Volume 4 Num. 3 - November 2004
Understanding and Treating Loss of Sense and Self Following Brain Injury: A Behavior Analytic Approach [Análisis y Tratamiento de la Pérdida del Sentido de Uno Mismo Tras Daños Cerebrales: Una Aproximación Analítica-conductual]
Volume 4 Num. 3 - November 2004 - Pages 487-504
Authors:
Stephen M. Myles
Abstract:
Loss of sense of self is a common experience among acquired brain injury survivors. It involves conscious awareness on the part of the survivor that she is somehow not the same person as pre-injury, and is associated with emotionally distressing negative self-evaluations of post-injury changes in functioning. Denial of changes is a relatively common response among survivors who begin to experience loss of sense of self. Relational Frame Theory (RFT) is a modern behavioral approach to language and cognition. From an RFT perspective, there exist three senses of self that are directly knowable by humans: the conceptualized self, self as an ongoing process of verbal knowing, and self as context. Loss of sense of self may be understood as a crisis of the conceptualized self. Treatment involves guiding the survivor both to adjust to post-injury changes in functioning and to develop a new self-concept. Acceptance is the critical factor in this process. Contact with self as context can facilitate acceptance by providing the survivor with an enduring sense of self that is distinct from her psychological content. From self as context, the survivor may know the changes in her functioning and self-concept without fear of psychological annihilation
Key words:
Acquired brain injury; loss of sense of self, denial, Relational Frame Theory, acceptance, self as context
Full Article
More articles in this volume
- - Functional Contextual Processes in Posttraumatic Stress [Procesos Contextuales Funcionales en Estrés Postraumático]
- - The Role of Cognitive Fusion in Impaired Parenting: An RFT Analysis [El Papel de la Fusión Cognitiva en las Interacciones Problemáticas Padres-hijos]
- - Spanish Adaptation of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ) [Adaptación Española del Cuestionario de Aceptación y Acción (AAQ)]
- - Psychological Acceptance: Experimental Analyses and Theoretical Interpretations [Aceptación Psicológica: Análisis Experimental e Interpretaciones Teóricas]
- - Establishing Relational Responding in Accordance with More-than and Less-than as Generalized Operant Behavior in Young Children [Establecimiento en Niños Pequeños de Comportamiento Relacional de Acuerdo a Más-qué y Menos-qué como Conducta Operante Generalizada]
- - Establishing Relational Responding in Accordance with Opposite as Generalized Operant Behavior in Young Children [Establecimiento de Respuestas Relacionales de Acuerdo a Opuestos como Conducta Operante Generalizada en Niños Pequeños]
- - The Unfolding of the Relational Operant: A Real-time Analysis Using Electroencephalography and Reaction Time Measures [El Desarrollo de la Operante Relacional: un Análisis en Tiempo Real Mediante el Empleo de Electroencefalografía y Medidas de Tiempo de Reacción]
- - Transfer of Latent Inhibition of Aversively Conditioned Autonomic Responses Through Equivalence Classes [Transferencia a Través de Clases de Equivalencia de la Inhibición Latente de Respuestas Autónomas Establecidas por Condicionamiento Aversivo]
- - Estudio Piloto Sobre Prevalencia de Obesidad en Universitarios Mexicanos y Hábitos de Salud Relacionados [A Pilot Study on Obesity Prevalence and Health Habits in Mexican College Students]
- - The Spanish Norms of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory: New Data and Analyses for its Improvement [Hacia una Mejora de los Datos Normativos en la Adaptación Española del NEO-FFI]