Hello fellow SLP’s! I’m so thrilled to say that Launch Day is here! (only slightly less exciting than my own impending baby delivery day!) Today I’m launching the start of the Functional Treatment for Everyday Cognition Series, with Book 1: Goal Management Training.

Last week I shared why Functional Treatment for Everyday Cognition matters: If you have that deep-down knowledge/feeling that games and worksheets aren’t really cutting it for our neuro patients…. but aren’t sure what else to pass the time with in therapy, then this series if for you! Evidence tells us there are TONS of treatment methods we can apply to make a functional difference in our patients’ lives!

To kick off my mission to bring affordable, understandable, efficient, evidence-based, useable, functional therapy materials to other SLPs, here’s what you need to know about Goal Management Training:

Goal Management Training, Metacognitive Strategy Instruction, Goal-Plan-Do-Review….sure, at first glance it sounds like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. BUT. This type of instruction is recommended as a practice standard for those with brain injury. Best of all: It’s a process you can apply to multiple functional scenarios.

Why should I use Metacognitive Strategy Instruction / Goal Management Training? Metacognitive Strategy Instruction is supported by research and recommended as a practice standard for TBI for young and middle-age adults. This process has been shown to make improvements with self-regulation, problem-solving, organization and life participation.

What is Metacognitive Strategy Instruction? Metacognitive Strategy Instruction (MSI) is a process where the SLP directly instructs a Person to think about their own thinking in order to improve performance in an activity or task. This process can be applied to endless functional scenarios that are important to the Person with acquired brain injury. A specific type of MSI is Goal Management Training, which will be addressed through the Goal-Plan-Do-Review process in Book 1: Goal Management Training.

How does Metacognitive Strategy Instruction relate to a person-centered approach? Metacognitive Strategy Instruction is tailored to an individual’s life needs and preferences. It’s all about personally-relevant needs, goals, and strategies. This means it can apply to a severe / acute situation (like ordering food in the hospital) to a chronic / higher-level situation (like how to make sure bills are paid on time each month).

What are some Metacognitive Strategies supported by research? There are various metacognitive strategies supported by research, all with the goal of improving a Person’s process for problem-solving, setting goals, or self-monitoring. They vary slightly from each other but all follow an explicit, step-by-step process to help someone think about their thinking and apply it to real-life scenarios.

Because simplicity is recommended in training the brain injured population, I have chosen to use a Goal Management Training process which has a high level of supporting evidence (Levine et al., 2000). The specific goal management training process we will use in Book 1: Goal Management Training is Goal-Plan-Do-Review (Feeney & Ylvisaker, 2006).

 

I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed; that was a lot of research-talk and not a lot of everyday therapy: Great news, you guys. I’m a regular SLP too. I’m not a professor or researcher; but I like to know I’m providing the best functional care I can, backed by research! I’ve taken hours to read research and boil this concept down to therapy materials that are efficient, understandable, and useable for the everyday SLP across settings.

Here’s what you can expect to find if you purchase Book 1: Goal Management Training: This packet specifically uses the Goal-Plan-Do-Review process for real-life needs anywhere from ordering food in the hospital to paying bills on time. This process has been shown to improve problem-solving, strategy use, self-regulation, organization, and life participation. This 24-page packet includes:

*Cheat Sheet and research summaries for Goal Management Training, Metacognitive Strategy Instruction, and Goal-Plan-Do-Review

*Functional Needs Ideas (including “by setting!” so you know where to start in the setting you work in)

*Personalized strategy ideas and examples

*Sample in-session templates (For client and SLP– everything you need to use this process in therapy!)

*Goal-setting and daily documentation samples

*Discharge summary for next level of care

 

Purchase Book 1: Goal Management Training in my store, and stay tuned for multiple other parts to this series!

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