Acceptance and commitment therapy for people with acquired brain injury: Rationale and description of the BrainACT treatment.
Johanne Cc Rauwenhoff, Yvonne Bol, Caroline M van Heugten and 7 others
PMID 36750988WHAT IT FOUND
BrainACT is an eight-session therapy for anxiety and depression after brain injury, adapted for cognitive deficits.
It uses visual aids, repetition, and metaphors like the 'bus of life' to focus on values rather than symptom elimination. Effectiveness is currently being tested.
Key findings
01The intervention consists of eight one-hour sessions delivered over three to four months, starting weekly and becoming biweekly.
02Therapy is adapted for cognitive deficits by using visual resources, simplified tasks, repetition, and concrete metaphors rather than relying solely on language.
03The primary goal is psychological flexibility and living a valued life, not the direct reduction of anxiety or depressive symptoms.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
This is a description of an intervention, not a trial result. It does not provide evidence that BrainACT works. The adaptation for cognitive deficits is based on expert consensus and a very small pilot (n=4), not rigorous testing. The paper acknowledges that the intervention may still be too demanding for some patients, such as those with aphasia. The optimal timing for delivering the therapy after injury is not defined.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The work was funded by ZonMw.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this therapy is proven effective for anxiety or depression after brain injury. This paper only describes the protocol; the effectiveness is currently being tested in a randomised controlled trial that has not yet reported results.