Power Point Program used by val lougheed when speaking to students at Grant MacEwan College about her book, Be Still.

1. Val Lougheed
Northern Lights Canada
Trauma, Rehabilitation
and Recovery –
New Psychologies of
Disability
~ Keep Your Fork ~
1-800-361-4642 * www.northernlightscanada.ca * vlougheed@northernlightscanada.ca

2. “You don’t want your
impairments to define
you – you want them
to inform you.”
(Hanita Dagan, personal communication, 2005)

3. www.slideshare.com/vlougheed
#NLCAN
www.northernlightscanada.ca/about/about-val-
lougheed/be-still

4. Agenda
• Beginning …
• Middle …
• End …

5. New Psychologies of
Disability
1. What does it mean to recover?
2. What can I do to recover and
return to a life that includes
work?
3. What can we do to facilitate
recovery and a return to work?

6. Rated PG-113
People Strongly Cautioned!
May contain bad language, brief nudity,
sexual overtones, and drug usage.

7. Beginning
My Story

11. Sept. 9, 2003 - morning

12. Sept. 9 – p.m.

13. Sept. 15 2003 – Jan. 19 2004
Journey Back to Life

18. Research

20. Dominant Themes
• Narcotic Pain Killers
• ABI
• Pain
• Trauma
• Depression
• Methods of Helping
• Return to Work
• Life

21. Foundation for
Understanding
Experience

22. Body-Mind Connection
Psychoimmunoendocrine
Network
 The nervous, endocrine, and immune
systems are functionally integrated –
the brain is only one part of this non-
hierarchical network
 Memories, emotions, behaviours and
physiology are all connected at the
molecular level
(Candace Pert, 1997, p. 171 – 179)

23. February 2004 – Present
Starting Point

24. Identity Disintegration
and
The Re-organization of Self
March 2004

25. “In the aftermath of traumatic
life events … [the] sense of self
has been shattered.”
(Herman, 1992, p. 61)
“An existential crisis …”
(Hanita Dagan, personal communication, 2005)

26. Sliding Down the Slope
Early 1900’s Oxycodone™ developed in Germany
1995 Purdue Pharmacy (USA) launches
OxyContin™ – controlled-release
formula
1996 Approved in Canada
2002 OxyContin™ earns Purdue more than
$1 billion U.S.
2003 OxyContin™ is one of Canada’s 3
most-prescribed narcotic painkillers
Nov. 2003 –
Oct. 2004
783,762 prescriptions for OxyContin™
dispensed in Canada
(Dalhousie, March 2005)

27. Sliding Down the Slope

29. A Foothold
• Mild – moderate ABI
• Depressed (dysphoria)
• Working memory problems
• Hiding pain
1st
Neuropsychological Assessment
June 2004 -- Results

30. ABI – Measuring Loss
“Pre-morbid intelligence is a crucial variable …”
Subjective Report – difficulty retrieving words and communicating ideas
Objective Report – above-average performance on neuropsychological measures
(Prigatano, 1999, p. 59)

31. Losing My Grip
My IWRP
August 2004

33. Rescued in the Valley of
Despair
Head Injury Program
Oct. – Dec. 2004

35. HIP
Oct to Nov – Full-time
December – Part-time

36. GO TO WORK

37. GRTW – The Plan
Jan. 3 – Feb. 7, 2005
(5 weeks)

38. GRTW – The Reality

39. GRTW – The Reality

40. GRTW – The Reality

41. GRTW – The Reality

42. GRTW – The Reality

43. GRTW – The Reality

44. GRTW – The Reality

45. GRTW – The Reality

46. GRTW – The Reality

47. Rescue Attempts
• Case Manager
• Job Coach
• Colleagues/Friends/
Psychologist

48. Sliding Back Down
Into The Abyss
• Non-compliance
• Malingering
• Trying too hard
• Not trying hard enough
2nd
Neuropsychological Assessment
May 2005 -- Edmonton

49. Test Results
• Mild to Moderate ABI
• Pain?
• Depression?
• Motivation?
• “a high flyer”
• “phobic avoidance”
• Future plans – “live off dividends”
[from company]

50. Lesson
ASSUMPTION
S
REVEAL BIAS

51. • Mild – moderate ABI
• Good prognosis
• Post-Traumatic amnesia
• Pain?
• Depression?
• “Adjustment Disorder with
Anxiety and Depressed Mood”
3rd Neuropsychological
Assessment
August 2005 -- Calgary

52. Symptom Overlap
(co-morbidity)
(Michael Sullivan, Centre for Research on Pain and
Disability, McGill University, September, 2006)
Pain, Trauma, Depression,
ABI

54. Oct. 3 – Dec. 11

56. Pain Research
1600’s – Rene Descartes (philosopher)

57. Pain Research
1950’s – Wilder Penfield (brain surgeon)

59. Pain Research
Patrick Wall (physiologist)
Ronald Melzack (psychologist)

60. Pain Research
Gate Control Theory
• Acute and chronic pain
• Pain sensation travels up the central nervous system to the
brain through a “gate”
• “Gate” – triggered by cell changes – sends descending
messages that alter sensory input
• Pain isn’t pain until it reaches the brain
• Emotions, context, etc. affect pain sensations
• Pain is a negotiable, individual experience
• Pain centres in the brain – they just keep moving around
(Jackson, 2002, p. 21)

