Emotional Resilience: Day 4

Resilience Inspired CNS 

What is Resilience?

Dr. Gary Seale, CNS Regional Director of Clinical Services, explains that resilience is originally a term from engineering - describing the property of solids (metals) to bend, but not break. Psychology "borrowed" the term and applied it to the ability to cope with stress and hardships.

Some people are better at handling problems and setbacks than others. But resilience can be learned, Dr. Seale notes. We are experiencing this firsthand in this time of uncertainty as we learn how to respond and adapt to rapidly changing circumstances, and work together to meet the needs of others.

Dr. Mark Ashley, Center for Neuro Skills (CNS) CEO and Founder, is exemplary of rising to the occasion and has demonstrated what can be accomplished with resilience. He founded CNS in the face of adversity, creating a clinical solution for traumatic brain injury, and continues to help countless people in their journey from devastation to rehabilitation.

Resilience in the Face of a Crisis

In 1972, Dr. Ashley came face to face with stress and hardship when a devasting life event left his 21-year-old brother Steve Ashley completely disabled and cognitively impaired. Available rehabilitative therapies at the time gave Steve no hope for significant recovery or regaining an independent life.

With resilience and mindfulness, Dr. Ashley unlocked new ways of thinking and working, and built an intensive, multidisciplinary rehabilitation program that enables people with brain injuries to regain their independence and return to a normal rhythm of living.

Nearly 40 years later, Dr. Ashley is an inspiration to over 900 CNS employees located across six CNS clinics in California and Texas. He has cultivated a company culture that enables CNS staff, patients, and families to develop the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. And Dr. Ashley’s quest to help Steve, despite many challenges and hurdles, has become the model of treatment for all CNS therapists.

Dr. Ashley faced a difficult circumstance with staunchness and made meaning out of hardship. At CNS, every employee carries out this approach each day, helping patients and families triumph in overcoming obstacles, fostering independence, and transforming lives.