Acceptance Groups for Survivors

Rehabilitation professionals who work with survivors of traumatic brain injuries or other conditions resulting in disabilities can use Acceptance Groups for Survivors, a Facilitator’s Guide.  Based on the life experience of brain-injury survivor Nancy Bauser, MSW, ACSW, this structured group program is designed to help survivors accept their deficits so they can begin recovery. The Guide provides discussion-provoking questions for each of 24 group sessions, preceded by specific objectives facilitators can expect to achieve. Groups are designed to help survivors deal with themselves, their feelings, and others through constructive, guided “sharing.”

Nancy Bauser, MSW, ACSW, is a survivor of a traumatic brain injury, which she sustained in an automobile accident in 1971. Following her injury, she had to relearn to walk, talk, and function independently. She went on nine months later to complete her undergraduate degree, and, subsequently, a graduate degree in social work. Since her accident, Ms. Bauser has lived for more than 30 years experiencing the triumphs and defeats that accompany living with a traumatic brain injury.

Ms. Bauser developed Acceptance Groups for Survivors out of her own life experience. This structured group program for survivors of brain injuries, disabling mental or physical diseases, and/or addictions is based on the concept of acceptance of one’s life circumstances. It employs interactive discussion of a series of themes and questions common to survivors coping with disabilities. Ms. Bauser’s work now includes peer counseling and conducting Acceptance Groups with survivors of brain injury and various psychological and traumatic disorders at outpatient treatment facilities in southeastern Michigan.