82. BrainSparx Mentorship & Support Groups: An Interview with Kaylee Blair

Kaylee Blair is a dedicated Brain Injury Coach who brings personal experience, compassion, and expertise to her work supporting individuals recovering from brain injuries. Kaylee’s deep understanding of the physical, emotional, and cognitive challenges that accompany brain injuries allows her to offer practical tools, encouragement, and guidance to those struggling with lingering symptoms. Despite her own challenges, Kaylee has created a non-profit organization, BrainSparx, To connect people suffering from brain injuries with support through mentorship and support groups.  You can find Kaylee Blair at www.braininjurycoach.com You can find the BrainSparx organization at  https://www.brainsparx.org/ or on Instagram @Brainsparx_org And find info on the support groups on Instagram at:  tbisupport_ut and stgeorgetbi_brainsparx Kaylee would be happy to do speaking engagements. Contact her at [email protected] if you’re interested. If you would like to sign up for a free concussion coaching consultation with me to learn how you can understand and manage your symptoms, speed up your recovery, and get your life back following a concussion, go to my website: www.theconcussioncoach.com, or click on this link: https://theconcussioncoach.com/contact

Annie Howard is a concussion physical therapist located in Park City, UT and owner of Happy Brain Physical Therapy. She is certified in concussion, vestibular therapy, and trained in treating visual and oculomotor deficits. After working as a PT for over 10 years, she had her own concussion injury and after struggling to get better, sought out learning all things concussion. She understands the struggles that people face when their concussion symptoms don't resolve quickly and seeks to educate people about what a concussion is and how they can get better. In this conversation, Annie shares her own experience with concussion and how that informs her treatment for people suffering with post concussion syndrome. One treatment she found particularly helpful is the LiveO2 oxygen therapy system. I think many out there will find this fascinating. Enjoy this conversation! Annie mentioned the LiveO2 oxygen therapy. https://liveo2.com You can find Annie at www.happybrainpt.com or on Instagram @happybrainphysicaltherapy or email her at [email protected]. If you would like to sign up for a free concussion coaching consultation with me to learn how you can understand and manage your symptoms, speed up your recovery, and get your life back following a concussion, go to my website: www.theconcussioncoach.com, or click on this link: https://theconcussioncoach.com/contact

Allison Moir-Smith is a therapist, author, wife, mother, concussion survivor and now artist.  She is the facilitator of the monthly online Concussed Moms Support Group. Allison is a passionate supporter of people dealing with Post Concussion Syndrome, particularly of moms with PCS, because of her own experience, which she shares eloquently in this interview. After her concussion, she found art to be very therapeutic, and shares free pieces of art as "keep going cards" with people on a concussion recovery journey. Enjoy this conversation! You can find Allison on Instagram @concussion_recovery_art or at her website, www.concussionrecoveryart.com She also mentioned her book, "Emotionally Engaged," the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (988), and the Concussion Legacy Foundation: www.concussionfoundation.org and her Concussed Moms Support group: www.concussionfoundation.org/peer-support Concussed Moms Support Group Link  meets the first Monday of the month at 1 ET. PCS Caregiver Support Group Link CLF HelpLine for vetted local concussion care and 1:1 Peer Support If you would like to sign up for a free concussion coaching consultation with me to learn how you can understand and manage your symptoms, speed up your recovery, and get your life back following a concussion, go to my website: www.theconcussioncoach.com, or click on this link: https://theconcussioncoach.com/contact

Brenda Critchfield, MS, ATC, CSCS, LAT, is an Ortho-Bionomy practitioner who has helped many people, including people struggling with post concussion symptoms, using this gentle manual therapy. In today's episode, which is co-hosted by our favorite Kaylee Blair, Brenda shares about Ortho-Bionomy and how it has helped her clients dealing with the lingering symptoms of head injuries. Kaylee has been helped significantly by Brenda's expertise, and shares some of her experiences with this technique. Enjoy this conversation! Brenda can be reached at [email protected]. She also recommended this website if you want to find an Ortho-Bionomy practitioner in your area: www.ortho-bionomy.org If you would like to sign up for a free concussion coaching consultation with me to learn how you can understand and manage your symptoms, speed up your recovery, and get your life back following a concussion, go to my website: www.theconcussioncoach.com, or click on this link: https://theconcussioncoach.com/contact

Hi Friends! This is a totally random, not-related-to-concussions podcast episode all about my experience carrying a baby for my brother and sister-in-law. I go into a lot of detail about the experience and my emotional response afterwards. This is completely just an FYI for anyone who is interested in hearing my story. This took well over a year to live and months to write. I lay it all out there, and hope that sharing this experience will be helpful to someone out there. Cheers!

