Brain Injury 101: How education leads to empowerment

What does empowerment mean to you? What does it look like? According to the Oxford dictionary, “empowerment is the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights.” This is such a significant process in recovery and allows a person to fully embrace who they are. At BIFSTL, it is not only important to us to help our clients achieve their goals, but also to empower our clients to learn about and to become more than their brain injury.

One of our resources here at the BIFSTL is to provide each of our clients with Brain Injury 101, where we teach “what they didn’t tell you when you left the hospital.” The goals of these sessions are for people to grasp an understanding of the various types of brain injuries, common physical, cognitive, and emotional consequences of Brain Injury, and common psychological consequences of Brain Injury on the survivor and family. Now, don’t worry. This information is not just for our clients, and we gladly hand out information to family members or friends as well. “Brain Injury forever changes the individual who experienced it… And everyone around them.” Education is an important part of the recovery process, and the more people who are aware of brain injury and how it works, the better the chance of a great recovery.

Which leads us to the question of: Why is education critical to empowerment? One person mentioned that “the knowledge and understanding of my brain injury has empowered me. Understanding my brain injury allows me to develop strategies to prepare myself for life, not just a job.” Brain injury is complex, and each brain injury is different. This is why, at BIFSTL, we treat each brain injury individually. Educating our clients and their support systems about brain injury is just one of the many ways we help empower our clients and allow them to take steps to control their lives. So, tell us, what does empowerment look like to you?