Rehabilitation Psychology

• Our rehabilitation psychologists have special training to assess and treat children with disabilities and health conditions to help them overcome emotional, cognitive, social and/or functional challenges to improve their quality of life and participation in daily activities.
• People with such training and experience are found mostly at academic medical centers like Seattle Children’s.
• Our rehabilitation psychologists work closely with experts in other fields to give your child and family the best care. These include Neurosciences, Psychiatry and Rehabilitation Medicine.

Our providers use evidence-based health and behavioral interventions to address psychological or behavioral factors that can influence a child's medical condition or recovery course. We primarily use cognitive-behavioral and behavioral interventions tailored to meet the individual needs of your child and family.

The body’s immune system usually defends against illness. But sometimes the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells and tissues. This may cause conditions that affect a child’s brain. Read about Seattle Children’s Inflammatory Brain Disorders Clinic.

Many children we see have had a traumatic brain injury or concussion. A severe head injury can harm the brain. Our team will check your child’s language and thinking skills. We recommend ways to help them recover as much function as possible and plan for their return to school and their community.

Cells in the brain need oxygen to survive. Brain injuries can happen when the brain does not get enough oxygen (hypoxic) or no oxygen at all (anoxic). A near-drowning event is 1 way this happens.

Brain tumors are growths of cells in the skull that are not normal. Many types of brain tumors affect children. Some are cancer (malignant), while others are not (benign). Read more.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a general term for permanent differences in how a person moves and controls their muscles. The differences are caused by an injury to a child’s brain as it develops. The brain injury can happen before, during or after birth. CP affects a child’s strength, muscle tone and motor control

Neuromuscular illnesses affect the nerves and muscles. They often cause muscle weakness and may lead to problems with muscle control. For instance, muscular dystrophy (MD) is a group of diseases that cause muscles to weaken over time. MD sometimes affects the heart, eyes, brain and other organs.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a long-lasting disease caused by damage to the protective coating on nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. It can cause problems with your child’s vision, balance, muscle control, speech and other functions of the body.

Sometimes disease-causing viruses or bacteria invade the central nervous system (CNS) and cause infections. The CNS includes the brain and spinal cord. It controls the body’s activities.

Encephalitis, meningitis and HIV are the most common types.

A stroke can happen in 2 ways. Sometimes, the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. In other cases, a blood vessel in the brain bursts and bleeds into the spaces around brain cells. Either way, brain cells do not get the oxygen and nutrients they need to survive.

Strokes can cause:

• Loss of muscle use in parts of the body (paralysis)
• Problems with memory, learning and thinking

Our team provides inpatient and outpatient behavioral health consultations and therapy for patients with an acquired brain injury, neuromuscular disorders, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and other acute or chronic medical conditions.

After a hospital stay related to conditions such as brain injury, spinal cord injury or stroke, your child may benefit from our Rehabilitation Medicine Follow-Up Clinic to help them cope with symptoms or adjust to their functional changes. We can also recommend ways to deal with emotional or behavior issues your child may have as they adjust to their illness or injury.