Episode 3: Thinking Therapy! with Emily Overbaugh, Speech Language Pathologist

Brain fog. Trouble concentrating. Difficulty planning and organizing.  Trouble with problem solving. Memory issues. Word finding challenges.  These are just a few of the symptoms after a brain injury.   We have therapy to help us get back to walking and doing our daily activities but who rehabs our thinking and how our brains work after an injury??  In today’s episode we delve deep into the world of Speech Language Pathology (SLP) with therapist Emily Overbaugh of Thrive Speech Pathology.  She teaches us the instrumental role speech pathologists have in treating the “invisible” parts of our injuries. Join us as we talk about all things thinking-related and how we can recover this crucial part of our brains!!  

1. In this episode we cover:

• When in your course of injury you start speech therapy

• What speech therapy addresses

• How you know you need speech therapy.  Below are a few symptoms SLP helps with:

  • Fogginess and cognitive fatigue

  • Memory issues

  • Difficulty with attention

  • Word finding issues and trouble conversing

  • Executive function difficulty (ability to plan, organize, and set goals)

  • Cognition, communication, or swallowing issues

  • Problem solving difficulties

  • Tasks taking longer than usual

• Getting a cognitive baseline

• The relationship between attention and memory

• The role of speech pathologists

• Strategies: Goal, plan, do, review

  • Reduce environmental distractions 

  • Plan your time 

  • Take breaks and rest

  • Evaluate your performance and how it could have gone better

• Return to work strategies

• Technology that will help you (hint: use your smartphone)

• Advice for caregivers of brain injured people: it’s a family injury!

• Recognizing brain fatigue and what to do about it

• Understanding your own boundaries: learning how you think and acting on this

• Coming to terms with your “new normal”

• Final thoughts: 

  • self advocacy

  • find providers you really connect with

  • dealing with the “shoulds,” “I should be able to do this,” “people say I’m fine, so shouldn’t I be?”--trust your instincts

  • rest/activity balance--strike a healthy balance

1. Links resources from this episode: 

• AnyList: https://www.anylist.com/

• Todoist: https://todoist.com

• Google calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar

• American Speech and Hearing Website for a list of providers and their specialities in your area: https://www.asha.org/

To follow Emily Overbaugh:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivespeechpath/

Website: https://www.thrivespeechpathology.com/

1. Quotes from the show:

• Every patient is so different, therapy is individualized based on symptoms.

• The role of a speech pathologist is to delve into the underlying difficulty that you have on a daily basis.  

• That patient knows themself the best.  They know if they don’t quite feel like themselves.  If you feel this way and haven’t met with a speech therapist yet, you should consider it.  

• Speech therapy is an umbrella term...Speech therapy is thinking therapy...They teach thinking skills.

• Think about things you want to do with more forethought than you did before. Learn from your experiences and adjust as needed.   

• Be gentle with yourself.  This [injury] is not your fault.  It happened to you. You are your own best advocate.

• You can get to the same goal that you had before.  It just may be a different path to get there.  Meet yourself where you are at.  

• It’s ok to leave a provider and seek someone you click with better.

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