There are three main axes that guide the intervention of the Psychiatry and Psychology team in the Outpatient Care Service:
1. Carry out a good diagnostic process neuropsychosocial and therapeutic guidance adjusted to the user's profile.
2. Therapeutic support for users and their families throughout the life cycle. Individual / family / group care.
3. Global and multidisciplinary care adjusted to the needs presented by the user at each stage or developmental moment of the life cycle.
Psychiatric and psychological intervention in cerebral palsy (CP) necessarily involves a good assessment of the overall case and a diagnosis neuropsychosocial, not only at the initial reception but throughout its evolution, which will allow us to identify at every moment the needs of the user and their environment as well as establish the intervention objectives. The psychological assessment process requires the intellectual and neuropsychological exploration throughout development, of the psychological adjustment and mental health status of the user as well as of their social environment and their autonomy and functionality. As professionals we have the responsibility to guarantee the access of people with CP and other pathologies of neurological development to the assessment instruments, which requires efforts to adapt the instruments to the motor, sensory and communication limitations of the users as well as the development of specific scales.
It is important not to presuppose and fall into prejudices, it is necessary to evaluate in depth. The evidence indicates a high prevalence of diagnosis of Intellectual Disability comorbid with cerebral palsy, and this affect can be very variable. In addition, the psychological assessment report is particularly useful and relevant. Also, the evidence indicates a greater prevalence of mental health problems in the population with cerebral palsy, such as anxiety and mood problems, behavioral disorders, among others.
We are talking about mental functioning, because mental pathology is established and has a different structure to that of the rest of the population. However, the same diagnosis of cerebral palsy can inherently generate sensitive needs to be attended to by the Psychology and Psychiatry team. Psychotherapeutic care in cerebral palsy and other neurological pathologies involves individual, group and family intervention as well as coordination with external agents, depending on the needs of the case at each evolutionary moment.
We emphasize the importance of continuous coordination with all external agents that provide attention to the user in order to have a global and unified view of the case, helping the fact that it can evolve in all areas. In childhood, the intervention is necessarily familiar and the diagnostic process and coordination with the school environment take on special relevance in order to have a vision of the child as a whole.
During adolescence, the person acquires greater autonomy and an important need to belong appears, which can make the psychotherapeutic group a very good working tool to relieve discomfort.
Adulthood is a time of confrontation with reality and the same difficulties as well as adjustment of expectations and concern for the future. Last, but not least, aging is a process of vital review that, together with greater deterioration and often feelings of loneliness, may require accompaniment and psychotherapeutic attention.
