Free traumatic brain injury seminar offered

by Len Pine, Boundary County Chaplain Corps
| March 30, 2023 1:00 AM

Veterans and first responders often pay a heavy price for their service to their country and communities. The physical and emotional toll can range from the frustrating to the catastrophic. And sometimes, the answer to the question of “why?” can be elusive.

But it does not have to be that way. For many, part of the cause of their symptoms may very well be traumatic brain injury, a condition that is still misunderstood or unknown by the average person.

Boundary County Chaplain Corps, in cooperation with the world-renowned Marcus Institute for Brain Health in Aurora, Colo., wants to help change that situation.

On Friday evening, April 7, from 6-8 p.m. at Mountain Springs Church, the Chaplain Corps is hosting a free public seminar where participants will learn basic information about TBI, and why veterans and first responders can be unique and might require specialized care. The combination of TBI, traumatic experiences, PTSD, sleep disturbance, and other behavioral health disorders can create disruption of a number of systems (overall brain and nervous system, emotional regulation system).

These impairments are often compounded by chronic pain, physical dysfunction, psychosocial stressors, and many years of dysfunctional behavior, such as substance use, aggression and isolation. Many vets and first responders may not be aware that they have had a TBI; this seminar will illustrate that treatment is available and recovery is possible.

BCCC is pleased to welcome, as the evening’s presenter, Dr. Catie Johnston-Brooks, Ph.D., a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and also in the Department of Neurology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She has been a clinical neuropsychologist and research coordinator at the Marcus Institute for Brain Health since 2017. She worked for 18 years at the Denver VA Medical Center as the lead neuropsychologist and psychology internship training director.

Johnston-Brooks is a former president of the Colorado Neuropsychological Society (2010-2011), member and chair of the Colorado Traumatic Brain Injury Trust Fund Board of Directors (2013-2019, chair 2016-2019), and chair of TBI Trust Fund’s Research and Program Evaluation committee (2014-2019). Since 2017 she has been the co-chair of the Focus On Behavioral Health Issues task force within the Military/Veteran Affairs Networking Group in the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.

The Marcus Institute provides specialty, interdisciplinary care without charge for qualified military Veterans and First Responders struggling with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and psychological health (PH) conditions such as post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety. Preliminary analyses from MIBH participants have demonstrated that our program successfully reduces participant’s symptoms and changes their lives in positive ways. As part of this seminar, Dr. Johnston-Brooks and some “graduates” of the MIBH program will be available for a question and answer period. As long as you have questions, they will remain to answer them. The informative seminar is free. Please register today.

Mountain Springs Church is located at 6789 Main St., Bonners Ferry.