Living with a Disability
Disabilities can be related to the brain, thinking, development, medical conditions, physical health, or mental health/addiction.
Some disabilities are present at birth. Others happen at some point in life. Some disabilities stay the same and some get worse over time or only appear sometimes. Sometimes a traumatic event like an accident, injury, or illness causes a disability.
When a disability starts, people often feel angry, sad, anxious, shocked, depressed, or other emotions that may change quickly over time. Thoughts like “How will my life be different?” and “How can I reach my goals with this disability?” are common. Disabilities can affect living independently, housing, school/work, relationships, self-care, getting around, and hobbies – both when they begin and throughout life as symptoms worsen or flare up.
Here at Heal And Grow Counselling, some of our counsellors have special training to help people adjust to living with disabilities. This can include processing emotions and thoughts about the disability, finding new ways to reach goals, and linking to accommodations and other services. We aim to reframe disability from the negative “dis”-ability to the more positive “differently”-abled.
Sometimes disabilities make people feel hopeless. We help you find hope by learning about your disability, connecting resources, processing emotions, reframing thoughts, discovering new paths to goals, and building resilience.