TBI Caregiver Espouses The Benefits Of Journaling To Alleviate ‘Compassion Fatigue’

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Posted on 17th April 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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 I’ve devoted most of my legal career to advocacy for those with traumatic brain injury, as well as being a source of  accurate information for those who have suffered such damage and their families. This blog is a key part of that teaching effort.

Now one of my readers, Barbars Stahura, tells me that she has been studying and will be offering a workshop for caregivers of National Guard members suffering from TBI.  That workshop is not open to the general public. 

In a letter to me, Barbara describes the workshop she will be teaching April 28 on the benefits of journaling.  

Hi, Mr. Johnson

 Thank you, both for making information on TBI available and for the work you do with people with brain injury. Your sites and videos are helpful and informative.

 My husband sustained a serious brain injury in 2003 as the result of a still unknown hit-and-run driver who turned left in front of him as he was on his motorcycle. Fortunately, Ken was wearing a good helmet, which saved his life and saved him from worse injury. His brain scans showed no injury, despite its severity (originally diagnosed as moderate to severe). 

 Since that time, he has recovered with only a few deficits, and I created a journaling workshop for people with brain injury. I’ve facilitated it twice annually since 2007 here in Tucson, at a HealthSouth hospital here. Out of that workshop came my book, “After Brain Injury: Telling Your Story,” co-authored with my husband’s speech therapist. It’s the first journaling book for people with brain injury, I’m proud to say. [ http://www.lapublishing.com/tbi-survivor-journal ]

 I’m a certified instructor of Journal to the Self and also lead journaling workshops for family caregivers, and will be presenting a workshop on compassion fatigue for National Guard care providers on April 28 in Atlanta, at the “Become A National Guard PRO” conference. It will include some basic journaling techniques, since journaling has been shown in numerous studies to produce benefits on the physical, emotional, and mental levels. 

 Again, thank you for all you do.

 Cheers,

Barbara Stahura

If you have loved ones in the National Guard with TBI and have questions about the workshop, please contact Barbara at  barbara@barbarastahura.com

Barbara also writes a blog at http://journalafterbraininjury.wordpress.com for survivors and family caregivers that you might want to take a look at.