Tracy Coval is a writer, artist, disability advocate, and a Therapeutic Art Life Coach based in Massachusetts. She received her bachelor’s degree from Lesley University, studying counseling with a minor in art therapy. She then worked in the mental health field, primarily with high-risk populations, including inpatient psychiatric units, emergency room, and a homeless shelter for children in state custody. In her work, she utilized the creative arts to help patients de-escalate and express their emotions.

She then pursued a master’s degree in social work, and chose to change career paths after becoming paralyzed. She sought to incorporate the creative arts to spread her message about disability advocacy. In 2019, Tracy was given the opportunity to speak at a national medical conference presenting why the fine arts should be used in the medical field. In 2021, she published her first book, "An Untethered Truth: A Medical Journey." The book is about Tracy’s personal journey with devastating and life-threatening spinal conditions from birth, and how she learned through faith, hope and humor to advocate for herself through numerous operations, medical diagnoses, and misdiagnoses.

Tracy provides a guide for finding one’s voice in a complicated medical world and finding support and resources for those living with disabilities.

Purchase Tracy's book at Barnes and Noble (https://bit.ly/3SGCuGE) and Amazon (https://amzn.to/3gU8VnG).

To learn more about complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), visit Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association (RSDSA)’s website at rsds.org.

#RSDSA #CRPS #RSD