Medical Researcher, Teacher
Renée Goossens was educated in Australia, Italy, France and England. Trained as a teacher for children with special needs, she studied further in medical research at a leading children’s hospital specialising in neurological disorders. Since the age of 19, she worked with medical teams supporting families suffering from a variety of physical and emotional problems.
At 21, a serious motor vehicle accident kept Renée in hospital for nearly two years. The day she was finally able to leave hospital, she was wheelchair-bound with a lively toddler to raise, Renée was determined to beat the odds and walk again.
From her own experiences, Renée Goossens knows that there is more to the experience of chronic pain than the pain itself. In writing Pain Management, she brings her personal perspective, as one who has successfully fulfilled the roles of mother, teacher, translator, writer and a great friend to many, in the face of increasing physical disability and severe pain.
Her work as a teacher and administrator involved caring for colleagues and students. Later, working in Occupational Health and Safety her spinal condition deteriorated. It was then that Renée began writing and researching for a memoir, a novel, travel articles and this book on managing pain.
Other books A memoir: ‘BELONGING’ published by ABC books 2003.
Diploma in teaching from Westminster College, Oxford
Medical Researcher at Park Hospital for Children with Neurological disorders – ‘a Place of Safety for Battered Babies’, Oxford
Teacher, NSW Department of Education: Music and French also family therapist with children suffering from autism, emotional disturbances and learning disorders, cerebral palsy and spinal disorders.( 8 years)
Lecturer in French at NSW State Conservatorium of Music, Sydney (10 years); Lecture at the National Library of Australia in Canberra. The subject was ‘Enabling Your Life to the Fullest’.
Seminars in Tamworth, Canberra, the Gold Coast, Keynote Speaker at Gerontology Conference in Wollongong and throughout the Sydney Metropolitan area since August 2007. Speaker at Parkinson’s Annual Conference October 2008 thence workshops on Quality of Life
Language Coach at The Australian Opera,(concurrent with above)
Administrator, subtitler, subeditor and policy writer for Occupational Health and Safety Working paper at Special Broadcasting Service Television (12 Years).
Community Work: Volunteer advisor on Access within the Willoughby Council area, negotiating with the Sydney Opera House management to create improved access and transport.