Internship at Rehab UK

I've been doing my internship at Rehab UK in London now for about 6 weeks and I'm really enjoying it and learning a lot. Rehab UK is a non-profit organisation that helps people who have had a brain injury get back into work, they call it a vocational rehabilitation programme. Clients come here from Monday through Friday for 5 hours a day and have various sessions they attend. There are different elements that the clients are in, Element A and Element B, depending on the client's needs and the rehabilitation that he or she has already received. They usually begin in Element A, which lasts 12 weeks and attend various sessions including: cognitive skills training, stress management, brain injury awareness, communication skills, client meeting, essential skills-literacy and numeracy, information technology, and vocational profiling (helping them find the right job). In Element B they continue on with some of the same sessions, but focus more of searching for jobs, working on CVs, cover letters, preparing for interviews, etc.

My job here has been kind of like a support worker with the clients. I spend a lot of time attending a variety of sessions with clients and supporting them with their work in the sessions. I work one-to-one with some clients who need additional support with their work here. I have also been able to lead a few sessions. The one I usually do is client meeting (although this is mostly client led). It's kind of like a debate, where they choose a certain topic and discuss it. One person is the chair of the meeting and my job is to support them, give them feedback, and make sure the meeting goes ok. I have gotten to lead only one other session, Communication Skills, where I introduced a new project for them to begin working on. I hope I will be able to lead a few more sessions in the last few weeks I have left.

I've also been doing some research while here, updating information on careers and decision making for the vocational profiling session. I find it really interesting and I'm thinking about trying to get a job in a career center. I've worked with clients on their CVs, searching for jobs, analysing job ads, helping them figure out their interests, skills, values, needs, etc. from a career.

I've learned a lot about brain injury and the effects of it from working here too. There are many different ways a brain injury can occur and they can have different effects on people. Physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects are all common with people who've had a brain injury. There are also many difficulties in returning to work after a brain injury, which is one of the main things Rehab UK strives to assist people with.