AXERION THERAPY

Cerebral palsy is the most common disability that affects children’s motor abilities. According to the CDC, about one in 345 children is diagnosed with cerebral palsy. While there is no cure, these individuals can remain healthy and active through various treatment options. One of the most integral parts of cerebral palsy treatment is occupational therapy.

What Is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy is an interventional treatment focused on improving motor skills, balance, and coordination in children with cerebral palsy. It enhances their independence and hones their potential. Through practical activities in OT, they can perform daily tasks confidently and become productive members of the community.

Cerebral palsy causes a wide range of motor impairments, from stiffness to uncontrollable spastic movements. It has different types, so occupational therapists must tailor their treatment plans to the child’s specific needs.

An occupational therapist will assess the child’s motor, cognitive, and developmental skills. After determining the patient’s strengths and weaknesses, they will create an individualized program. This plan aims to improve the areas that will help the child reach functional independence.

What Do Children Do In Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy aims to enhance functional abilities. In simpler terms, OT develops the day-to-day skills required for a child to perform confidently and comfortably. Some activities include:

• • brushing their teeth
  • using silverware
  • turning a doorknob
  • dressing up
  • reading and writing
  • painting, drawing, and coloring
  • moving around with mobility aids

By enabling children to do these simple tasks, they are encouraged to interact with their environment and function as independently as possible. These empower them to:

• • accomplish self-care and grooming tasks
  • create and maintain manageable routines
  • effectively use adaptive tools
  • interact with others
  • behave in socially appropriate manners

What Are The Benefits Of Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy activities are practical and personalized. As a result, children acquire skill sets that will be useful to them throughout their entire lives. These practices teach and reinforce short-term and long-term skills, such as:

• • completing basic tasks
  • improving bodily control
  • breaking down physical and psychological barriers that would hinder them from participating in society and exploring their passions and careers

The primary benefits of occupational therapy are:

1. 1. performing daily tasks and routines independently,
   2. improving motor and coordination skills so they can move more easily,
   3. developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills,
   4. learning interpersonal skills, so they can freely interact with others, and
   5. encouraging social integration.

Children with severe cerebral palsy could also benefit from the use of assistive devices. In these cases, occupational therapy would teach children how to use specialized tools, such as:

• • rotating desks,
  • equipment that shifts them from a lying to sitting position,
  • computerized environmental control systems,
  • specialized chairs for proper eating and breathing, and
  • computers with pre-programmed language.

Parents can benefit from occupational therapy, as well. Therapists can counsel parents. They will suggest some activities they can do at home to support their children and optimize their skills. Parents can also receive tips on how to handle and teach their kids. They are encouraged to participate in the child’s treatment actively. Through occupational therapy, parents would find value in understanding how they can assist their children.

Occupational therapy addresses a person’s physical, sensory, visual, and social difficulties. It improves a child’s functioning in these areas. By developing their skills, children are encouraged to be more independent and enhance their self-esteem.

How Can You Find A Good Occupational Therapist?

The easiest way to find an occupational therapist would be through referrals from your primary healthcare provider. However, you must consider certain factors to ensure you get the best possible therapist, such as background, credentials, cost, and insurance.

You can conduct a simple check on the therapist through the Internet. Scheduling an appointment and asking them in person is also possible. You would want a therapist with significant experience in dealing with children with cerebral palsy. Make sure that they don’t possess false credentials or a history of malpractice.

In addition, occupational therapy can be expensive. So if you’re operating on a budget, make sure that the costs align with that. You can also check if your insurance covers them. If not, consider applying for legal compensations that could offer financial assistance, granted that you meet the criteria and requirements.

But undoubtedly, the most crucial factor is how they are with your child. If you notice anything off about the therapist, listen to your gut. Also, listen to your child and do not dismiss their discomfort. It’s essential to find an occupational therapist you can trust—someone who will treat your child with kindness and patience.

What Are The Effects Of Occupational Therapy For Children With Cerebral Palsy?

Children can absorb new information and pick up new skills faster than adults. It’s attributed to the plasticity of their brains. However, neuroplasticity decreases with age. That’s why early intervention is advisable for children with cerebral palsy. By addressing the child’s needs early on, they can learn and progress easier and quicker and retain these life skills as they grow older.

Occupational therapy for children with cerebral palsy promotes neuroplasticity, creating new neural connections and rewiring functions affected by brain damage. Optimizing neuroplasticity lies in repetitive practice. The goal of occupational therapy is to practice an activity or a specific movement so much that it becomes second nature to them.

