Getting Hit, Getting Up, Moving Beyond: My Journey Through Brain Injury

In her inspiring book, Joanne models my favorite communication strategy--reframing--and shows how it can produce concrete results in a life. She explains how she escaped the default choice of embracing victimhood by continually reframing the obstacles she encountered. She uses her own experiences with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), physical injury, and grief to show how she reframed even the most difficult of life's challenges, enabling her to become not a victim but the director of her own life. She is the perfect guide to anyone who seeks to join her in the ranks of the thrivers.
Sonja K. Foss, Ph.D.

Getting Hit, Getting Up, Moving Beyond by Joanne Cohen shows an intimate glimpse into the important discoveries of healing from multiple brain injuries. Reading Joanne's book is like having a personal coach by your side as she openly shares her fears, frustrations and eventual insights into the recovery process. Her book is intelligent and funny while demystifying the complex process of managing your symptoms, the people in your environment and your emotions from what is known as the invisible injury. Joanne is a courageous soul on a harrowing journey.
Mary Ann Keatley Ph.D., CCC

I met Joanne in 2007 at a Brain Injury Survivor's meeting, that she was facilitating. It was obvious then that she is passionate about helping people (like me) with brain injuries. As a brain injury survivor/thriver herself, she knows what she is talking about, as this book demonstrates. This well-written chronicle, a combination of both practical advice and spiritual musings, could serve as a "How to Thrive after Brain Injury" manual.
Doris Sanders, BA, MPA

Joanne has shared her story in Getting Hit, Getting Up, Moving Beyond: My Journey Through Brain Injury to encourage others to find their path. She is a model for how to overcome adversity and start a "new normal." She is never down. She is either up or getting up. I was Joanne's supervisor as she started a new career. Fortunately, she disclosed her disability and together we were able to create a position with the right amount of support and flexibility that benefitted the company and worked for Joanne. Joanne and I have continued to work together as partners at CTAT, LLC and co-leading the Brain Injury Hope Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to giving hope and helping individuals with mild to moderate traumatic brain injuries. Through these adventures, I have learned a lot from Joanne and I am happy she chose to share it with the world. Resources like Mary Lou Acimovic's "Limited Capacity Model" as explained in the book as well as other tools are extremely helpful to the person who has a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), family members and friends, partners/significant others, co-workers, professionals who serve the BI community and employers. If you need motivation, inspiration, and practical strategies and tips for life and life after brain injury, this book, part autobiography and part "how to," is a must read!
Gayann Brandenburg, M.S.