Headwise and Swansea University are delighted to be offering a fully funded PhD Studentship in Acquired Brain Injury and Legal Adjudication.

Acquired brain injury is significantly overrepresented in the criminal justice system, with prevalence estimates in prison populations ranging from 50% to 80% in adult populations. The needs of individuals with brain injury who come into contact with the justice system are often complex, involving significant co-occurring challenges. 
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​This PhD will examine how brain injury-related information may be perceived and adjudicated upon, including sentencer awareness and the application of relevant legal guidance. Building on prior research between Swansea University and Headwise, the project will be shaped iteratively in collaboration with academic supervisors and stakeholders, using mixed methods to generate insights with real-world relevance for justice, rehabilitation, and policy reform. 

For more information and to apply please visit this link: ​https://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/scholarships/research/psychology-phd-headwise-2025-rs819.php

Prof Andrew Worthington has co-edited a new book, "Managing Challenging Behaviour Following Acquired Brain Injury" along with Nick Alderman. The book will be published by Routledge in November 2023. Full details can be found at this link: 

https://www.routledge.com/Managing-Challenging-Behaviour-Following-Acquired-Brain-Injury-Assessment/Alderman-Worthington/p/book/9780367537722
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This empirically-based book provides conceptual knowledge and practical advice to enable clinicians to implement evidence-based methods drawn from learning theory for managing the catastrophic effects of challenging behaviour as an enduring outcome of acquired brain injury (ABI).

Based on a conceptual framework of neurobehavioural disability, the book takes a holistic case formulation approach, incorporating functional assessment procedures arising from the operant learning tradition which underpins the design of treatment interventions. It bridges the knowledge gap in uniquely providing a single resource to enable practitioners to implement evidence-based methods to better manage ABI behaviour disorders. The authors, who are leading experts in the field, have described a model of intervention based on a functional analytic approach to understanding behaviour within an operant learning framework. 

Headwise consultant Dr Alan Gray recently appeared on the Legal Thinking podcast, produced by the law firm RWK Goodman. Dr Gray appeared on the podcast to discuss the frontal lobe paradox. The episode can be listened to here:

Dr Gray of Headwise was delighted to meet the primary school pupils at St Peter’s School (Oxford) on Wednesday 22nd June 2022 to talk to them about neurological conditions and the role of neuropsychology in the rehabilitation process.

NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF BRAIN INJURY LITIGATION
A Medicolegal Handbook for Lawyers and Clinicians.
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Edited by Phil S. Moore, Shereen Brifcani and Andrew Worthington
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This accessible handbook focuses on the importance of neuropsychological evidence and the role of the neuropsychologist as expert witness in brain injury litigation. Combining the scientific and legal background with practical tips and case examples, this book is valuable reading for legal professionals, particularly those working in personal injury and clinical negligence, as well as trainees, students and clinicians in the field of neuropsychology, neurorehabilitation and clinical psychology.

A 20% discount is available when ordering directly from Routledge with the code FLA22 - www.routledge.com/9780367569587

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Headwise is pleased to announce the opening of our new Oxford service, to be led by Dr Alan Gray (Consultant Clinical Psychologist). This new office marks an expansion in our provision of clinical services in the south of the country, where we will be able to assist with a range of clinical roles, including:

* Neuropsychological and psychological rehabilitation for adults and children
* Cognitive assessment
* Diagnostic assessment for neurological conditions
* Evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions for emotional and behavioural difficulties
* Cognitive rehabilitation
* Psychological support for families and caregivers
* Input to treating team as part of an MDT approach
* Training for staff/ family
* Medical legal assessments for mental capacity

If you require any further information or want to make a referral please use the contact details below:  

Headwise are very pleased to publish the latest in our series of self help guides. The new guide covers sleep disturbance after traumatic brain injury and is available now on our Self Help Guides page.

The leaflet is available to download in both print and screen versions. We hope it will be a useful addition to our range of resources.

Professor Andrew Worthington, Director of Headwise has recently released a new research paper. This paper examines the challenges facing neuropsychologists seeking to understand decision making processes and particularly the problems facing clinicians evaluating mental capacity. It is argued that neuropsychologists have focussed disproportionately one some aspects of executive function, primarily those linked to the dorsolateral prefrontal area, and failed to address the multiple factors likely to affect real world judgment and decision making for which more emphasis on the ventromedial region and new assessment paradigms are required.

Click here to download the full paper.
This is a pre-publication version of the following article: Worthington A (2019) Decision making and mental capacity: Resolving the frontal paradox. The Neuropsychologist 7: 31-35.

People with brain injury are over-represented in prison populations whilst and surveys indicate significant misconceptions about brain injuries amongst the general public. Jurors find it difficult to discount irrelevant or prejudicial information, even when they are instructed to do so.

The project will involve a series of experiments, in which participant-jurors and others read information about fictitious cases, in which some key piece of information (e.g., the presence of neuroimaging evidence, or the presence of physical sequelae of the brain injury) is manipulated, and the impact of those pieces of information on juror decisions will be assessed.