The Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey offers comprehensive webinars on a variety of topics designed to provide you with valuable information, strategies and resources that can assist you. All webinars are free and open to the public.
If there is a webinar that you are unable to attend, you will be able to view the presentation within two weeks of the live broadcast. Click here to visit the Webinar Archive.
Upcoming Webinar:
Past Webinars:
Voice Assistive Technology for People with Brain Injuries
August 22, 2018
10:30 AM
Presented by: Kristen Russell, OTR, ATP
Kristen is an Assistive Technology Specialist at Advancing Opportunities with a background as an Occupational Therapist. She is certified by RESNA as an Assistive Technology Professional and provides assistive technology evaluations and trainings to consumers with all types of disabilities through a variety of agencies including the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Traumatic Brain Injury Fund, School Districts, Veteran’s Administration, and Division of Developmental Disabilities. She has extensive experience helping students to achieve greater independence.
Voice assistants (also called smart speakers), such as the Amazon Echo (Alexa) and the Google Home, are newer technologies that have many applications for people with brain injuries. This session will explore many of those ways including using these tools for organization, time management, and daily life. Attendees will be provided with an overview of what voice assistants can do, a review of the most popular versions of home devices available, as well as a list of voice commands that are particularly pertinent for people with brain injuries. This session will be helpful to people considering purchasing a voice assistant or those who are looking to more fully utilize one that they currently own. Professionals will learn practical ways to utilize this type of technology to help increase their client’s independence with everyday tasks by using reminders, timers, and accessing their calendar and lists by voice. Professionals will also be provided with questions to help determine if this technology is appropriate for their clients. If time allows, a brief overview of other newer assistive technologies that are applicable to people with brain injuries will be provided.
Resources:
Google Home Commands Amazon Alexa Command Cheat Sheet
Loss, Grief and Brain Injury
June 13, 2018
10:30 AM
Presented by: Connie Palmer, LCSW
Connie Palmer is a licensed clinical social worker who is an experienced teacher, therapist and school counselor with more than thirty years of experience working with youth and their families. She is currently the Clinical Training Director for Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss in Westfield, NJ. She presents seminars on various topics such as: grief and loss, resilience, shame, parenting, anti-bullying, depression and anxiety.
Webinar objectives:
- – Normalize the impact of grief after brain injury
- – Explore the losses experienced by the person with a brain injury
- – Explore the losses experienced by caregivers, friends and family members of the person with a brain injury
- – Describe how shame blocks the ability to mourn the losses associated with brain injury
- – Describe the Companioning Model of grief support
Webinar Handouts
Traumatic Brain Injury in Seniors
May 2, 2018
12:00 PM
Presented by: Cynthia Boyer, PhD
Cynthia L. Boyer, PhD, is a clinical psychologist with 30 years experience in neurorehabilitation. Her professional career has focused on the neuropsychological evaluation, psychological treatment, and cognitive rehabilitation of individuals with acquired and degenerative brain injuries. Dr. Boyer earned a BA in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and a MA and PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Delaware. She has provided clinical services in a variety of settings, ranging from the trauma center to long term post-acute programs. An accomplished clinician, Dr. Boyer also has a strong background in administration, strategic planning, program development and clinical quality. She served as Executive Director of Brain Injury Services and Vice President of Quality for Bancroft. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Boyer holds faculty positions at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and Wiedner University, and is a trainer for the Academy of Certified Brain Injury Specialists (ACBIS). She serves on the Board of the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey and is a medical rehabilitation surveyor for the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Currently, Dr. Boyer is in private practice in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She is also clinician consultant at ReMed New Jersey.
About the Webinar:
– Learn about the factors that put older adults at higher risk for TBI
– Identify adverse consequences of TBI in seniors
– Understand the assessment process and benefits of rehabilitation for older adults with TBI
– Describe strategies to prevent TBI in seniors
Calming the Storm: Mindfulness and TBI
Friday, February 2, 2018
12:00 PM
Presented by: Jill Brooks, PhD, RYT-200 and Jared Hammond, MA
Dr. Brooks integrates mindfulness, yoga and cognitive-behavioral strategies in her clinical practice. Dr. Brooks’ private practice work focuses on evaluation and treatment of neurological issues such as ADHD, learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), concussion and epilepsy. Mindfulness and yoga techniques along with cognitive-behavioral strategies serve to balance anxiety and depression. Dr. Brooks is certified in Chair Yoga, Reiki Level I and with Ashrams for Autism Level I. Dr. Brooks is in the process of completing her certification in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) through the Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts-Amherst Medical School.
Jared Hammond is the Senior Psychometrist at Head to Head Consultants in Gladstone, NJ. Jared earned his BA in Clinical Psychology and Computer Science from New York University and his Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University-Teachers College where he began his initial mindfulness training. He is currently a doctoral student in the Clinical and School Psychology program at Kean University with an emphasis on mindfulness.
About the webinar:
Mindfulness meditation and mindful movement (yoga) are utilized worldwide, yielding positive outcomes across a broad array of clinical challenges such as anxiety, depression, migraine headache and chronic pain. Head to Head Consultants has been utilizing mindfulness and yoga with individuals with traumatic brain injury since 2012. This webinar will provide a general overview of the topic of mindfulness and mindful movement, and current research. Register now to understand how to integrate these into your life and practice as an individual with TBI, a caregiver or service provider.
