Being all ears: A systemic perspective of the role of the psychologist in cochlear implantation

• Main Authors: Elsie M. Schoeman, David P. Fourie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AOSIS 2004-12-01
• Series: South African Journal of Communication Disorders
• Subjects: cochlear implants; hearing loss; systemic perspective; case study; role of the psychologist/ psychotherapist
• Online Access: https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/207

For those hearing-impaired individuals who do not derive any benefit from hearing amplification, cochlear implantation sometimes provides a useful alternative. Recently cochlear implant teams started to incorporate psychological services, mainly as a means to evaluate candidates as to their suitability to receive implants. This paper shows that cochlear implants can have serious and wide-ranging repercussions for the implantee and/or for the family, sometimes necessitating psychotherapeutic services. A case study provided to illustrate the need for a much wider role for psychotherapeutic services and to also demonstrate how the adoption of a systems perspective can be of value to the therapeutic process.