Communication is so important to our world, but it can be drastically affected for brain injury survivors. Difficulties include word finding, forming ideas, expressing oneself, understanding nonverbal cues, and more… so let’s work to understand this deeper and talk about some tips that can help!

This week on Hope Survives® | Brain Injury Podcast, we are diving into the connection between communication and cognition, and how this can be affected after brain injury. Katherine Noyes is a Speech Language Pathologist who is here to guide us in learning tools for improvement for executive functioning and communication. We also discuss tips for family/caregivers to help the survivor get their goal of communication across, as well as the non-verbal side of social cues, difficulty understanding sarcasm, and more.

The “loss of identity” can be so hard to describe after a brain injury. On the one hand, you are still “you” - but you also don’t feel like yourself. There is also a grief that comes with losing the life you had before the injuries.

This week on Hope Survives® | Brain Injury Podcast, Cristabelle dives deep into this struggle that survivors face and provides hope in knowing you are more than your brain injury. Then, Cristabelle’s mother Cyndie Braden is here to talk about the caregiver side. Loss of identity does not just affect the survivor, but also the family, as everything changes for them too. We also discuss what is like to grieve the “old life.” You are not alone.

How do you handle emotions after brain injury? What are some ways to help? Let's talk about it!

This week on Hope Survives | Brain Injury Podcast, Cristabelle is joined by Rebecca Quinn & Carly Endres from the North Dakota Brain Injury Network for a conversation about emotional dysregulation as it relates to brain injury. We cover some common "tells" including outbursts and overstimulation, the cognitive behavioral spiral, the importance of mindfulness, and encouragement for both caregivers and survivors.

What does it mean to “not give up” on the journey with brain injury?

Let’s talk about it. Cristabelle shares encouragement for survivors and her mother Cyndie Braden offers support for caregivers and families.

We talk about different aspects of choosing to not give up, including family dynamics, the day-to-day things, and how to give yourself grace for the hard days.