Cognitive Work Hardening Training Manual now available!

Cognitive Work Hardening: Building a Bridge Back to Work is a manual for occupational therapists that was launched in June 2024 and I could not be more proud!

I wrote this manual for occupational therapists who are interested in the cognitive work hardening (CWH) intervention and who want a solid foundation into its theory and change tenets along with practical strategies and steps for its application with clients who are preparing to return to work following a mental health disability leave.

The manual covers the need for CWH within the mental health domain with the history behind the inception of the particular CWH intervention that I pioneered and developed in 2000. My intervention has evolved over the last 24+ years through client feedback, disability insurer requirements, and my own doctoral research that found support for its role in return-to-work following an episode of depression.

The manual is a practical guide for occupational therapists aspiring to offer the intervention. It provides a window into the CWH process from referral to intake interview followed by a roadmap through the actual intervention implementation from the first CWH session until the final session. Examples of forms used, behavioural and cognitive abilities addressed, and sample session metrics are included. The manual includes a detailed discussion on the analysis of findings and reporting in a comprehensive CWH report. Finally, delivery logistics is covered to provide the occupational therapist with a sense of the type of environment in which to offer the intervention. Telepractice delivery is also discussed.

It is my hope that this training manual will be a foundational resource for CWH and will catapult the intervention to an expanded position within rehabilitation and mental health with potential further applicability and enhanced treatment outcomes.

The training manual is available through Amazon at the following direct links:   CA, US, UK, DE, FR, ES, IT, NL, PL, SE