About Me
Long before I became a survivor, I was fascinated by the way people make meaning of their lives. As a clinical mental health counselor, I spent years helping others navigate grief, trauma, identity, and change.
I found out that healing isn’t about finding the right answers, but asking better questions of ourselves.
In an instant, I became the person I spent my career trying to help.
Surviving a traumatic brain injury changed nearly every part of my life. It altered how I think, how I move through the world, and how I understand recovery. It introduced me to the invisible realities of disability, the complexity of rebuilding identity, and the quiet courage to begin again.
Today my work lives at the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, storytelling, and hope.
I write about what happens after life changes forever, not just for brain injury survivors, but for anyone whose life has been divided into a “before” and “after”. No matter where that divide originated from, I believe every person can discover that healing isn't about returning to the life they had, but learning to build a meaningful one right where they stand.
Through essays, speaking engagements, and advocacy, I translate complex psychological and neurological experiences into stories that help people feel seen, understood, and less alone. My goal is to bridge the gap between clinical knowledge and lived experience, offering language for what feels impossible to explain.
Affiliations
TBI Ambassador, Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center
Contributing Writer, Brain Injury Hope Network
My work lives at the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, storytelling, and hope.
Bio
Hillary Hartnett is a clinical mental health counselor, writer, speaker, and traumatic brain injury survivor. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience, she helps audiences understand invisible realities and the universal process of rebuilding a life after profound change. Through thoughtful storytelling and evidence-informed insight, Hillary invites readers and audiences alike to see resilience not as returning to who we were, but as discovering who we can become.