Non-invasive · Non-surgical · Calabasas
Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy
in Calabasas
A structured, measured way to work on attention, memory and thinking speed after a brain injury.
Rebuilding mental sharpness after a concussion, a stroke, or another neurological setback should not feel like guesswork. Cognitive rehabilitation therapy in Calabasas at California Brain & Spine Center is a structured, measured program that commonly targets attention, memory, and processing speed. Dr. Alireza Chizari, DC, DACNB, a Board-Certified Functional Neurologist, starts by testing where the breakdown actually sits, then trains that system directly.
The quick, honest answer
Cognitive rehabilitation therapy in 30 seconds
It is guided practice and strategy training for thinking problems after a brain injury or stroke.
What it is
Training, not resting
Cognitive rehabilitation therapy is a structured program, guided by Dr. Chizari, with two halves: graded, repeated practice that aims to strengthen weakened skills, and strategies that help you manage daily tasks despite them. Most programs combine the two, according to BrainLine.
Who it may help
When thinking stopped being automatic
People recovering from a concussion or traumatic brain injury, a stroke, or another neurological event, and people whose scans read "normal" while reading, planning, and remembering are clearly not back to normal.
Your next step
Measure before you train
Baseline testing across cognitive, oculomotor (eye-movement), balance and autonomic (heart-rate and blood-pressure control) function is designed to show which domain is limiting you. The program is then aimed at that domain and re-tested, rather than applied as a fixed protocol.
What we actually train
The six domains cognitive rehabilitation targets
After a traumatic brain injury, attention, information processing, memory, planning, reasoning and communication can all be affected, according to the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center. Each domain is measured at baseline and re-measured as you progress.
Sustained Attention
Holding focus once the first few minutes have passed, and holding it in a room that is not quiet
Working Memory
Holding a phone number, an instruction, or a sentence in mind long enough to use it
Processing Speed
How long it takes to read, decide, and reply when the day moves quickly
Executive Function
Planning a multi-step task, switching between tasks, and finishing what you started
Language & Word Finding
Sentences that stall mid-thought, or the right word arriving a beat too late
Reasoning & Judgment
Weighing options and reaching a sound decision when a problem has more than one step
Concussion symptoms can include trouble concentrating, thinking clearly and remembering (CDC), and they can come with other symptoms. See our brain fog treatment page.
Why conservative care
Cognitive rehabilitation therapy after the acute phase
In many cases, thinking skills can improve with cognitive rehabilitation after a traumatic brain injury, though many factors affect how they change over time (MSKTC). For a concussion, the VA/DoD guideline suggests a short trial of clinician-directed cognitive rehabilitation when memory, attention or planning problems persist after other contributing factors are managed.
- A systematic review by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine's task force found evidence supporting attention training after brain injury or stroke, compensatory strategies for mild memory problems, and strategy training for planning and organizing (Cicerone et al., ACRM task force review)
- Comprehensive cognitive testing is not rushed: the same VA/DoD guideline suggests against it in the first weeks after a concussion
- Sessions are scheduled around work, classes, and family commitments rather than the reverse
Finding the limiting system
Our six-step cognitive rehabilitation evaluation
Baseline scores set the goals and make every later session measurable. Dr. Chizari performs the evaluation himself, as part of the 120-minute neurodiagnostic assessment, before any program is written.
Detailed case history
Injury or illness timeline, work and study demands, sleep, medications. The history guides which tests matter most.
Cognitive baseline tasks
Reaction time, processing speed, working memory, and executive-function tasks scored objectively rather than estimated from conversation.
Eye-tracking & oculomotor testing
Video eye-movement (VNG) recording of saccades (quick eye jumps) and pursuit (smooth tracking).
Balance & postural sway
Computerized posturography and clinical balance testing, so balance is looked at alongside thinking rather than separately.
Pupillary & orthostatic assessment
Pupillary light-reflex measurements and heart-rate and blood-pressure responses to standing, recorded as part of the autonomic picture.
Goal mapping to real life
Targets are written against your actual roles, whether that is a full day of meetings in the Calabasas office parks or a semester of coursework.
Personalized care
What a cognitive rehabilitation program includes
Your plan draws on the components your findings point to. None of this is applied as a fixed protocol to everyone who walks in.
