By Natalie De La Garza
Staff Writer
CARIBOU, Maine — Commemorating Brain Injury Awareness Month, staff and clients of the Center for Integrated Neuro Rehab (CINR) in Caribou invited the public to attend a family focus group on March 12 where clients were given an opportunity to share their stories.
“A couple of clients were hesitant to speak in front of a group, but for the couple who did speak, it was very touching,” said Certified Brain Injury Specialist Maureen Murchison. Over the past five years Murchison has been at the center, she’s seen a lot of success stories.
“When you see these successes, it makes your heart swell,” she said with a sincere smile.
A couple of guests who attended the quarterly family focus group event included former clients — one of them even got up to speak and shared how he felt he’d grown considerably in his tolerance for others and his ability to be patient, and also, his motivation had improved.
Whether it’s a slip-and-fall in the kitchen or a driving accident, Murchison explained that a traumatic brain injury is a blow, jolt, or bump to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain.
“The neural pathways are damaged,” she explained. “It could be a stroke, it could be you hit a moose, it could be an ATV accident, and the location of the injury also determines the impact.”
“If you’ve had a stroke in the temporal region, maybe your speech is impaired; if it’s in the back of your head at the brain stem or the cerebellum, maybe your balance is off,” she added.
But while a traumatic brain injury affects the individual in different ways based on its location, there is one key element provided at CINR that translates to every client.
“They’re not their head injury,” Murchison emphasized. “Maybe they can’t do the same job they used to do, but they’re still a person and there are still things they can do.”
The CINR in Caribou is a day facility with nine clients who are all finding assistance getting back into the world after a brain injury. Murchison explained that for clients who’ve impacted the front of their head, a lack of motivation can be a big problem as well as problem solving.
“We talk about self confidence, self esteem, motivation, emotions — often times there is an anger management problem after the injury and we talk about that, how can we control our emotions, why should we even control our emotions,” she described.
“Let’s say you’ve recovered from your stroke and you can talk again, and toilet yourself and feed yourself, but you’re depressed — and you’re just sitting there,” Murchison explained, adding that the center had one client who painted his windows black and would sit in his room day after day, week after week. “They need a sense of purpose, and so many of them have said that’s what CINR provides.”
The facility is tucked in a residential neighborhood with a small sign, so while important progress is being made every day at the center, many in the area are still learning that it exists and have no idea that it’s changing lives.
“We provide hope, and we provide an opportunity for clients to find their own sense of purpose,” Murchison said.
The center, a service of the Aroostook Mental Health Center, is located at 7 Russ Street in Caribou. Additional information can be obtained by visiting www.amhc.org, and the center is accepting new clients.
