POSITIVE THOUGHTS!

Welcome to Survivor Acceptance: a web site dedicated to efforts of those who have struggled with a debilitating injury, disability or disease. Recovery to those who have suffered and to those that provide assistance is making progress.

MAKING PROGRESS IS ACCEPTING DEFICITS, LEARNING SUCCESS STRATEGIES TO HELP WITH DEFICITS AND LEARNING TO LOVE AND VALUE YOURSELF.

Nancy's Success Secrets:

1. Recovery is Making Progress
2. It doesn't matter where you start, just attempting to do a little better today than you did yesterday, is Making Progress
3. Recovery demands commitment and a sustained determination to overcome obstacles and attain goals

Introduction & Job Description

After her severe and life-threatening brain injury in 1971, Nancy Bauser did much more than just recover. She went on to earn her Bachelors degree from the University of Michigan in 1973 and then a Masters in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1976. Nancy became a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers in 1984. After establishing herself as a Disability Peer Counselor and making presentations from San Diego, California in 1995 to Seville, Spain in 1997, Nancy published her award-winning Acceptance Groups for Survivors, A Guide for Facilitators in 2001. In 2004, Nancy achieved Diplomat status in the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, with Board Certification in Disability Trauma. In 2008, a revised and updated edition of Acceptance Groups for Survivors was released. Nancy Bauser, MSW, ACSW was named the Author of the Year by Jones Harvest Publishing based on her contribution to society and book sales.

What is Disability Life Coaching? What qualities does a Disability Life Coach need?

A person’s disability or physical challenge is often the defining aspect of their life. In fact, their life can revolve around that reality permanently. For that reason a Disability Life Coach is a crucial partner assisting an individual to face the challenges in life. A disabled person with the right coach can virtually count on reaching their potential.

An authentic Disability Life Coach should not only have survived their own personal trauma but also thrived in spite of their challenge. In other words, the coach must have walked the walk. With that genuine experience there is no doubt that the Disability Life Coach understands difficulty and knows what it takes to overcome obstacles.

The four crucial mindsets you need to believe in are:

1. To make changes you must have goals. Those goals must be realistic and attainable.
2. To make genuine changes takes sustained effort. It also takes determination, time, and hard work to modify behavior.
3. To have an ultimate goal, wish or dream. You need to recognize your difficulties as they are now. You must understand that there will not be a “quick-fix” for long-standing problems.
4. To be committed to making the gradual changes that will lead you toward your goals.

Recovery does not mean that you wake up one day and are fine. It does not mean your memory suddenly becomes intact. It does not mean that you don’t get confused, and it certainly does not mean you regain the life you had prior to your trauma.

To a person who has survived a trauma recovery is making progress. Making progress is accepting your deficits, learning success strategies to help you with those deficits and learning to love and value yourself.

Type of Business: Disability Life Coaching

Marketing Area: Global – anywhere that can be accessed by the World Wide Web – My aim is to partner with clients in a thought provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.

Major Product: Book- Acceptance Groups for Survivors, A Guide for Facilitators – Available on Amazon & from Jones Harvest Publishing

Education & Credentials: BS in Education from the University of Michigan in 1973
Masters in Science of Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1976
Academy of Certified Social Workers, ACSW since 1984
Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists since 2002
Board Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress, BCETS since 2004
Board Certification in Disability Trauma, BCDT since 2004

I would like to invite anyone who has lived through a trauma to participate in an on-line Acceptance Group. It will follow the format proposed in my book, Acceptance Groups for Survivors, A Guide for Facilitators.

I do not think that I have the right or the knowledge to dictate who has experienced trauma. Rather I believe that each individual decides that for themselves.

As I begin to bring this proposition to conclusion, I realize that I have not told you about my trauma. Over 37 years ago, I sustained a severe brain-stem injury in a motor vehicle accident while I was an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan. In 1971, I was plucked out of my mainstream existence as a college student and put on the sidelines of life.

There I had to watch other people do what I knew I should have been doing. The problem was that I found myself unable to do what I wanted to do. I HAD TO ACCEPT that my life had changed & I NEEDED TO LEARN HOW TO COPE with my new abilities and disabilities. So that is what I did.

Four A’s of Recovery

1. Acknowledge
2. Admit
3. Adapt
4. Accept

Recovery Is Making Progress!

Nancy's goal achievement self-statements:

IN ORDER TO MAKE CHANGES, I MUST HAVE GOALS. THOSE GOALS NEED TO BE REALISTIC AND ATTAINABLE. WHEN BRINGING ABOUT GENUINE CHANGE, A SUSTAINED EFFORT MUST BE MADE. IT TAKES DETERMINATION, EFFORT AND TIME TO MODIFY OR CHANGE BEHAVIOUR.

MY ULTIMATE GOAL IS A WISH OR DREAM. I RECOGNIZE MY DIFFICULTIES IN THE HERE AND NOW. IT IS NOT REALISTIC TO BELIEVE THAT THERE WILL BE A "QUICK-FIX" FOR LONG STANDING PROBLEMS. I NEED TO BE COMMITTED TO MAKING THE CHANGES THAT WILL LEAD ME WHERE I WANT TO GO!

AT ALL TIMES, I MUST BE KIND TO MYSELF WHILE I'M ATTEMPTING TO MAKE CHANGES.

More of Nancy’s SUCCESS SECRETS:

1)   Failure is not an option.

2)   Maintaining determination while accepting  temporary setbacks positions me well for future success.*

3)   Refusing to capitulate to helplessness allows me to accomplish the enduring goals I have for myself – and I moblize the positive energy known as ambition.*

Taken from article by Nando Pelusi, Ph.D. in Psychology Today, June 2008

IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN A DESIRE TO MAKE PROGRESS-
I NEED TO KEEP THIS MESSAGE IN MIND: