Personal Statement on Brain Injury

For six weeks after the accident, back in 2005, I lay stiff in a sterile hospital bed. Nurses would melt ice cubes down my throat trying to get me to swallow. I had lost all of the muscle in my legs, but over several months in a rehab hospital progressed from wheelchair to walking. Now, thirteen years later, I have completed a Master program and practice as a psychotherapist in Durham, NC. I am married and I care for our 2 dogs and cat. I spent time in a Traditional Chinese Medicine program in China back in 2008, which influenced me to want to work with whole families, whatever that family structure may look like. I don’t think many families understand how much coming together, as a unit, encourages the person in the difficult situation, and how that support often leads to a positive outcome. I realize that not all families can unite, but I want to bring families together when support is needed. I want to support people emotionally by teaching them coping strategies. One useful tool I have discovered is the power of living in the present. I have also learned not to dwell on the negative, but to focus on progress, no matter how small. Determination proved essential in my recovery and I’d like to teach people how to find theirs. I can now view my accident less as a personal setback, and more like a redirection- an opportunity for growth and service to others. I am intrigued with the idea of evolution and change. Our ability, as human beings, to adapt when necessary and apply these changes to the circumstances of our lives is transcendent. Through the recoveries of fellow patients and my own I have witnessed the power of latent character traits and abilities. I have seen people’s capacity to step outside themselves, float up to the ceiling, look down, realize that they can change, and change.