Brainworks History
Ever since she was a little girl, Arden McGregor dreamed of being a helping professional. After strongly considering medicine and teaching, she decided on a career in psychology and has been registered with the College of Psychologists of Ontario since 1998.
She has been immersed in the rehabilitation field throughout her entire career and has served well over 1200 individuals in various stages of the rehabilitation process through direct service, collaboration and/or consultation. Additionally, she has given over 65 formal presentations on rehabilitation and behavioural intervention to hundreds of professionals and has spoken to various client and family groups.
Clinical and professional beginnings
With this clinical and professional backdrop and with encouragement from other professionals, Arden launched Brainworks in August 2003 with husband Russell Temple. From day one, Arden has handled the clinical side, while Russell has taken care of administration.
Michelle Furtado Graham joined the staff in October 2003 as a senior rehabilitation therapist. As a result of much hard work and perseverance, it was not long before Brainworks became well known to the rehabilitation community. The first motto for Brainworks was “A small company eager to make a great first impression!” And that they did! Growing mainly by word of mouth referrals, only a year after its founding, Brainworks was no longer able to operate from a home office and the need for professional office space became more pressing. In February 2005, Brainworks moved to its Waterloo Street offices in London. The staff complement was about twelve at that time and clientele was still growing.
To meet the needs of its growing clientele Brainworks expanding its services by offering new programs and adding more staff. Consistent growth prompted yet another move forward. In April of 2007 Brainworks moved it central offices to the Ridout Street in London. In June of 2007 Dr. Emilie Newell officially opened a new chapter in Brainworks history by ceremoniously “cutting the ribbon” during our open house.
From its heritage head office in London, Brainworks coordinates service delivery to the residents of Southwestern Ontario. In addition to our London location, we have expanded our services to include a team of therapists in Essex Kent and other staff scattered across the area. Services to the Muskoka area were offered starting in 2008, with the opening of a Huntsville office.
New Milestone
Brainworks celebrated five years of service during August of 2008 and we hosted a Birthday Bash in November!
Spreading throughout Ontario
Today, Brainworks’ 38 professional staff members live and work in seventeen different communities in Ontario. They come from sixteen different disciplines and have a combined professional work experience of over 300 years. Over 100 clients were served in 2007 by Brainworks’ five main programs: rehabilitation therapy, psychology, social work, pain management and vocational consulting. We provide direct services throughout Southwestern and Southcentral Ontario, and north of Toronto to North of North Bay. We have consultation and education service capabilities throughout the province.
Community sponsorships
Brainworks has always taken an active role in the community. Now well-established, its role has increased. Brainworks has sponsored conferences and events hosted by local Brain Injury Associations. We have also sponsored athletic teams, silent auctions, golf tournaments and other conferences such as Moving Ahead Together.
Brainworks has provided leadership in the development of Camp Dawn from its beginnings in 2003. We have been a partner in recent years and our staff have volunteered at all five camps held to date.
Brainworks is a corporate member of the Ontario Brain Injury Association and has long been a member of the Brain Injury Association of London and Region.