ABSTRACT
The author continues writing exercises with Rick and doing other cognitive work for comprehending, verbalizing and attending to material in the context of her professional endeavors. This includes: listening to and taking notes as though at a conference, performing research, and understanding research methods and material. In this fifth year post-TBI, she is progressing to taking a few social actions. This is a step forward for post-traumatic growth. Transcending her story by taking action socially continues the growth process. As her writing and brain capacity increase, she also learns to think more critically. Rick observes tremendous growth and believes she can now take on the rigors of academia. Her doctoral committee agrees. She is reinstated with supports to write her dissertation after her leave of absence (!) of almost six years. She begins to connect socially through a survivor support group and a writing group with other doctoral students. She participates on a speakers panel of TBI survivors with tremendous benefit. She experiences relief from the isolation, loneliness and shame.
