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Rebuilding Identity through Narrative Following Traumatic Brain Injury
by S. Daniel Morris, University of Calgary
Following traumatic brain injury (TBI) traditional rehabilitation programs focus on regaining physical and cognitive abilities and adapting to functional loss. Although current best practices in TBI rehabilitation are conscientious in providing pragmatic services, rehabilitation programs need to expand program concerns. It has been my experience that people struggling to make sense out of trauma need to adopt new ways of seeing themselves and how they fit into the world. Programs need to include the rebuilding of a sustainable self that promotes the reacquisition of identity in conjunction with physical, cognitive and emotional adjustment objectives. A narrative approach to the redefinition of self following TBI offers a promising way of resolving issues of self-confidence and re-establishing meaning. As an adjunct to traditional community-based rehabilitation methods, narratives of courage and hope, narratives of outrage and determination can be employed to cope with narratives of disillusionment and despair. Growing from a need to resolve issues related to trauma crises, narrative psychology in particular lends itself to the exploration and resolution of existential anxiety following TBI.
E-Mail: sdmorris@primus.ca
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