From adversity to advocacy: Colisha Amos-Douglas supports Veterans with invisible wounds at VA Augusta

As a visually impaired student, Amos-Douglas was departing a student disability meeting one evening when another undergrad rolled up beside her in a wheelchair, her face betraying a desire for confrontation.

“There’s nothing wrong with you,” the student barked, her brazen statement hanging in the air as she looked over Amos-Douglas. 

“It hit me, she can’t see my disability” said Amos-Douglas, whose vision was severe enough to require significant accommodations. “I thought, ‘Let me explain to her what’s wrong with me.’”

After Amos-Douglas detailed the limitations imposed by her visual impairment, the other student doubled down in her disdain: “Well, at least you can hide yours.”

The interaction resulted in a career pivot for Amos-Douglas, who now serves as a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor at the Trauma Recovery Clinic at VA Augusta Health Care System in eastern Georgia. 

“You can see her need, anticipate her need,” Amos-Douglas remembers thinking of the wheelchair-bound student. “All the other people with invisible conditions, people don’t know how to treat them, and they get lost in the shuffle. I wanted to be a voice for those with invisible conditions.”

Called to Care

Amos-Douglas’ condition arose suddenly. At 14, she noticed posters on the walls turning blurry. Her vision plummeted over the next two days, leading to a surgical intervention to save her life. Hydrocephalus, a rare condition among adolescents, had caused cerebral-spinal fluid to build up and put pressure on the back of her eyes, threatening her life and resulting in irreversible nerve damage. 

“My vision went from 20/20 to 20/60 in two days,” said Amos-Douglas. Her close call with death would only be the beginning of her journey, though. 

“The adjustment within the school system was difficult in small-town Mississippi,” she said. “They struggled to adjust to the fact that the fully functional child they once knew was different. I looked like I was fine, so they didn’t really believe I needed 72-point font to read, for example.”

The skepticism toward Amos-Douglas’ condition forced her parents to lobby for accommodations with school officials, an effort she had to pick up in college.

“I know what the other side of that can look like,” she said of advocating for one’s unseen condition. “I decided I need to be a voice for those who have lost their voice.”

With the seeds of compassion planted during her own adolescent trauma and blossomed by interactions at Ole Miss, Amos-Douglas redirected her studies toward an undergraduate degree in psychology and a graduate degree in counseling. More than a career, she now pursued a calling. 

A Focus on Veterans

“If I go back to Iraq, I don’t think I’m coming back.” 

The words from the mouth of a childhood friend struck deep for Amos-Douglas. Since middle school, the two had been close, and she had witnessed the change that occurred when the friend, a National Guard member, returned from combat deployments. 

In observing her friend, Amos-Douglas felt a pull to narrow her studies to those who had served and carried the invisible wounds of military trauma. She entered a graduate counseling program at Augusta University, and quickly made clear her intent: “I told my advisor I’m going to work with the VA.”  

The path laid by her own disability and the experience of her friend led Amos-Douglas to VA Augusta, where she’s been working alongside Veterans since 2021. At the Trauma Recovery Clinic she teaches skills to empower Veterans to manage and reframe their thoughts, reminding them that the tools for wellness lie within them, already.

Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, and Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation are just a few of the interventions VA Augusta offers Veterans who are facing PTSD symptoms through its Trauma Recovery Clinic.

“The clinic is rooted in evidence-based therapies that help Veterans identify and process traumatic experiences - military or otherwise,” said Dr. J. Richard Monroe, the psychologist who manages the Trauma Recovery Clinic. “Our goal is to place the experiences within the Veteran's broader life context. In doing so, Colisha and our other therapists guide them to a place of clarity. It's impactful, life-giving work."

“They often cry when they first see me and they cry when they leave me, and it’s for different reasons,” Amos-Douglas said of the progress many Veterans have made under her care. 

Colisha and her family remain hopeful that the medical community will find a solution to address the damaged nerves that impact her sight. But for now, they find peace in knowing that her education has made it possible for her to help people despite having visual limitations. 

“Serving at the VA is my way of giving back to those individuals who fearlessly served this country and that helped my best friend return from each deployment,” she said. “It makes me happy to give them back their quality of life.”