Traumatic Brain Injury: Diagnosis, Recovery, and Treatments

Time: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Location: Virtual

Instructor: Dr. Kati Pagulayan, Ph.D., and Dr. Brett Parminder, Ph.D., ABPP-CN

CE credits: 3 (pending)

Course Description:

This three-hour presentation will offer an evidence-based overview of traumatic brain injury (TBI) research and clinical principles, including fundamentals of diagnosis, expected recovery trajectories, and current treatment approaches. The session will begin with core diagnostic concepts and then move into a review what recovery typically looks like across the injury spectrum. The final segment focuses on treatment options, emphasizing symptom-focused care, management of common comorbidities, and practical strategies for supporting Veterans’ functional recovery. VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management and Rehabilitation of Post-Acute mTBI will be reviewed, as well as the empirically validated psychotherapy treatment options. This presentation is designed for mental health clinicians and allied professionals working with individuals with a history of TBI, and the information covered will be at an intermediate instructional level. 

Learning Objectives

At the end of this training, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the clinical process for diagnosing TBI, including key injury mechanisms, common assessment tools, and the role and limitations of neuroimaging.
2. Explain typical recovery trajectories across injury severities and identify factors that influence variability in symptom progression and functional outcomes.
3. Describe clinical practice guidelines and empirically validated treatment options for management of chronic symptoms after mild TBI. 

References:

Callahan, M. L., Rau, H. K., Wagner, A. W., Jakupcak, M., Golshan, S., Storzbach, D., Fann, J. R., Engel, D., & Pagulayan, K. F. (2026). Cognitively augmented behavioral activation for veterans with comorbid mild traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.70056

Pagulayan, K. F., Rau, H. K., Sheppard, D. P., Shulein, O. M., Onstad-Hawes, E., Hoffman, J. M., & Williams, R. M. (2025). On-TRACC Pilot Study: A Novel Intervention for Persistent Post-Concussive Cognitive Symptoms. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. https://doi.org/10.1097/htr.0000000000001014

Silverberg, N. D., Iverson, G. L., Cogan, A., Dams-O’Connor, K., Delmonico, R., Jeong, M., Mary Alexis Iaccarino, Kajankova, M., Kamins, J., McCulloch, K. L., McKinney, G., Nagele, D., Panenka, W. J., Rabinowitz, A. R., Reed, N., Wethe, J. V., Whitehair, V., Anderson, V., Arciniegas, D. B., & Bayley, M. T. (2023). The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine Diagnostic Criteria for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 104(8). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2023.03.036

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