Melissa Biscardi, PhD (c) is a concussion clinician, educator and budding research trainee. She has been a registered nurse since 2006 and an osteopathic practitioner since 2013. In her clinic, appropriately called “Concussion Rehab”, she has maintained a brain-wise practice for over 10 years. In this episode, Melissa shares her must-have tools for concussion recovery. One of my favorite points she made is that your body wants to heal. Melissa is a wealth of knowledge and experience, and has great things she shares in this episode. You can find Melissa on Instagram @concussionrehab.ca and her website is www.concussionrehab.ca We referenced two previous podcast episodes in this conversation: Episode 75: Brainbot Rehab: AI-Enhanced OT for Concussions & Neuro Rehab with Shelley Vaisberg https://youtu.be/NAJegtx5XC8 Episode 70: Tips for Traveling with Post Concussion Symptoms with Ashley and Becky Barnett https://youtu.be/1oyalOlyHX8 If you would like to sign up for a free concussion coaching consultation with me to learn how you can understand and manage your symptoms, speed up your recovery, and get your life back following a concussion, go to my website: www.theconcussioncoach.com, or click on this link: https://theconcussioncoach.com/contact

Sharik Peck, PT, is the inventor of the Rezzimax Pain Tuner Pro, a vagus nerve stimulator that helps reduce pain and calm the nervous system. His daughter, Katyrra, is a registered nurse and joins in the conversation today about how and why the Rezzimax works to help a variety of concerns people deal with, specifically trigeminal neuralgia, TMJ, chronic headaches, vestibular migraines, seizures, and autism.  Here is the webpage with links to the protocols for different conditions and areas of the body: https://rezzimax.com/pages/rezzipes I have tried the Rezzimax myself and have used it on family and clients, and have seen good results from it. I do recommend this device to people suffering with post concussion symptoms because it can help calm and regulate the nervous system, and address common concerns that mTBI survivors deal with, including headaches, tremors, facial nerve pain, and anxiety.  They offer a 100-day money-back guarantee for listeners of this podcast, and if you use the discount code BethanyLewis, you can get $75 off.  Here's the website: https://rezzimax.com/?ref=BethanyLewis This study is currently in the review process by a well-known medical journal: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383661079_Resonance-Based_Vibratory_Massage_Treatment_of_Primary_Dysmenorrhea The headache study has been accepted for publication by Journal of Oral & Facial Pain and Headache (OFPH) (jofph.com) and should be published in the next month or so.  If you would like to sign up for a free concussion coaching consultation with me to learn how you can understand and manage your symptoms, speed up your recovery, and get your life back following a concussion, go to my website: www.theconcussioncoach.com, or click on this link: https://theconcussioncoach.com/contact

Shelley Vaisberg, OT Reg. (Ont.) was already helping people with post concussion symptoms as an Occupational Therapist when she ended up on her own concussion journey. She learned through personal experience how to enhance and improve the care she was giving to her clients, and this informed the creation of this passion project, Brainbot Rehab, which uses technology and artificial intelligence to up-level the therapy OTs provide. In this conversation, Shelley shares her own experience with concussion and the things she learned through the process, as well as details about Brainbot Rehab and how it helps people dealing with concussions receive higher quality care. Website for people to learn more: https://www.brainbot.co/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brainbot.app/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelley-vaisberg-548b4634/ Direct email: [email protected] to reel when she thought she got a concussion with her emoji log: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8ZoeREAuqN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==Melissa Biscardi's Clinic: https://concussionrehab.ca/ If you would like to sign up for a free concussion coaching consultation with me to learn how you can understand and manage your symptoms, speed up your recovery, and get your life back following a concussion, go to my website: www.theconcussioncoach.com, or click on this link: https://theconcussioncoach.com/contact

April Crystal is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist who has worked with people suffering from concussions at CognitiveFX since 2015. In this interview, April shares her own concussion experience, as well as practical, real-world advice to help those who struggle remembering words or finding lost objects or recalling their grocery list. Her tips and tricks for improved cognition will be helpful for everyone with a brain, and I love how she encourages people to use life as their cognitive therapy. Life does indeed give plenty of opportunities for us to challenge our cognitive skills. April's expertise in helping those suffering from persistent concussion symptoms makes her advice particularly applicable to this population. I hope you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I enjoyed having it!  April works at CognitiveFX in Provo, UT. www.cognitivefxusa.com If you would like to sign up for a free concussion coaching consultation with me to learn how you can understand & manage your symptoms, speed up your recovery, and get your life back following a concussion, go to my website, www.theconcussioncoach.com, or click on this link: https://theconcussioncoach.com/contact

Dr. Bryce Crowley is a multiple concussion survivor who has been married for 29 years and is the father to 2 amazing daughters. He likes fast skis, fast bicycles and really fast cars. He has been a chiropractor since 2001 and loves working with those battling to recover their head and spine and brain after accidents and injuries. He started with training in Upper Cervical Chiropractic care, and has adapted and updated from there. His practice now includes Functional Neurology, non-thermal lasers, and the use of the Rezzimax Pain Tuner. He is known for providing answers for those who feel medicine and Chiropractic have failed them and for results in difficult or chronic cases and thorough explanations.  You can find him at UtahChiro.com or DCspinalcare.com or ⁠weak-ankles.com⁠ He is on Instagram @dc_spinalcare and is DC Spinal Care - Dr Bryce Crowley on Facebook  In this interview, Dr. Crowley mentions the Rezzimax Pain Tuner (www.rezzimax.com Use discount code BethanyLewis for $75 off) and erchonia lasers (www.erchonia.com) If you would like to sign up for a free concussion coaching consultation with me to learn how you can understand & manage your symptoms, speed up your recovery, and get your life back following a concussion, go to my website, www.theconcussioncoach.com, or click on this link: https://theconcussioncoach.com/contact