Good Shepherd hosts 2026 Mind Your Brain conference
A free, one-day conference on Oct. 10 connected brain injury survivors, families, caregivers and health professionals with speakers and community resources.
The 2026 edition of Mind Your Brain @ Good Shepherd Rehabilitation brought people of all walks together for a day of connection, education and inspiration.
Good Shepherd hosted this year’s conference at DeSales University on Saturday, October 10. Brain injury survivors, their families, caregivers and healthcare professionals had an opportunity to hear from speakers and meet with community organizations and vendors inside the University Center at DeSales.
This year’s keynote speaker, Cristabelle Braden, spoke on finding hope and encouragement after brain injury.
Braden spoke about fighting through multiple traumatic brain injuries to become a singer/songwriter, speaker, writer, podcast host and the founder of Hope Survives, a nonprofit organization for brain injury support that impacts thousands of people from across the globe.
Attendees also heard the survivor story of Patricia O’Donnell, who shared about battling back from traumatic brain injury to receive her doctorate and advocate for people living with disabilities and their families.
Meanwhile, Claudio Velardo, DO, a third-year resident in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Penn Medicine, spoke on sleep-related disorders and TBI. Austin Duncan, PhD, MPA, a medical and disability anthropologist with Lehigh University’s Department of Community and Global Health and TBI survivor, presented on the importance of social support to TBI recovery.
Alongside our partners at Mind Your Brain Foundation, the free conference connected attendees with resources and information to help on the journey to recovery and clinical practice.
Thank you to the vendors who attended Mind Your Brain @ Good Shepherd Rehabilitation 2026:
- A Rise Above Occupational Therapy Services
- Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania (BIAPA)
- Your Friend Brainy LLC
- Equi-Librium
- Fighting Back Scholarship Program
- HOME INSTEAD
- Hope Survives
- Kandu
- Lee Fogel Somatic Healing and Consulting
- Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living
- Mind Your Brain Foundation
- New Vitae Wellness and Recovery
- Rehab Without Walls
- Turning Point of Lehigh Valley
- Universal Institute