Certification Options:

Please note registration deadlines to ensure certification!

CBIS (Certified Brain Injury Specialist)

• Applicants must have had 500 hours of currently verifiable direct contact experience with an individual or individuals with brain injury.
• Experience can be paid employment and/or academic internship.
• The qualifying experience must have included formal supervision or have been conducted while the applicant operated under a professional license. Volunteer work does not qualify.
• Applicants must have a high school diploma or equivalent.
• Applicants must be a member in good standing within any licensing boards or bodies that oversee his/her profession, if applicable.

CBIST (Certified Brain Injury Specialist Trainer)

Education

CBISTs must have received a minimum of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year institution

Experience

CBISTs are required to demonstrate a minimum of five (5) years’ experience in the field of brain injury in one or more of the following ways:

• Direct clinical experience in a medical or rehabilitative setting in the continuum of care
• Research experience in the science, medicine and/or rehabilitation of brain injury
• Services integral to brain injury and brain injury rehabilitation (education, case and care management, vocational rehabilitation, etc.)
• Development or implementation of brain injury programming in hospital, residential, school, or community-based settings
• Applicants must be a member in good standing within any licensing boards or bodies that oversee his/her profession, if applicable.

Professional Skills

Applicants must demonstrate skills in the areas of

• Training and/or teaching and
• Community service and/or professional dissemination, both within the brain injury field, and must provide approved documentation (see below), including a CV or resume that reflects how the applicant meets each requirement.

 Teaching Skills Examples

• Taught courses, seminars, or workshops on brain injury in academically-accredited programs
• Presented at local, regional, national, and/or international conferences or workshops on brain injury
• Designed educational programs and/or materials related to brain injury for colleges or university-affiliated programs
• Mentored clinicians/students/interns in brain injury

Community Service and Professional Dissemination Examples

• Developed guidelines or protocols for brain injury programs
• Published articles, books, chapters, or newsletter articles on brain injury rehabilitation or related areas
• Facilitated community activities and/or community-based support groups for brain injury
• Held committee membership or positions in local, state, or national professional organizations focusing on brain injury
• Participated in research activities in brain injury that resulted in publications by others

Approved Documentation

This documentation will need to be submitted to the ACBIS office in physical form, separate from your electronic application.

• University or college transcript
• Syllabus indicating applicant is the instructor
• Front page of published article, newsletter, chapter, or book that demonstrates authorship
• Letter from supervisor or director stating applicant’s experience with in-service training and/or activity/support group facilitation, which must be written on company letterhead and must include the dates in which the training/events occurred

PCBIS (Provisional Certified Brain Injury Specialist)

• PCBIS candidates are required to be enrolled in a graduate degree program at an accredited university in one of the following areas:
• Allied Health
• Psychology
• Pre-Medical
• Special Education

Trainers:  

John Pimentel, CBIST

John is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist Trainer (CBIST) with over fifteen years of certified professional experience in community based/residential rehabilitation programs geared to provide rehabilitative services to people living with brain injury.  John has ample knowledge in operational management (clinical/administrative) as well as development and implementation of new services.

John received his Master’s in Healthcare Administration from Saint Mary’s University, Minneapolis, and his bachelors in Psychology from Texas State University. He served as ARCA’s Service Development Director from 2015 to 2017, and was the New Mexico Brain Injury Resource Center Director from 2016 to 2017.

Michael Langford, CBIS

Michael Langford is the adult brain injury division director at ARCA. During his 35 years working with adults and children with disabilities, he has developed and managed programs in residential, day treatment and vocational settings. He has also managed functional rehabilitation programs for adults and children who are served by multiple systems including treatment foster care. Mr. Langford specializes in behavioral programming that blends natural support and specialized support systems.