Psychosocial Adaptation to Chronic Illness and Disability

Abstract The search for understanding of the dynamic processes inherent in psychosocial adaptation (PA) to chronic illness and disability (CID) has been a defining focus of rehabilitation psychology since the field’s origin. Theoretical, clinical, and empirical findings have generated an active discourse, new and revised models and theories, and an ever-growing catalog of clinical responses. Yet as the experience of living with a CID, the perspectives and frameworks of understanding the individual’s response to CID, and the definition and meaning of CID from the perspective of individuals living with CID and the broader society continue to evolve and shift, so too does understanding of psychosocial adaptation.…