Brain injury and identity – the role of counselling psychologists

In the United Kingdom one million people a year attend hospital with a head injury (Teasdale, 1995). The consequences of the injury vary with the nature and severity of the injury and between individuals but brain injury can be one of the most devastating, disempowering, and seemingly incomprehensible experiences that an individual, as well as their family, can suffer. Its complex organic, psychological, and psychosocial effects may be life-long, requiring a careful re-negotiation and adaptation both of ‘identity’ for the brain-injured individual, as well as the roles and relationships within the family.