It Takes Courage to Be Vulnerable
living with
For this audiologist, a hearing loss created an interest in the field, and then provided essential tools for understanding patients—and himself.
USHER
By Trent Westrick, Au.D. millions of people have read brené Brown, Ph.D.’s bestselling books and have viewed her inspiring motivational talks. For those unfamiliar with Brown, she has spent her career researching courage, vulnerability, and empathy, among other complex topics. While the tenets she researches and discusses are applicable to many facets of everyday life, they are particularly relevant to me, an audiologist with a hearing loss. When most people think of audiology, terms like courage, vulnerability, and empathy do not immediately come to mind. Even some experienced audiologists do not regularly use these descriptors. But when more closely considering the relationship between a patient, their family, and the audiologist, courage, vulnerability, and empathy play a significant role. My journey to becoming an audiologist began after I was diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss at age 8. Since I was born before the advent of technology
Trent Westrick with his wife Tina in Zion National Park, Utah.
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hearing health
hhf.org
used in newborn hearing screenings, my hearing loss was not identified until I was older. I believe my mother suspected I had a hearing loss based on my behavior and reliance on visual cues, and then my performance in school began to decline when we started having spelling tests. I also had chronic middle ear infections, so whenever my mom mentioned her concerns about my hearing to doctors, they would just discover another ear infection and assume that was the cause of my behavior. But the diagnosis of sensorineural hearing loss at age 8 ended up being completely unrelated to the middle ear infections. The day I was fitted with my first hearing aids was memorable and overwhelming as I became aware of a world filled with new sounds. My mom still tells the story of how I walked out of the audiologist’s office and turned around to see whose footsteps I was hearing, not realizing they were my own. As exciting as wearing the hearing aids was, they made me feel vulnerable. I was not
