Description and Phases of the Program
Guided Work Trials (Second Phase)
Patients who have successfully completed the first phase of treatment (i.e., those who, after one or two cycles of 20-weeks of intensive remedial interventions, are deemed ready for the next step) are advanced to the second phase of their rehabilitation, described as the Guided Work Trials phase. During this phase, the aim is to test the patient's ability to transfer what he/she has learned in the structured and supportive environment of the intensive remedial phase (within the “therapeutic community”) to other less structured, more "real-life" situations, such as present themselves in a work environment. The Guided Work Trials are not vocational training per se. Rather, they are an extension of the remedial treatment, geared toward testing whether or not a patient has the potential to eventually resume working.
The Guided Work Trials phase lasts typically from three to six months. This phase involves: (a) intensive individual prevocational remedial explorations/training; (b) Guided Work Trials, usually within the setting of the medical center; and (c) personal and/or small-group counseling, in conjunction with explorations/guidance in the area of independent living and self-management of daily life affairs.
Individual patients differ in the extent of their need for personal supervision/training from the Vocational Counselors of the Brain Injury Day Treatment Program during this phase of the treatment. At the minimum, however, each patient receives 2 hours a week of individual, 1 hour a week of individualized, and 2 hours a week of small group treatment (i.e., instruction/counseling).
This treatment is administered by the certified Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor of the Brain Injury Day Treatment Program, in conjunction with other designated staff members, when needed.
Assistance in finding suitable employment (assuming successful
outcome of the Guided Work Trials) is part of either the
Work Trials phase or the follow-up treatment phase, depending
on individual need.
• Initial Comprehensive Evaluation
• Guided Work Trials (Second Phase)
• Intensive Remedial Treatment (First Phase)
• Post-Discharge, Maintenance/Follow-Up Therapy
(Third Phase)
