Authors

Debbie Leonhardt, M.A.

Debbie Leonhardt is a survivor, a professional counselor, author, eloquent speaker, friend, and a most gracious lady. She founded Alexander Counseling and Consulting Services in Taylorsville, NC and specializes in mental health and addictions counseling. Her counseling and support of persons with brain injuries, as well as their family members, draws on her personal experience and professional expertise. She is a popular workshop leader at brain injury conferences and retreats and former Chair of the Board of Directors for the Brain Injury Association of North Carolina.

Her story is one that will touch hearts and inspire all who have experienced a traumatic brain injury. This is her true story, in her own words.

I was desperate. I had sustained a brain injury in an automobile accident and was struggling to deal with everyday living activities. After almost burning down my home twice by leaving cooking units on unattended, I finally realized I had a problem and that it wouldn’t go away.

Everything in my life that used to be so easy was now almost impossible to do without putting myself, others or property at risk. I was frustrated at losing my keys repeatedly, leaving frozen groceries in the car to melt, getting lost going to familiar places and incorrectly dialing the phone numbers of my family and friends. I couldn’t trust myself with anything, and lived each day in fear. I was fortunate in that someone who knew me realized what was happening and referred me to a specialist who knew how to help.

I entered an outpatient treatment program and began working harder than I had ever worked in my life! When my speech therapist, Mia, first suggested using a memory book, I resisted the idea. I had never needed one before and didn’t want to need one now! But I was desperate to regain some independence and make sense of the chaos my life had become.

At the beginning, my word-finding and writing skills were so damaged I was only able to keep a simple daily schedule and journal, mostly in list form. But gradually, with help, I began to understand how to use lists to help me with the skills I needed to not only survive each day, but to thrive. Even now, on a daily basis I continue to use the techniques, strategies and coping skills that were devised or taught during my therapy.

At the time of my accident I was working full-time in a public school as a counselor, and part-time as a music and youth minister in a church setting. Because of my functional deficits and extreme fatigue, I was initially unable to return to work. My first attempts at doing so were disastrous and left me feeling useless. My self-concept and identity eroded because I had always defined myself by the work I performed or what I accomplished. But gradually, over a period of several years while continuing my rehabilitation, I returned to work full-time.

It has been over twenty years now since my accident, years of growing, learning, sharing, doing and sometimes even failing. I retired early from the school system and now own and operate my own business. Some deficits remain, but I wouldn’t change my life or anything that has happened, including my brain injury. It is a part of who I am, and I am at peace with that. As you travel your unique journey, my wish is that you also find peace.