Description
December 19, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:00 PM Bridging the Gap: Screening and Accommodations for Patients with TBI in Substance Use Treatment
Description:
This presentation addresses the high prevalence of TBI among individuals in substance use treatment and highlights the importance of recognizing, screening, and accommodating TBI-related challenges in clinical care. Prescribing clinicians and their teams will learn how to integrate validated screens for TBI, cognition, orientation, and mood into routine assessment and how to apply brain-injury informed care strategies and accommodations into existing treatment to improve overall treatment engagement, medical adherence, and recovery outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the relationship between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and substance use, including types of TBIs commonly seen in specific substance use populations.
- Identify common symptoms and misconceptions related to TBI at all ranges of severity that may impact treatment engagement.
- Apply validated screening tools for TBI, orientation, cognition, and mood for use in treatment settings.
- Implement evidence-based accommodations for TBI and BI-informed care into substance use treatment, including environmental, communication, programmatic, and medication management strategies.
Presenter: Chrystal Fullen, Psy.D
Dr. Chrystal Fullen is a Clinical Neuropsychologist serving Baptist Health Rehabilitation Institute, a CARF-accredited acute rehabilitation center in Central Arkansas. She graduated from Our Lady of the Lake University with a doctorate degree in Psychology and completed her clinical internship at the South Texas VA in Clinical Neuropsychology. Her fellowship training was completed at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where she focused on furthering her specialization in neuropsychological assessment and treatment of acquired brain injury and rehabilitation. To that end, she has developed a multi-tiered cognitive rehabilitation program at UAMS as well as an inpatient neuropsychological service to expand assessment and intervention in a Level I trauma center.
Her work with the MS population includes multidisciplinary collaboration in assessment, rehabilitation, psychoeducation, and brief solution-focused therapy for MS patients. She serves on the Arkansas MS Council and collaborates in MS research. She has recently developed updated evidence-based manualized treatment for rehabilitation medicine in both MS and TBI.
Dr. Fullen’s research has also focused on rehabilitation, epilepsy, brain injury, and performance validity measures. Throughout her career, she has provided education and training as a clinical supervisor for neuropsychological assessment and intervention across medical settings. She is also well versed in the tenets of program development and evaluation in psychology.
Continuing Medical Education:
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the Hanley Center for Health Leadership and Education and CCSME. The Hanley Center for Health Leadership and Education is accredited by the Maine Medical Association Committee on Continuing Medical Education and Accreditation to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The Hanley Center for Health Leadership and Education designates this regularly scheduled series for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit ™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
*Nurses and Nurse Practitioners will be awarded a certificate of participation with a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit ™.
This course has been approved by Co-Occurring Collaborative Serving Maine (CCSME), as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for 1 educational credits. NAADAC Provider #324712, CCSME is responsible for all aspects of the programming.
Contact Hours 1 contact hours for social workers, licensed clinical professional counselors, and behavioral health professionals.
1 Category 1 Contact hours for psychologists. CCSME is a pre-approved sponsor and provider of Professional Education Activities for Psychologists.
1 contract hours CHES. CCSME is a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission of Health Education Credentialing, Inc.
