Driving Anxiety and Desensitization Program: A New GLA Initiative

  • by glarehab
  • Sep 18, 2014
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Driving Anxiety and Desensitization Program: A New GLA Initiative

A car accident is a traumatic and scary event. In the weeks and months following the accident the main focus is generally on physical, cognitive and emotional rehabilitation. A treatment team works with a client to repair muscles and increase endurance, improve memory and concentration and to help him or her develop coping skills.

What is often overlooked is that some clients will experience a lasting fear of driving or riding as a passenger in a car. While it’s not surprizing that after a serious car accident a person may develop a fear of driving, most people do not receive treatment targeting this serious problem.

GLA is now offering a new program aimed at reducing fear and anxiety around driving for clients who have been involved in a car accident. This program will complement our driving assessment and rehab program “Road to Recovery”.

We have partnered with Dr. Denise Milovan, a Clinical and Neuropsychologist with expertise and experience in helping clients with anxiety disorders. Dr. Milovan has a private practice and also has experience with the Complex Injury Outpatient Rehab program at Toronto Rehab.

The program is collaborative and Dr. Milovan will communicate with the client’s OT and RSW prior to the first session in order to understand the issues that the client is experiencing and how they are impacting function.

Following this Dr. Milovan will meet with the client to develop goals and to better understand the nature of the anxiety. She will work with clients to understand and challenge the issues they are experiencing related to anxiety and coping as a whole as well as specific anxiety related to driving. Using a whole-person approach to treatment is important as we know that any specific anxiety must be treated within the context of the client’s overall emotional status.

Throughout the program, Dr. Milovan will continue to work collaboratively with our OTs and RSWs to treat driving anxiety using a cognitive-behavioural and desensitization approach. The client’s OT and RSW will help to intensify and underscore the strategies developed in psychology treatment sessions.

Our aim is to help clients feel less anxious about driving or riding as a passenger in a car as well as to improve overall daily functioning and coping. We will be engaging in research for the project and will use outcome measures to evaluate the success of the program.

If you would like to refer a client to this program, please contact us and we will be happy to facilitate the registration.

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Rolling Out a Success Story

  • by glarehab
  • Sep 18, 2014
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Rolling Out a Success Story

As a Rehab Support Worker I take great honor being involved with Michael McNally aka Big Mike’s road to recovery in rehabilitation.  One of his goals was to participate in the annual BIST Walk, Roll, and Run in 2012 and 2013.  He is not only a survivor of a MVA but also an inspiration to other survivors to never give up in their recovery process. He has made significant physical gains in his rehabilitation from being bed-ridden, to standing, and now able to walk with a walker.  Big Mike will participate in this event for the 3rd consecutive year (2014) and this time he has set a goal to walk the final 20 metres across the finish line with his front wheeled walker.  For those of you who will be participating in this event, keep a look out for Big Mike.  You’ll hear his cheers and see him give high 5’s to others as they cross the finish line.

Here is what Mike has to say about achieving his goals:

“There was a little bit of rain coming down, but we prevailed. My brothers Mark, Matthew and my therapist Phillip took part in a five kilometer event at Sunny Brook Park in Toronto, Ontario Saturday, September 21st2013. It was a little rainy at the beginning of the race, but it stopped raining just as the race started which made the run a little better, but we ran through it and persevered. When the race was finally over we all took a breather. We needed it. Then we had a chance to grab some food for everyone that was taking part in the race. The food went down very nice. It hit the spot. We sure needed it after running five kilometers. After the food went down, we started to mingle with the other people who also participated in the race. We met other participants that were also in wheelchairs who had various injuries to their brains. We met a man that wrote a book about his accident and the achievements he has made. He played wheelchair basketball. He has also had a chance to play a round of golf for the first time in five years.  He loved every minute that he was playing; he hopes to play a game of baseball one day. He inspired me to achieve my goals. I have a few goals I have set for myself such as walking, and going home to my wife and children.”

Written by: Michael McNally and Phillip Lam, RSW

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