Craig Hospital Aphasia Therapy Program – CHAT

The aim of the CHAT program is to not only improve verbal communication, but also to help you and your loved ones better understand your specific aphasia, with a level of insight that only intensive, one-on-one therapy can provide.

We work to see how language and word finding can be restored, using evidence-based treatment modalities, as well as utilizing embodied practices as a supplementary tool to educate patients on the relationship between the body’s systems and their usefulness in your aphasia recovery.

As speech-language therapists, we endorse the use of communication by any means available, but the aim of the CHAT program is to primarily target verbal communication. CHAT helps patients uncover new ways to look for words and gain better control over their aphasia.

Participants leave the program feeling much more empowered to use strategies taught here in the CHAT program when their unique version of aphasia shows up.

The CHAT program consists of ~60 hours of therapy over the course of 3 weeks. Each day, participants will have 3-4 hours of 1:1 therapy with a licensed speech-language pathologist, with each session targeting their individualized language goals. In addition, participants will also have sessions with neurological music therapy, embodied practices (yoga and breathing techniques), assistive technology/AAC, and CHAT Group which includes CHAT program alumni volunteers.