Note: The Toolkit has a comprehensive list of Resources Created over nearly 19 years.
This Toolbox highlights key practical tools you can begin using right away.
The Backbone of Trauma-informed AI is Trauma-informed Care AI and Holistic Recovery
The Backbone of Trauma-informed Care AI is Trauma-informed Care AI and Holistic Recovery
The Second Chance Recovery Toolbox: Practical Tools for Daily Life After Brain Injury
The Second Chance Recovery Toolbox offers hands-on strategies and practical tools to support your daily life with a brain injury or invisible disability.
Inside, you’ll find real-world tools to help you build structure, create routines, reduce overwhelm, and work through the emotional and cognitive challenges of everyday life.
Craig’s Journey: Living with a Traumatic Brain Injury
In 1967, at the age of 10, I sustained a life-altering traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a car accident. My injuries included an open skull fracture, right frontal lobe damage, a severe brain bruise with brain stem involvement, and a fractured left femur.
Over the past 58 years, I’ve walked a journey of ongoing recovery. Eighteen years ago, I created Second Chance to Live to share what has helped—and continues to help me—navigate life with a right frontal lobe brain injury.
A Holistic Brain Injury Recovery Approach
As a rehabilitation counselor, nationally known speaker, author, and advocate, I encourage a holistic recovery approach—one that embraces the body, soul, spirit, mind, and emotions.
Healing from brain injury and invisible disabilities requires more than symptom management; it calls for persistence, support, and hope.
What This Brain Injury Recovery Toolbox Offers
The Second Chance Recovery Toolbox gathers empowering, real-world tools I’ve developed over the past 18+ years. These resources are designed to support survivors, families, professionals, and support group leaders with practical strategies and tools for ongoing recovery.
Inside the Toolbox, you’ll find:
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Articles on brain injury recovery, personal growth, and daily life
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eBooks for survivors, caregivers, and professionals
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Zoom presentations and educational videos
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Printable posters and inspirational graphics
These tools are here to remind you: recovery is not about perfection. It’s about persistence, self-compassion, and discovering that “I CAN” is still possible—even after brain injury or trauma.
Use the sections below to explore the tools that speak most to your journey—whether you’re a survivor, caregiver, therapist, or group facilitator.
How to Use This Toolbox
You don’t need to use everything. Start where you are. Return as often as you need. Explore resources by audience or by recovery theme — whatever best fits your needs today.
🛍️ Part 1: Find Resources by Audience
🟩 For Survivors
Resources for building hope, navigating identity loss, and engaging in ongoing recovery after brain injury.
- ✅ Some Things to Consider So We Don’t Stay Stuck
- ✅ Brain Injury and the Power of “I CAN”
- ✅ Beyond Symptom Management
- ✅ You Are Not Your Deficits
🟦 For Caregivers and Families
Tools to help you understand, support, and walk alongside loved ones in recovery.
- ✅ Understanding Brain Injury: 10 Key Insights for Families
- ✅ Why “Just Get Over It” Doesn’t Work
- ✅ Trauma-Informed Support at Home
🟨 For Professionals (Rehab Counselors, Therapists, Educators)
Peer-led insights into emotional and behavioral dynamics of recovery, helpful for trainings or clinical integration.
- ✅ Trauma-Informed Care for Brain Injury: A Presentation
- ✅ Reflections from a Rehabilitation Counselor Who’s Been There
- ✅ Why Symptoms Don’t Tell the Whole Story
🟧 For Support Group Leaders
Handouts, presentations, and discussion tools to use with your group.
- ✅ Nine Pillars of “I CAN” – Slide Deck
- ✅ Printable One-Page Recovery Poster
- ✅ Support Group Invitation Post
🌱 Part 2: Explore by Recovery Theme (Optional Filters)
💡 Hope and Encouragement
- “Famous Failures Who Kept Going”
- “Why We Must Keep Showing Up”
- “You’re Not Alone: Join Our Support Group”
🧠 Identity, Purpose, and Resilience
♻️ Neuroplasticity and Retraining the Brain
- “Mirrored Movement and Rewiring My Brain”
- “Using Martial Arts to Heal After TBI”
- “Neuroplasticity and the Power of Repetition”
🩋 Trauma-Informed Care and Emotional Healing
- “Healing What Others Can’t See”
- “Why Trauma-Informed Care Matters”
- “Emotional Triggers After Brain Injury”
🗓 Daily Strategies and Practical Tools
- “Creating Structure That Supports Recovery”
- “Handling Fatigue and Low Energy”
- “My Daily Use of Cognitive Strategies”
🔄 This Toolbox Will Keep Growing
Bookmark this page or sign up for updates to receive new tools, insights, and encouragement from Craig as they are added.
📚 Looking for more?
Visit the full Recovery Resources Archive to explore all of Craig’s articles, videos, eBooks, and visual presentations from Second Chance to Live.
You’re Not Alone in This Journey
Whether you’re starting fresh, returning to recovery after a setback, or walking alongside someone you care about — I’m honored to share these tools with you.