Our thanks to Professor Gerry Riley, who came to HNS yesterday to talk about the therapy available to couples when a brain injury can couples to have a disconnection with their past. This could be in terms of:
- How they think and feel about things – what they think about themselves, each other, and their relationship: “I need to put the old-me in the past”, “She’s not the woman I married”; “I feel like his mother, not his partner”.
- What skills and knowledge they use to deal with challenges in life.
- How they live their life on a day-to-day basis: They stop doing many of the things that gave meaning and purpose to their life, and they stop doing the things that bonded them together as a couple.
The therapy is a way to reconnect people with their past and bring their life back towards what it was.
Who is the therapy suitable for:
- One or both partners report some dissatisfaction with their current relationship.
- Couples must be living together at the time of participation.
- Couples must have lived together for at least 2 years before the injury.
- The injury must have occurred at least 1 year previously.
- The injury must have occurred no more than 10 years previously.
- Both participants are over the age of 21. There is no upper age limit.
If you have any questions about the research, please contact Barbara Hagger on 07880 673385 or barbara.hagger@nhs.net; or Gerry Riley at g.a.riley@bham.ac.uk, or talk to Colin at HNS.
This is a great opportunity for us, an ABI can cause great stress in all aspects of life, including our relationships with others. This support could be really valuable for those in need.