Given these benefits, children with cerebral palsy need to undergo occupational therapy. Their brains are flexible enough, making it much easier for them to acquire new long-term skills, which would help build and increase their self-confidence and further optimize their functioning, independence, and potential. Finally, this would lead to a sense of belonging within their community and society as a whole.

Just because cerebral palsy is incurable doesn’t mean that children with the condition can’t and shouldn’t thrive in their environment. Have courage and patience. These, when coupled with therapy, can help children with cerebral palsy grow into healthy and happy individuals.

Neurological conditions significantly affect the brain. The slightest disturbance in a neuronal connection can cause severe damage. And it can ultimately cause significant lifestyle changes. Some may even result in severe mental and psychological problems. For instance, individuals can experience low mood and depression.

Similarly, getting a cancer diagnosis might be one of the most challenging experiences you can have in this lifetime. Finding out that you have cancer will make you feel the worst and heaviest emotions. 

However, remember that there are various possibilities of treatment available. Having a healthy coping mechanism and a better outlook towards your treatment is needed to overcome cancer.

In this article, we’ll take a look at how counseling can address cancer-related mental health issues. Read on and learn more.

Manage Anxiety

You are likely to experience anxiety after getting diagnosed with cancer. Surges of fear occur as you worry about the future of your relationships, family, and plans. The stress that you feel can trigger anxiety.

Counseling can help cancer patients manage their stress and effectively deal with their anxiety. Having an open dialogue about your stressors and triggers with a counselor will help you cope with anxiety. Counseling will help you adapt to your treatment and address any concerns that are affecting your mental health.

Cope With Depression

Your diagnosis might also be a depressing experience. While getting treated, you’ll feel that everything was taken from you. With all of these emotions unattended, it’s not a surprise that many cancer patients can go through episodes of depression.

There are many ways how depression can affect your life and make your experience with cancer more difficult. This may include:

• Weakened mental stability
• Hampered adjustment with your treatment
• Undermined will to live
• Compromised determination to have a successful treatment
• Possible friction in your relationships
• Negative effects on your general outlook in life

Counseling can help with depression. Your counselor can walk you through the heavy emotions you’re experiencing. They will also raise your awareness of other possible factors that contribute to your depression.

Address Relationship Issues During Their Treatment

Cancer will not only affect you as a person but also your current and future relationships. While some relationships may flourish, others won’t. The relationships include:

• Romantic relationships (spouse or partner)
• Friendships
• Family members

Married patients or those who are in long-term relationships can be affected by cancer. After the diagnosis, they may feel hopeless, depressed, and anxious. Cancer may also affect your relationship with your family and your children. 

Here are some ways counseling might help with your relationship issues:

• Communicating Better 

Counseling helps you communicate better with the people you care about. Talking about your feelings and letting your loved ones know what you feel builds firmer relationships.

Poor communication will only lead to misunderstandings and unnecessary stress. 

• Changing Of Roles

Cancer may change your roles in your relationships. If you are the breadwinner of your family, you must come to terms with stepping out of that role while getting treatment. This kind of sudden shift may be confusing at first, but your counselor will facilitate this process.

• Addressing Intimacy Issues Between Partners 

Some couples might have issues related to sexual health. Cancer treatment may take a toll on a person’s physical well-being, which might cause problems with intimacy. 

Counselors will provide you with a safe place where you and your partner can discuss these issues. They can also provide suggestions on maintaining intimacy with each other or managing any sex-related side-effects of your treatment.

Increase Your Self-Awareness

Cancer treatment is a long and arduous journey, and you need all the strength to finish the journey strong. Having solid mental health is one key to making your treatment successful.

Counseling can help you increase your self-awareness. Being mindful of your mood, feelings, thought processes, and behavior is helpful when dealing with your thoughts and emotions. 

You can analyze your thoughts if you have a strong sense of self-awareness. It enables you to identify thought processes that are harmful and self-destructive.

Self-awareness helps to develop healthy coping mechanisms and break bad habits that affect your mental health. As you become more self-aware, you can manage your stress properly and identify your triggers and stressors.

Your counselor may suggest activities to increase your self-awareness, such as:

• Journaling
• Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)
• Meditation
• Breathing exercises 

Apart from the physical toll of cancer itself and the treatments, you might also experience mental strain similar to the mental strain people with neurologic conditions are susceptible to.

Remember that consulting with a counselor when dealing with any mental health issue is always an option. Suffering from conditions such as depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions on top of a pre-existing condition, be it cancer or other conditions, will only be to your detriment.

For cancer, statistics show a higher mortality rate among those who have mental health disorders. The psychological stress could worsen the condition of a cancer patient.