61. Pain – The Future
SCN9A
(Globe and Mail, March 24, 2007)
Glia Cells
(Scientific American, November, 2009)
Poppy Genes
(U of Calgary -- Calgary Sun, March 15, 2010)

66. Limbic System
The centre for emotional expression
(Prigatano, 1999, p. 132)
• Amygdala - attaches emotional tags to memories
(Dr. Suffield, personal communication, 2004)
• Hippocampus - controls the laying down of new
memories
(Ramachandran & Blakeslee, 1998, p. 15)
• Hypothalamus – controls the outward expression of
emotions
(Ramachandran & Blakeslee, 1998, p. 177)
Trauma Research

67. “In every encounter, basic trust is in
question.” ( Herman, 1992, p. 92)
“Survivors feel unsafe in their bodies
– and in any relationship with other
people.” (Herman, 1992, p. 160)
Rehab & Recovery

68. Trauma
Personal Experience
• Dissociation & Cocoon = Safety
• System on High Alert Always =
Survival
• World is black & white = Trust
Trust (Safety) = Love
No Trust (Life Threatening) = Hate

69. Trauma
Personal Experience
• Listen to me
• Understand me
• Respect me
• Are competent
I trust (love, feel safe with, will
try hard for) practitioners who:

72. “… depression [caused by
trauma] is not the same as
ordinary depression.”
( Herman, 1992, p. 118)
Depression

73. “Emotions are not in the
head – they are in every
cell in the body.”
(Pert (1995), in Bolen, 1996, p. 7)
Pscyhoimmunoendocrine
Network

76. Affects more than IQ ….
• We are sensitive to changes in higher
cerebral functioning
• Very important to a person’s sense of
self
• Touches core … of a person’s self-
esteem
(Prigatano, 1999, p. 58)
ABI

77. Back to Wilder Penfield – 1950’s
ABI
Localizationist

78. Paul Bach-y-Rita – 1934 – 2006
Scientist and Rehab Doctor
Neuroplasticity - 1969

79. Michael Merzenich
Neuroplastician
Neuroplasticity

80. Harnessing the
Power

83. “The words and attitudes of
others … are potent. They help
or hex healing and recovery.”
“ Expectations are powerful.”
“Neutrality can be deadly.”
(Bolen, 1996, p. 94)
Body-Mind Connection

84. • Hypothalamus
• Peptides
• Receptors
• Biochemical
Events

86. Quantum Connection
The Living Matrix -- 1995
• A type of energy exists that has previously gone
unnoticed.
• Cells/DNA influence matter through this form of
energy.
• DNA Phantom effect. Braden, 2007,
p. 45

87. “Loss of identity can evoke a
personal crisis, creating a need
for change.”
(Ornelas, in Smith & Johnson (Eds), 1997, p. 172)
The Re-Organization of
Self
Identity Research

88. Scaling the Canyon

89. Sept., 2005
Waskesiu

94. Breast Cancer
Reconstructive Surgery
March 2006

95. Convocation M.Ed. -- June
2006

96. Back in “a” Saddle
September 2007
• Officially change role/
title
• Re-organize NL
• Work part-time

98. New Psychologies of Disability
Resilience
 Ability to return to original form after
being bent (bounce back)
Thriving in constant change, ability to be:
• Flexible
• Creative
• Adaptable
• Learn from experience
http://www.resiliencycenter.com/articles/5levels.shtml

99. New Psychologies of
Disability
Rehabilitation (habiter – to live
inside)
“Rehabilitation is the learning to live
inside not only one’s body, however
it is after an injury or illness, but
inside one’s very being.”
(Kabat-Zinn, in Meili, 2003, p. 241)

100. New Psychologies of
Disability
Recovery
Curing Focus on the illness/
impairment [outside]
Healing Focus on the person
[inside]
Crombez, October, 2003

101. Be Still

102. Vocational Rehabilitation
and Disability
1. What does it mean to recover?
2. What can I do to recover and
return to a life that includes
work?
3. What can we do to facilitate
recovery and a return to work?

103. Keep Your Fork

104. Northern Lights Canada is a person-centred
organization committed to providing innovative,
responsive links to real work.
We offer 4 major divisions of service:
• Vocational Rehabilitation Services
• Employment Services
• Employer Services
• Corporate Training
For more information, please contact us:
1-800-361-4642
www.northernlightscanada.ca

105. Voc Rehab Canada (VRCAN) is a national consortium of experienced
regional vocational rehabilitation companies. VRCAN provides
customers with single-point access to VR services anywhere they are
needed in Canada, whether on an individual service or contract basis.
Member companies include:
Argus Management Consultants, Inc. Sandra Preeper & Associates
Advantage Rehabilitation Consultants
Ltd.
Rehabilitation Alternatives Limited /
Vocational Alternatives Software
OPTIMA Rehabilitation CVE Inc.
Northern Lights Canada Occupational Rehabilitation Group of
Canada (ORGOC)
Western Rehabilitation Specialists Inc. Diversified Rehabilitation Group
Genesis Rehabilitation Ltd. Rehabilitation Focus
For more information, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-361-4642