it is upon the therapist to realize if the program is too strenuous or difficult and thus requiring a lesser amount of a program change for such individual.

[edit] Educational Requirements and Other Qualifications

A rehabilitation therapist must have a post-secondary degree or diploma in health or social services as well as having acquired working experience of between 3-5 years minimum in the field of human services or specifically working with people living with an acquired brain injury. Candidates must have successfully completed their certification in emergency first aid and CPR level A.

[edit] Relevance of Psychology Undergraduate Degree

An undergraduate degree in the field of Psychology gives an individual the foundation and capacity for understanding the bases of human behavior. During the course of time acquiring the degree a person is exposed to courses that give strong understandings towards cognitive and emotional processes and how they in turn they shape behavior. These skills are strong assets to have in the field of rehabilitation therapy, knowledge towards cognitive, emotional and neurological processes gives the foundation for providing effective programs for individuals needing to redevelop a damaged area. A Psychology degree also develops research, statistics and writing skills which provide a foundation for many careers, specially those involving social work for the capacity of always developing new innovationally creative and efficient programs for the patients. Research is always being done for extending program abilities for improving their effectiveness thus it is up to the rehabilitation therapist to always be using the most efficient and effective programs within their work.

[edit] Salary Potential

According to the wage report given by the Canadian Governments Job Bank, rehabilitation specialists annual median salary within Ottawa, Ontario has the highest annual median salary of $141,307. Salaries vary by years of experience within the health services field as well as degree level. The lowest annual median salary in Ottawa is $49, 639 and highest being $305, 357. Entry level salary across Canada ranges between $20, 000 to $60, 000 that, again, is based upon experience within the field and degree level (bachelor's, master's, or PhD) (www.jobbank.gc.ca).

[edit] Job Outlook

The estimated incidence of acquiring a traumatic brain injury within the United States is an average 5.3 million injuries per year and is seen to be growing ^[1] The increased amount of incidences of acquiring an ABI is growing to be a pervasive public health concern world wide and thus subsequently increasing the demands for health support workers and rehabilitation specialists. Therapists are needed to aid in the recovery of these individuals as well as helping their transitional period of re-entering into society and a lifestyle they are well adapted to. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics it is forecasted the increase of the demand for rehabilitation counselors will grow by 20% between the years of 2012 and 2022 (www.bls.gov). According to the Canadian Governments Outlook Report each province and territory except for Northwest Territories, New Brunswick, Nunavut, and Yukon, can expect to see an increase in demand for specialist physicians (www.jobbank.gc.ca).

[edit] To Know More

• http://www.brainline.ord/landing_pages/categories/rehabilitation.html
• http://www.tbicommunity.org/resources/publications/social_work_manual.pdf
• http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/LMI_report_bynoc.do?lang=eng&noc=3111&reportOption=wage
• http://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/rehabilitation-counselors.html

1. ↑ Langlois, J. A., Rutland-Brown, W., & Wald, M. M. (2006). The epidemiology and impact of traumatic brain injury: a brief overview. The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation, 21(5), 375-378.