02 - Andrew Hill and the Person Behind the Brain Injury

How do we connect with people who have a brain injury? How do we not let our therapy devolve into power struggles? How do we help improve insight without crushing people’s hope? To explore these questions today, we’re talking with Andrew Hill.

Andy is a licensed clinical social worker in Missoula, Montana. Before his career in therapy started, he was offered a temp job working exclusively with adults with brain injuries, helping them with everyday tasks and skills. This temp job led him to a degree in social work from the University of Montana. While there, he completed a practicum at Community Bridges through Community Medical Center, a program that specialized in TBI recovery. He has worked in a variety of settings, and now works in private practice. His clinic, Missoula Therapy, provides in a variety of services and is currently the only practice in Montana specializing in traumatic brain injury recovery. His current client base is about 75% people with brain injuries and he is working towards working with brain injuries exclusively. He is the only psycho-therapist certified in brain injury treatment in the state of Montana. Through his work with people with brain injury, he has earned an honorary Blackfeet name, Awaasaapsii napikwan, which he explains in our interview.