Kyle's Journey
Kyle Spading - HEAD COUNSELOR
Kyle is a highly skilled and compassionate licensed counselor, specializing in providing mental health support to individuals, families and employers facing unique challenges. Despite facing significant personal obstacles, Kyle’s unwavering determination and passion for helping others have shaped his remarkable journey.
During his college years, Kyle excelled as a football player for the University of Iowa, where he showcased incredible talent and dedication. Unfortunately, an unforeseen accident left him paralyzed below the neck/chest. This life-altering event ignited Kyle’s drive to overcome adversity and use his experiences to empower others in similar situations.
As a mental health provider, Kyle’s primary focus is on serving individuals, families and businesses who face physical, emotional and occupational/vocational barriers. Drawing from his own journey, he has developed a deep understanding of the unique challenges, struggles and opportunities as an individual who lives with quadriplegia. By combining his professional expertise with his personal experiences, Kyle offers a safe and empathetic space for his clients to explore their emotions, navigate their barriers, and find resilience in the face of adversity.
Kyle is committed to helping his clients build healthier relationships, improve communication, find effective coping strategies and develop creative solutions to their individual needs. He believes in a holistic approach that addresses the emotional, psychological, and physical well-being of individuals, families and businesses. With his guidance, clients learn to overcome limitations, embrace their strengths, and create a fulfilling and meaningful life.
In addition to his counseling practice, Kyle actively engages in advocacy work, raising awareness about the unique needs of individuals with physical disabilities. Through public speaking engagements and community involvement, he strives to break down barriers, challenge stereotypes, and promote inclusivity and accessibility for all.
Kyle’s unwavering dedication, genuine empathy, and lived experiences make him a trusted and inspiring mental health provider as well as an intuitive expert in identifying and adapting to disability-related obstacles. His clients find solace in his guidance, knowing that he truly understands the unique challenges they face. With Kyle as their counselor/consultant, clients and professionals discover renewed hope, resilience, and the strength to overcome any obstacles they encounter.
Kyle's Journey - Timeline
2005 – 2009
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University of Iowa
Life Altering Car Accident
Rehabilitation
Occupational & Physical Therapy
2011
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2011
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2012 - 2013
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While attending the University of Iowa, Kyle also played American Football as a tight-end.
Kyle graduated with a BA in Health & Sports Studies with an emphasis in Leisure Studies/Recreation Management.
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During the process of relocating to Ohio, where his girlfriend at the time had just started a major fellowship with a very prestigious Children’s Hospital, Kyle fell asleep at the wheel, and became paralyzed from a rollover crash. After laying in the vehicle for a few hours hidden from sight to passing vehicles, he was found and airlifted to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where he was placed on a ventilator and remained in a medically induced coma for 5 days, while surgeons repaired his dislocated and broken neck.
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After a month-long hospital stay, he was transferred to Chicago (Shirley Ryan Ability Lab at Northwestern Hospitals) for 3 months for intensive rehabilitation, using advanced technology and equipment. He managed to wein off the ventilator/ tracheotomy and virtually train himself on the basics of various assistive technologies to help overcome barriers, since his paralysis left him with no physical function in his arms/hands and limited neck/shoulder movement.
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Kyle completed outpatient rehabilitation consisting of intensive occupational and physical therapy, which he continued to master his craft, recovery, and expand his knowledge disability and assistive technology. This was all possible because of the presence of the best family and small town community members on earth throughout the most challenging circumstances an individual/family can experience.
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Masters Education Focus
2014 – 2016
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Kyle returned to the University of Iowa College of Education to successfully complete his masters in Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling. Kyle excelled through the program and earned a full scholarship based on academic and clinical performance. Kyle was inducted into the national honor society for counseling professionals. Kyle’s extensive clinical training during the program consisted of internships in vocational rehabilitation, work injury recovery, and substance use.
Vocational Rehab Counselor
Innovation & Founded Business
2017-2023
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2023
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Despite his trauma from his car accident years after injury causing a period of immense struggle from a mental health standpoint, Kyle was able to achieve his full license as a mental health counselor and certification as a rehabilitation counselor. He has worked as an advocate for people with disabilities as a member, Board of Directors for Disability Rights of Iowa.
Since, Kyle has worked as a vocational rehab and therapist at 3 different organizations where he served clients of all ages and families from wide demographics, and worked as a motivational/public speaker for numerous in-person and virtual events, including both large and small audiences of physical/occupational therapists, people with disabilities, advocacy events, football teams/young athletes and more.
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While at St. Lukes Hospital (Cedar Rapids, IA), Kyle helped create an innovative, “combination stylus/medication holder” to assist individuals with similar limited movement challenges. You can learn more in THIS ARTICLE.
Kyle has recently launched his own business called Revive Health Consulting with emphasis services in Mental Health, Disability and Vocational rehabilitation and business consulting services centered around the achievement of PWD. His areas of focus include: Athletes, Veterans, Long-Term Disability, Post Traumatic Injury Recovery.
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M - 319.961.0161
BLOG & CONTENT
Explore educational articles on mental health and rehabilitation/recovery HERE