Jill Brooks, PhD
Dr. Jill Brooks is a clinical neuropsychologist who maintains a private practice, Head to Head Consultants in Gladstone, New Jersey. Dr. Brooks received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in speech and language pathology from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in Madison, Wisconsin, respectively. She obtained her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Counseling Psychology at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
Dr. Brooks completed an internship in Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Florida-Shands Medical Center in Gainesville, Florida, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at the Center for Head Injuries at JFK Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey.
Dr. Brooks worked as the chief of Speech and Language Pathology at the University of Miami‑Jackson Memorial Medical Center in Miami, Florida for 13 years. She remains a certified speech and language pathologist to date. Dr. Brooks worked at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School for 14 years, first in the Division of Neurosurgery and then in the Department of Neurology for nine years as a clinical neuropsychologist and an Associate Professor of Neurology.
Dr. Brooks has authored numerous articles and book chapters in the areas of neurogenic speech and language disorders, executive dysfunction, and concussion in sports. She has a particular interest in prevention of concussion in sports and sex and gender issues and concussion. Dr. Brooks’ primary research and clinical practice relates to education and surveillance of concussion in sports at both the high school and college levels. Dr. Brooks received a grant from the State of New Jersey 15 years ago to place a pilot program for preseason concussion baseline testing in three high schools in New Jersey. Dr. Brooks was appointed by then Governor Christie Whitman to serve on the New Jersey Advisory Council on Traumatic Brain Injury. She is the professional member for the State Traumatic Brain Injury Fund and remains on both of these committees to date. Dr. Brooks was instrumental in developing a statewide grant program for high schools in New Jersey in cooperation with the Department of Health and Human Services, creating a concussion preseason baseline testing and surveillance program. Dr. Brooks is a member of the Medical Advisory Board for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) and helped create the guidelines for management of concussion in New Jersey high schools. She appeared before the New Jersey State House Education Subcommittee providing testimony regarding management of concussion in sports endorsing the passage of a state concussion law. Dr. Brooks was then instrumental in the creation of the New Jersey State Law for management of concussion in sports. With the passage of the state concussion law, Dr. Brooks was appointed to the State panel charged with creating a Model Policy for management of concussion (to be used by all public and private schools).
Dr. Brooks’ research in the area of concussion in female student-athletes has been featured in ESPN magazine, on ESPN “Outside the Lines” and Good Morning America as well as locally on multiple TV and radio shows. She has presented at many professional meetings and most recently presented “The Female Athlete and Concussion” at the University of Minnesota Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport. The collaboration with Drs. Mary Jo Kane and Nicole LaVoi at the Tucker Center was a direct result of networking at the ESPNW 2010 retreat. It culminated in the production of “Concussions and Female Athletes: The Untold Story” by Twin Cities Public Television, St. Paul, Minneapolis, MN, which appeared on The Big Ten Network in April, 2012. Dr. Brooks was named one of the “Top Women Who Will Change the Way Sports are Played” by ESPN Magazine in August of 2012. Dr. Brooks has served as a consultant in the area of concussion at the high school, college and professional sports levels.
Dr. Brooks’ private practice work focuses on evaluation and treatment of neurologic issues such as ADHD, learning disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), concussion and epilepsy. Mindfulness and yoga techniques along with cognitive-behavioral strategies serve to balance anxiety and depression. Dr. Brooks is certified in Chair Yoga, Reiki Level I and with Ashrams for Autism Level I. She has also completed her 200 hour yoga certification with Sumadhi Sun. Dr. Brooks has participated in the weeklong Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Professional Education and Training through the Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts-Amherst Medical School.