Is this right for you?
Who cognitive rehabilitation fits
It may fit you if thinking has not returned to normal after a brain injury or stroke.
You may be a good candidate if
- Thinking has not returned to baseline weeks after a concussion, or post-concussion syndrome symptoms have lingered
- Reading, spreadsheets, or long documents drain you far faster than they used to
- You lose the thread in meetings or in conversation in a noisy room
- You are recovering from a stroke and want structured cognitive work alongside medical care
- A student's grades, reading speed, or reaction times dropped after an injury
- Your scans and labs came back normal and no one has explained the symptoms
The length of a program depends on your findings and how you respond. Realistic expectations are set after your evaluation, not before it, and no timeline or outcome can be promised in advance.
How progress is measured
- Objective re-testing: the same reaction-time and memory tasks repeated on a schedule, so change is a number rather than an impression
- Regular review: plateaus trigger a change to the plan instead of more of the same
- Return-to-work and return-to-learn: load is raised deliberately, coordinated with employers, schools, and trainers
- Honest discharge: when the data stops moving and the goals are met, the program ends
After a head injury, the CDC lists danger signs that need emergency care right away, including seizures, repeated vomiting, increasing confusion, slurred speech, weakness or numbness, and a headache that gets worse and does not go away (CDC HEADS UP). If symptoms come on suddenly or severely - a sudden severe headache, weakness, trouble speaking, vision loss, or fainting - that is an emergency. Call 911 or go to an emergency room, not a clinic appointment.
From the clinic
Your first visit, step by step
The first visit is the 120-minute neurodiagnostic assessment. Dr. Chizari answers a question patients often ask before they book.
One question patients often ask me is what actually happens at the first visit. It starts with the 120-minute neurodiagnostic assessment: your history first, then the cognitive, eye-movement, balance and autonomic tests described above, so the plan is built from findings rather than guesses. My work is functional neurology care. Formal neuropsychological testing, imaging and medication decisions belong to a neuropsychologist, a medical neurologist or your primary care provider, and when your findings point there, I coordinate with them.
Progress is logged as data: reaction-time curves, error rates and endurance under load. Seeing your own numbers is how we both know whether the plan needs to change.
Common questions
Cognitive rehabilitation questions
How soon after an injury should cognitive rehabilitation start?
It depends on the injury and what else is contributing. For a concussion, the VA/DoD guideline suggests against comprehensive cognitive testing in the first weeks, and suggests a short trial of clinician-directed cognitive rehabilitation if memory, attention or planning problems persist once other factors are managed. Thinking problems lasting more than a few weeks, or worsening, are worth an evaluation.
Will the exercises make my symptoms worse?
Intensity is set to keep cognitive rehabilitation therapy sessions tolerable, and anything that provokes lasting symptoms is dialed back at the next visit rather than pushed through. Any symptom that does not settle between visits is worth telling Dr. Chizari about, so the plan can change.
How many cognitive rehabilitation sessions will I need?
It depends on which domains are affected, how severe the original injury was, and how you respond, supported by home practice between visits. Re-testing, not a fixed session count, determines when cognitive rehabilitation therapy is finished, and no timeline can be promised in advance.
Do children and teenagers qualify for cognitive rehabilitation in Calabasas?
Yes. Programs for younger patients at our Calabasas clinic adjust workload to developmental stage and use game-style tasks to hold engagement. Return-to-learn planning is coordinated with the school, as in our return-to-school plan after concussion, so academic load rises in step with measured progress.
Do I need a referral, and how does this fit with my other doctors?
No referral is needed for the initial evaluation. Dr. Chizari coordinates with your primary care provider, and with a medical neurologist, a neuropsychologist or your stroke team where one is involved, so the program runs alongside your medical care rather than replacing it.
This content is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare provider about your specific situation.
Measure first
Find out where
the limit actually sits.
If a concussion, a stroke, or another neurological setback has left your thinking slower than it should be, the first step is measuring where the limit sits. Dr. Chizari provides non-surgical cognitive rehabilitation therapy for patients across Calabasas, Woodland Hills and the wider Los Angeles area. Call (818) 649-5300 or book online.
California Brain & Spine Center · 4768 Park Granada, Ste 107, Calabasas, CA 91302