News

Craig Phillips

The issue of recovery of self after brain injury is important to the person with a brain injury, their family and loved ones and rehabilitation professionals. Following a brain injury, many are confronted with a profound and complex loss of identity and social role. As we consider the realities of living with a brain injury, the issues of loss and recovery of self are understandable. As helpers how can we assist the person in recovering their identity and, some some cases, building a new sense of self? As human beings we are dependent on the values created by the social roles we occupy, our relationships at work, with family, friends and community and what we derive from intimate relationships. We depend on positive feedback from others in our ongoing self-validation. But after a brain injury, the reliability of our social network can be severely impacted and the responses of others, including our loved ones, can be altered.