Carlie Ostrom

12 drunk girls wearing braids and one dude with a bottle of alcohol yelling. Afterski in Swedene

A man at a fish market scowling. Tourists.

A girl laughing over her bowl of ramen noodles.

A woman sitting under a tree; her face partially shadowed

Talk to me about these, please! +

Greetings! My name is Carlie. +

An elderly couple reading newspapers in their recliners

How I got here +‍

Growing up in Wisconsin, my home was chaotic so I oriented myself around achievements. I won cattle shows and dance competitions. I went to Wharton to study finance while working on Wall Street and in software startups.

My ego was destroyed when I sustained a severe traumatic brain injury in 2019, hit by a car as a pedestrian. About 20% of my brain died. After just four months of rehab, I was discharged for "plateauing" and told to accept how my life would be different now (now that I was disabled, for good). I was at the functional level of a kindergartener and that was considered good enough. I had no idea who I was or what to do. The resulting standard of care was symptom-whacking medications that I would be on likely for the rest of my life. Absolute despair and hopelessness.

Gratefully, I found my way to neuroplasticity therapies for my functional deficits and trauma. These included somatic exercises, psychedelics, and neuromodulation technologies. I found them in alternative and international clinics, mostly. And I no longer live with chronic symptoms of photosensitivity, vertigo, migraine, fatigue, depression, anxiety, or insomnia. I take no medications! The brain and can indeed heal. The lost soul can be uncovered.

I couldn't forget that many of my allopathic clinicians along the way claimed ignorance to the idea of healing - it was either an unknown void, impossible, or worst of all: passive.
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Bewildered that this was the state of medicine, I went back to school for pre-medicine coursework at the University of Wisconsin. I was preparing to become a neurologist who could speak truth about what was possible after brain trauma. With the Vemuganti Lab of Neurosurgery, we researched mouse models of brain injury and neurodegeneration. With Parkython, Concussion & CTE Foundation, & LoveYourBrain Foundation, I began advocacy and peer mentoring.

Instead of medical school, I'm building in the neurology neuroplasticity revolution. My organization is called Possibilities, and it is a nature and community based neuroplasticity center for people with brain injuries. I'm seeking to learn from and collaborate with neurologists, neuropsychiatrists, neuroscientists, clinic operators, psychelelic-assisted and EMDR-trained therapists, and other natural practitioners who are on the same endeavor.

A blurry picture of Julia in Antonio's East Village apartment at nighttime.

We can all be excited about this research on emerging therapies +

A 22 year old woman with a huge smile and closed eys

CArlie

Ostrom

A shopping cart in front of a gas station beer cooler in a Wisconsin gas station.

I've become highly skeptical of ego-clinging. However, I realize that you probably came to this website to learn something about me. Below are some identities I've possessed throughout my life. +

A smile girl looking back amongst a group of other women as they walk towards a ski mountain in Sweden.

An elderly woman coated heavily carrying bags alongside a river sidewalk in Budapest.

Role models +‍

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.

Maya Angelou

An oveweight woman scowling while holding her tiny dog, a sunburnt man with ripped shorts holding another small dog

you may be wondering which of the preceding images was of me, Ca**** os****.