There is a significant intersection between behavioral health and brain injury. As many as 75% of the people seeking services for co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders are living with the effects of brain injury. Complicating this fact is that many individuals seeking behavioral health services have not been properly diagnosed or screened for brain injury. They may not even be aware that a brain injury may be part of why they are struggling. Further complicating these challenges, many state behavioral health systems have policies or practices in place that can inadvertently turn someone with a brain injury away from much needed behavioral health services. Often behavioral health clinicians feel ill-equipped to address the needs of someone with a brain injury, which can lead to poor treatment outcomes.
This webinar will introduce the Administration for Community Living (ACL) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Technical Assistance and Resource Center’s (TARC) Behavioral Health Guide designed to provide state brain injury professionals with the tools to effectively partner with their state behavioral health entities and improve outcomes for this population. The guide’s authors will provide an overview of the various sections and answer questions about applying some of the tools and strategies identified within a state system. The guide is available for downloading at: https://www.hsri.org/publication/behavioral-health-guide-considerations-for-best-practices-for-children-yout
The webinar will be live-captioned and ASL-interpreted. If you require additional accommodations to participate, or if you have any questions about the webinar, please do not hesitate to contact the TBI TARC at tbitarc@hsri.org.