{"id":8550,"date":"2021-03-02T19:13:19","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T03:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brainstreams.ca\/?p=8550"},"modified":"2025-07-03T22:41:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T05:41:39","slug":"how-counselling-holds-families-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/messageinabottle.ca\/bcbia\/how-counselling-holds-families-together\/","title":{"rendered":"How Counselling Holds Families Together"},"content":{"rendered":"

Between the Lines: Stories of Brain Injury Survivors \u2013 (Part 4 of 6)<\/h2>\n

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This is the fourth post in <\/span><\/i>Between the Lines: Stories of Brain Injury Survivors<\/span>. If you missed the beginning of Tony\u2019s Journey, click here<\/a> to read it<\/strong>.<\/span><\/i>
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Ask Tony (or any stroke survivor) and he\u2019ll tell you that the toughest part of having a stroke isn\u2019t surviving–it\u2019s recovering.<\/span>
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After an intensive week in the hospital, Tony returned home to continue his recovery. It was frustrating, grappling with his new reality; he was limited physically, so he couldn\u2019t do many of the things he used to do. He couldn\u2019t return to his old job, he couldn\u2019t have fun mountain biking, and he couldn\u2019t help his family like he used to–he actually had to lean on them. His life had completely changed. Particularly during the early days, Tony had to focus on getting through simple everyday tasks and maintaining a healthy blood pressure.<\/span>
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But there were other changes to Tony\u2019s life that he didn\u2019t immediately notice. Tony had difficulty with loud noises and became easily frustrated and even angry when affected by them. This wasn\u2019t Tony\u2019s fault–his mood swings and changes to personality were caused by changes to his brain, as a result of the stroke. But this also understandably affected life with his wife and two daughters, who wanted to support Tony but weren\u2019t sure how to navigate all these new changes.<\/span>
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Family life became strained. Both mood shifts and personality changes are common to experience if you\u2019re a brain injury survivor, but they can be harder for loved ones to understand. So what was the Mok family to do?<\/span>
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\u201cCounselling was critical to<\/span> that stage of <\/span>my recovery and helped hold our family together,\u201d Tony explained. Through counselling, Tony and his family learned to work together, come to a better understanding of their life post-stroke, and learn how they could best live with and love each other. It wasn\u2019t easy, but it was essential.<\/span>
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\"family<\/a>In addition to counselling, Tony shared that <\/span>leaning into the support of friends and family<\/span><\/a> is important. Sometimes accepting help can be hard, but knowing that people care about you and want to help can really make a difference.<\/span>
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Leaning into <\/span>brain injury support groups<\/span><\/a> also helped. Tony connected with peers who understood the struggle of recovery, and even made friends along the way.<\/span>
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By sharing his story, Tony hopes other stroke survivors might be able to relate to his experience and consider counselling as well, should they need it. \u201cI want other stroke survivors to feel like they\u2019re not alone in their struggles. Counselling is a healthy part of recovery.\u201d He also wants his fellow stroke survivors to know that in BC, there are a number of resources they can access for mental health help<\/span>(possible link to mental health resources on brainstreams.ca<\/b>).\u00a0<\/span>
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How to find a counsellor<\/h2>\n

In fact, there are counselling services available to you and some offer reduced costs for brain injury survivors.<\/span><\/p>\n