Reinvention: Life After Traumatic Change
Reinvention: Life After Traumatic Change is the new book by stroke survivor and advocate Elizabeth Cottone, PhD. The book examines the emotional and practical struggles involved in returning to a full life — and the even the possibility of happiness — after traumatic loss.
Beth delivers an empathetic understanding of the challenges faced not only by stroke survivors and others with neurodivergencies but also by parents, former athletes and performers, and those who have lost a gateway skill like vision, hearing or language.
Out of the blue one morning, Beth Cottone, scientist, marathoner and mother of three, had a massive stroke. Then she had to relearn how to balance, walk, speak and swallow. With an academic background, she knew what was at stake in her recovery.
As Beth explains, “Identity foreclosure, (when you can no longer meet your expectations of competence in a area that formed a principal part of your identity) is the great equalizer. It cuts across all socioeconomic levels…Happiness may only be found with acceptance, when we give our past self a friendly nod and move on.”
Reinvention: Life After Traumatic Change is now available in paperback and e-book at Amazon.com and at independent bookshops.
“A powerful, real and hopeful voice. Her raw and emotional account explores a crucial mindset shift: how to hold the negative and the positive in your hand at the same time.”
Clare Marie Barbao, Speech-Language Pathologist, UVA
Beth Cottone has given generously in this book about how experiencing stroke has changed her life. She has opened up her own life story so that other survivors of brain injuries and those who care for them can see what is possible in the aftermath.
She has included entries from her personal journal that show her progress, while also providing insight into the scientific basis for her injury and recovery.
Beth Cottone’s book is both a very personal reflection and a clear interpretation of the neurology of stroke.
Richard G. Tedeschi, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Boulder Crest Institute for Posttraumatic Growth