An ethics of relationships for brain injury (BI) rehabilitation is des
cribed based on three principles: (1) human relationships are importan
t; (2) human relationships are as important as individual survival; (3
) human relationships are important enough to extend throughout the fa
mily of humankind. Within the context of this ethics of relationships,
ethical conflict resolution (ECR) is offered as a process to address
disagreements among those involved in BI rehabilitation. ECR provides
a means to arrive at moral decisions in situations in which people dis
agree about the appropriate course of action because of differing valu
es. ECR recognizes that, although disagreements in BI rehabilitation s
ettings can be associated with multiple other factors, including distu
rbed self-awareness, emotions, communication, and interpersonal dynami
cs, such disagreements may also be value-based, either in whole or par
t. ECR invites the professional team to identify the value-based porti
on of these disagreements and provides a rational and supportive proce
ss to address disagreements. In this discussion of ECR, common and pot
entially universal areas of ethical concern in BI rehabilitation are i
dentified, as well as potential risks. Specific examples of the applic
ation of ECR in cases of vegetative state, coma stimulation, and cogni
tive rehabilitation are described.