Just Getting Started with Spirituality Conversations: with Hannah Wendel Griffey
Release Date: 09/15/2026
Just Getting Started with Spirituality Conversations: with Hannah Wendel Griffey
Aphasia Access Conversations
In this episode you will: • Learn about the role of stress in communication and how to manage stress through coping strategies. • Learn about spirituality and spiritual practices, along with the distinctions between spirituality and religion. • Learn about the Aphasia Brief-Cope tool. • Learn about the potential adaptive value of spiritual beliefs and practices for individuals with aphasia. • Learn about how to start conversations about spirituality and aphasia. Imagine for a moment that you’ve lost your connection to a deeply important aspect of your life, a mental space, a...
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Episode 141: Taking Charge After Stroke: Self-Determination and Recovery with Vivian Fu
Aphasia Access Conversations
Episode: 140 Taking Charge After Stroke: Self-Determination and Recovery with Vivian Fu In this episode you will discover: ● The Conversation Is the Intervention — A structured, facilitated conversation that centers a person's identity, hopes, and vision for their best day produces measurable improvements in quality of life and independence a year after stroke. Connection isn't soft — it's evidence-based. ● Reframe the Expert in the Room — Take Charge asks clinicians to resist offering advice, validation, or direction — and to trust that the person with...
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Episode 140: RAISING PPA assessment and treatment from the ground up: In conversation with Dr. Jeanne Gallée
Aphasia Access Conversations
Episode: 140 RAISING PPA assessment and treatment from the Ground Up: In Conversation with Jeanne Gallée In this episode you will discover: · Assessment and Intervention Aren't Separate — Conversation itself can double as both. By listening closely and responding to what a client offers, in a "more art than science" way, clinicians gather meaningful data and provide support at the same time, rather than treating these as two distinct phases of care. · Rigid Testing Can Erase the Person Behind the Diagnosis — Traditional standardized assessments...
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Episode 139: Behavioral Activation with Deena Schwen Blackett
Aphasia Access Conversations
In this episode, Lyssa Rome speaks with Deena Schwen Blackett, an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida and director of the Communication, Aphasia Recovery, and Emotion (CARE) Lab, about behavioral activation as a psychosocial intervention for people with aphasia. Deena describes what the intervention looks like in practice — from daily activity tracking to values-based goal setting across five life areas — and shares early findings on reductions in depression symptoms. The conversation also explores how behavioral activation aligns with the Life Participation Approach...
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Episode 138: When One Plus One Equals Three: A Conversation with National Aphasia Synergy
Aphasia Access Conversations
Episode 138 When One Plus One Equals Three: A Conversation with National Aphasia Synergy In this episode you will discover: 1. People with aphasia hold the map. At NAS, people with aphasia don't just have a seat at the table — they built the table. Real peer leadership changes everything about how an organization thinks and acts. 2. Recovery is about more than speech. The isolation and psychological distress that follow aphasia are just as real as the communication challenges — and just as deserving of attention and...
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Episode 137: Who Am I Now? Narrative Identity with Rianne Brinkman
Aphasia Access Conversations
In this episode you will discover: Identity Is Shaped in Interaction — Narrative identity forms and reforms through relationships and stories shared with others — making connection a core ingredient of recovery, not a bonus Visual Methods Unlock What Words Cannot — Collage-making, photos, and art give people with aphasia a pathway into identity work that talk alone can't always reach. Identity Reconstruction Is a Long Game — People continue navigating complex, shifting identities for years after stroke. Our systems need to follow them farther into that journey, not stop...
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Episode 136: Treating Discourse with Jessica Obermeyer
Aphasia Access Conversations
Interviewer info Lyssa Rome is a speech-language pathologist in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is on staff at the Aphasia Center of California, where she facilitates groups for people with aphasia and their care partners. She owns an LPAA-focused private practice and specializes in working with people with neurogenic communication disorders. She has worked in acute hospital, skilled nursing, and continuum of care settings. Prior to becoming an SLP, Lyssa was a public radio journalist, editor, and podcast producer. In this episode, Lyssa Rome interviews Jessica Obermeyer about group treatment...
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Episode 135: From Technical Manuals to Poetry: In Conversation with Mark Harder
Aphasia Access Conversations
This episode features Mark Harder, an individual with aphasia who has developed numerous programs to engage individuals with aphasia in returning to meaningful life activities. Mark shared his personal experience with aphasia following a stroke and heart attack, discussing his recovery journey and the role of poetry in his healing process. He described his involvement in various aphasia support initiatives, including poetry groups, conferences, and advocacy work. Mark's efforts to raise awareness and support others with aphasia have led to the creation of multiple programs and events,...
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Episode 134: Inner Speech and Aphasia with Mackenzie Fama
Aphasia Access Conversations
Lyssa Rome talks with Dr. Mackenzie Fama about the experience of inner speech for people with aphasia.
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Episode 133: Diversity Beyond Race with Jose Centeno
Aphasia Access Conversations
In this episode you will discover: Diversity Means Everyone - Race is just one piece. Consider how age, language, immigration status, religion, sexual orientation, and geography intersect to shape each person's experience with aphasia. Go Into the Community to Build Trust - Sustainable partnerships require leaving your institution and showing up consistently. Visit centers, share meals, and invest time where people gather. Trust develops gradually through authentic presence. Listen to Real-Life Struggles First - Before starting therapy protocols, hear what families actually face: shifted...
info_outlineIn this episode you will:
• Learn about the role of stress in communication and how to manage stress through coping strategies.
• Learn about spirituality and spiritual practices, along with the distinctions between spirituality and religion.
• Learn about the Aphasia Brief-Cope tool.
• Learn about the potential adaptive value of spiritual beliefs and practices for individuals with aphasia.
• Learn about how to start conversations about spirituality and aphasia.
Imagine for a moment that you’ve lost your connection to a deeply important aspect of your life, a mental space, a conversation, a meditation, a fellowship. Aphasia can alter so many connections, but this strikes at your core. Well, there’s hope. Spirituality and spiritual practices are possible after aphasia and clinicians should offer to open these doors if that is what the person with aphasia wants.
Welcome to the Aphasia Access Conversations Podcast. I'm Jerry Hoepner. I'm a professor at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and co-facilitator of the Chippewa Valley Aphasia Camp, Blugold Brain Injury Group, Mayo Brain Injury Group, Brain In-Com intensive brain injury program, and Thursday Night Poets.
I'm also a member of the Aphasia Access Podcast Working Group. Aphasia Access strives to provide members with information, inspiration, and ideas that support their aphasia care through a variety of educational materials and resources.
Hannah Wendel Griffey is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Disorders at Brigham Young University, where she directs the PEARL Lab (Psychosocial Effects of Aphasia on the Rehabilitation of Language) within the BYU Aphasia Center. Her research examines how psychosocial factors shape recovery, participation, and quality of life for people with aphasia, with particular attention to the measurement and treatment of stress, anxiety, coping, and identity. Grounded in participation-focused frameworks derived from the ICF, including A-FROM and the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia, her work promotes culturally responsive, holistic care. A central focus of her scholarship is religion and spirituality as coping mechanisms in neurogenic communication disorders, examining how communication barriers restrict spiritual participation and how adaptations and clinician support can facilitate continued engagement and well-being.