About Dr. Vaught
Dr. Vaught received her Bachelor's Degree from the University of Mississippi, and went on to earn her Master's and Doctorate from Vanderbilt University, with a double major in Clinical Psychology and Mental Retardation Research. She completed her internship and fellowship at Temple University Health Sciences Center, studying extensively in the field of neuropsychology. She has worked as Director of Neuropsychology and Clinical Director in a free-standing brain injury rehabilitation hospital, and she has been in private practice working with brain-injured adolescents and adults for over a decade.
In her own words . . . When I was 18 years old and slogging through undergraduate school, I worked multiple jobs and one of those jobs changed my life. I became a cottage parent at North Mississippi Mental Retardation Center and in that position, I developed a deep interest in the welfare of persons with developmental disability. As a result, I postponed my plans of full-time writing and pursued graduate studies in mental health at Vanderbilt University.
I focused on neuropsychology, the branch of psychology that deals specifically with brain and behavior. I went on to do an internship at Temple University Health Sciences Center in Philadelphia, continuing my training in neuropsychology. After internship, I completed a fellowship in clinical neuropsychology. The patients at Temple came in with many, many different issues. I had the opportunity to work with patients who had severe mental illnesses, rare diseases, low-frequency tumors and illnesses, and unusual head injuries.
My first job after school was as a staff neuropsychologist for a post-acute head injury hospital in Tennessee. Shortly afterward, I became Director of Neuropsychology, and eventually the Clinical Director. I worked with some patients from the time of injury through the course of their recovery (weeks, months, or in some cases, years), and others through the later stages of their recovery and attempts to return to functional lives. The number of failed suicide attempts shocked meand the number of adolescents with head injuries from failed suicide attempts and car wrecks made my heart ache.
In my practice today, I do a lot of different things, including assessment and therapy for teenagers and adults with neuropsychological problems. No matter how busy I get, the voices of my teen patients live in my mind and heart. No one speaks quite as plainly as a teenager in pain, even if they stutter or use the wrong words or communicate only with gestures or swearing or sobs. Their stories cannot be forgotten or ignored. These voices brought me back to my original goal: writing.
Now my writing goals are more direct. I want to write books for teens. I want to tell them stories, and I want to tell their stories.
Jersey Hatch, the teenager you met in Trigger, is not one specific teen I have treated. He is all of them, in struggle and in spirit.
I hope you will share your views of Trigger with me susan@susanvaught.com. |
