Episode #103: Counseling for People with Primary Progressive Aphasia with Kristin Schaffer Mendez

Interviewer info Lyssa Rome is a speech-language pathologist in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is on staff at the Aphasia Center of California, where she facilitates groups for people with aphasia and their care partners. She owns an LPAA-focused private practice and specializes in working with people with aphasia, dysarthria, and other neurogenic conditions. She has worked in acute hospital, skilled nursing, and continuum of care settings. Prior to becoming an SLP, Lyssa was a public radio journalist, editor, and podcast producer. In this episode, Lyssa Rome interviews Kristin Schaffer Mendez about her work on counseling for people with primary progressive aphasia and their families.

Gap Areas This episode focuses on Gap Area #6, insufficient attention to depression and low mood for people with aphasia across the continuum of care.

Guest info

Dr. Kristin Schaffer Mendez is a speech-language pathologist and assistant professor at the University of St. Augustine in Austin, Texas. Prior to entering academia, she worked in several clinical settings, including inpatient rehabilitation, home health, and private practice. Dr. Mendez's experience as a clinician has inspired her research, which is centered upon examining and addressing psychosocial factors in acquired neurogenic communication disorders through patient-centered and care partner-inclusive treatment paradigms, including counseling, support groups, and the use of telerehabilitation platforms.

Listener Take-aways In today's episode you will: Learn about some of the psychosocial factors that people with primary progressive aphasia may face. Understand how speech-language pathologists can provide both educational and personal adjustment counseling for people with PPA. Describe a cognitive behavioral approach to personal adjustment counseling for people with PPA. Edited show notes Lyssa Rome Welcome to the Aphasia Access Aphasia Conversations podcast. I'm Lyssa Rome. I'm a speech language pathologist on staff at the Aphasia Center of California, and I see clients with aphasia and other neurogenic communication impairments in my LPAA-focused private practice. I'm also a member of the Aphasia Access Podcast Working Group. Aphasia Access strives to provide members with information, inspiration, and ideas that support their aphasia care through a variety of educational materials and resources.

I'm today's host for an episode that will feature Dr. Kristin Shaffer Mendez. Dr. Schaffer Mendez is a speech language pathologist and assistant professor at the University of St. Augustine in Austin, Texas. Prior to entering academia, she worked in several clinical settings, including inpatient rehabilitation, home health, and private practice.

Dr. Schaffer Mendez his experience as a clinician has inspired her research, which is focused on examining and addressing psychosocial factors in acquired neurogenic communication disorders through patient-centered and care partner-inclusive treatment paradigms, including counseling support groups, and the use of telerehabilitation platforms. In this episode, we'll be focusing on her research on counseling for people with primary progressive aphasia.

Dr. Kristin Shaffer Mendez, welcome to the Aphasia Access podcast. It's great to have you here.

Kristin Shaffer Mendez Thank you so much for having me. It's wonderful to be here.

Lyssa Rome So I wanted to get started by asking you a question that we often start with, which is whether you have any "aha" moments, so experiences that were pivotal for you in your work as a clinician or as a researcher?

Kristin Shaffer Mendez Yeah, you know, I think throughout my career, there have been a series of "aha" moments. If I think through my career, I've had several different stages. So initially working clinically, as a speech language pathologist, as I was partnering with patients with all different types of communication disorders and their families, I quickly realized that we