Keep your mental health stable as it can greatly affect your treatment and overall condition. Seek professional help for your mental health needs and let some of your mental health burdens go. Focus on having a clearer mindset and dedicate all of your energy to getting better.

Finding coping and support systems for people with central nervous system trauma can be difficult, particularly when the injury is life-changing. Suddenly, you have a disability which can be extremely frightening and confusing at the start. You may also wonder how this condition can affect your daily life, your personal and professional relationships.

Treatment and therapy for people with stroke or spinal injury, for instance, requires a holistic approach. Medications and surgical procedures are known as primary medical treatment in addressing neurological injuries and diseases. Counseling and therapies may also go hand-in-hand to provide reliable psychosocial treatment. Some may also acquire both physical and occupational therapy for faster healing and recovery period. 

Here are some effective counseling and psychotherapy types for patients with neurological problems:

Individual, Private Or One-To-One Counseling

Individual counseling involves private and one-to-one support from a counselor or licensed therapist. This support may be in the form of effective listening about personal worries and concerns.

People with neurological disorders can safely express their concerns about their condition, families, and overall feelings since individual counseling provide extensive communication of emotions and opinions. While group counseling is beneficial, patients and clients may prefer a discreet, one-on-one conversation with a counselor for privacy and more centered assistance.

Your therapist may let you:

• Determine what concerns plug your cognition
• Adapt solutions for your primary bothers
• Adjust your lifestyle as a coping mechanism
• Figure out how to fix relationship problems in work and family
• Private concerns such as sexuality and intimacy

Individual Counseling may also act as a preliminary step in getting psychosocial help. Apart from one-on-one counseling, the counselor may also provide options that enable you to undergo couple, family, or group therapy.  Individual therapy can provide more personal therapeutic sessions for spinal cord injury, glaucoma, or stroke.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that helps patients understand and identify their thought patterns. And determine why it is linked to your worries and how you can keep them from affecting your mood in the process.

Overall, CBT allows patients with neurologic illnesses to reframe their unwanted thoughts and negative mindset to a reshaped, accurate, and more positive outlook. With its overall effectivity as a method in psychology, it has been used to manage:

• Difficulties in managing feelings of fear, anger, sadness, or even guilt
• Uncontrollable stress
• Depression and Anxiety
• Low self-esteem
• Sleep Problems
• Insomnia and sleep problems
• Prevailing addictions and unwanted behavior

Family Counseling

More than a personal concern, neurologic disorders may affect your family. Apart from sharing the financial burden, managing routines with a family member with a physical disability can be stressful and taxing.

To help eliminate fear and encourage collaboration within the household, seeking a family counselor is a good option. A therapist in this field allows each family member to express their concerns, thoughts, and opinions about the situation and create solutions in the process. 

Also, discussing the long-term effects of neurologic problems with your child can be upsetting and challenging. A family counselor can help you in gaining a better understanding of what is going on with your kids. They can also help the kids to express their thoughts and emotions about their condition.

Support Groups

Support groups allow people experiencing the same condition to meet and talk about everyone’s concerns, emotions, or coping mechanisms. Support groups can assist individuals with neurologic conditions since they can help people manage their emotions and medication side effects.

Support groups may be available for people who have:

• Brain tumor
• Stroke
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Cushing’s Disease
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Frontotemporal Dementia
• Brain and Spinal Cord Injury

Parents, relatives, and caregivers of these patients may also join support groups. It is a sharing session wherein people talk about relationship issues, effective support, and even how to deal with fears in the family.

Participants may opt to meet in person or via online media since tele-counseling and telehealth have become relatively common for psychosocial assistance. Regardless of the medium, there is no strict attendance in most support groups.

Treating both psychological and physical illnesses are essential for holistic rehabilitation. People who suffer from neurologic injury and diseases must receive individualized treatment plans, including counseling and therapies. 

Depending on the emotional symptoms of their neurological problems, these individuals may experience depression and anxiety. Additionally, there are many benefits of counseling and therapy for patients with neurologic problems. Seeking a counselor may let you and your family:

• Learn how to cope when diagnosed with a physical disability
• Manage forms of anxiety and depression
• Develop coping mechanisms against the recurring symptoms
• Manage emotions from experiencing great lifestyle changes
• Eliminate fear and worries from affecting one’s mood

But it will only be beneficial if you are seeing the right therapist or counselor. Be sure you check a counselor’s background, reviews, and overall success as a health professional to verify whether they are the best fit for you or your family. Choosing a good counselor would not only result in better and more engaging follow-ups in the long run, but it will also ultimately save time and money by avoiding needless professional adjustments.