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In the history of neuropsychological rehabilitation there have been books that promote a change of paradigm. These books possess a peculiar transitional quality. They are rooted in old theories and concepts, but at the same time they try to break free from them, in an attempt to build up something new. Rather than systematizing what we already know, they point in novel directions, providing possibilities and inspiration. This book is one of those books.
I will try to justify such statements. But in order to do so, I will have to put this book in the context of how the field of neuropsychological rehabilitation has evolved. Much of the early work with people who suffered a brain injury was devoted to the comprehension of the “disordered mind” (Prigatano, 1991) and the mechanisms by which these altered cognitive functions could be restored (Goldstein, 1942; Luria, 1973). Although this first era offered a priceless understanding on the relationship between brain and psychological processes, it was not until the 1990s, with Principles of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation (Prigatano, 1999), that the “wounded soul” (Prigatano, 1991) of brain-injured patients was systematically introduced as a focus of rehabilitation. This new emphasis on the patient's experience of the injury, and on the mechanisms by which personality and injury dynamically interact, was a groundbreaking proposition.
In the same year, another book redefined one of the most emblematic components of the field, cognitive rehabilitation. In Case Studies in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, Barbara Wilson (1999) offered a detailed description of patients with diverse neuropsychological impairments, and the strategies used to help them restore and compensate their deficits. The most powerful message of this book was that cognitive rehabilitation was, in essence, a means for returning to emotionally meaningful activities. Thus, the main goal of cognitive rehabilitation was not to restore a previous level of cogn