Cristabelle Braden

Cristabelle Braden is an award-winning singer/songwriter, speaker, writer, podcast host, and advocate for brain injury. She has fought through multiple traumatic brain injuries to come out on the other side carrying a strong message of resilience, hope, and healing. In the early stages of brain recovery, songs began to pour out of her. Her incredible journey has taken her from hospital rooms re-learning daily life tasks in brain injury rehabilitation to platforms across the nation. Whether speaking or singing, she brings her powerful testimony and a message of freedom, healing, and love wherever she goes.

Cristabelle's music tells her story with a strong message of survival, faith, and never giving up. She recently released four new singles, getting ready for a Fall 2023 album release: The Healer, Ready For Anything, Hope in the Storm and Watching Over Us (Psalm 121). Her music carries both storytelling and worship elements, as her faith shines through each word.

Declaration, an album declaring truth through the struggles of life, released in March 2020, featuring the singles Not Giving Up, Dare to Hope Again, and Different Kind of Warrior. She recently released an inspirational music video featuring over 75 different clips from the brain injury community for the song Not Giving Up. In 2017 she independently released Hope Survives, a project dedicated to her journey through brain injury, and in 2018 followed with Start With Hello, a song collection based on finding connection with God. Her heart is in ministry, and many of her performances have been at hospitals, rehab centers, brain injury groups, homeless shelters, prison ministries, and more like this; as well as churches, retreats, conferences, concerts, and music venues.

Cristabelle is devoted to bringing support and education through her brain injury podcast Hope Survives® and her online support community Hope After Head Injury. Hosting weekly live videos for over seven years, monthly support meetings, and engaging daily in her online support group, her commitment and attentiveness to brain injury survivors and their families is evident and inspirational. Highly respected in the brain injury community, as of April 2023 Cristabelle is a newly added member of the board of directors for Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania (BIAPA), former member of the Board of Directors for the Council on Brain Injury (CoBI), and has advocated on a statewide and national level with the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA).

Cristabelle also leads Brain Injury Bible Study, the first and only online Bible study group of its kind for the brain injury community. The virtual group has created a safe space for brain injury survivors to grow in faith. Her program has also recently been picked up by Success Rehabilitation, Inc; as of January 2022, Cristabelle is leading Bible study groups for Success Rehab clients each week, most of whom have moderate to severe TBIs. She holds a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Liberty University and a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Religion (double major) from Lebanon Valley College. Cristabelle has continually persevered through the daily challenges that come with living with a brain injury, and through her setbacks, re-injuries, and struggles, discovered a stronger and clearer voice and message.

Cristabelle is recognized for her talent, dedication, and excellence in both music and brain injury advocacy. She is the 2020 Council on Brain Injury Individual Award Winner for leadership and dedication in the field of brain injury. Her song "Not Giving Up" is a 2020 semi-finalist for the Unsigned Only music competition. Her song "Different Kind of Warrior" placed as a 2020 finalist in the USA Songwriting Competition and as a 2020 semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. She has won multiple Kindred Awards for Christian Music from 2016-2020, "Female Artist of the Year" in 2016, followed by the "Kindred Choice Award" in 2018, and "Best Hymn Arrangement" in 2020. She was awarded the "Best Organization Award" from the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania in 2017 for Hope After Head Injury and all of Cristabelle's work in the brain injury community.

Cristabelle is a living testimony and fights for what she believes in, through her music, speaking, and advocating for brain injury. She is a sought after speaker, both carrying brain injury awareness and education to medical conferences, as well as powerfully delivering messages of hope and truth at Christian ministry and women's events. Cristabelle has shared her story and given messages at Christian conferences, retreats, youth events, schools, and more; and also spoken at many brain injury events and conferences, most notably having given keynote addresses at the Mayo Clinic Brain Injury Conference in Rochester, MN, as well as statewide brain injury conferences in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Rhode Island, North Dakota, among others. Her devotional book, "more to me: discovering your freedom through identity", was self-published in 2018; it is an interactive prayer journal based on the song of the same name. Her heart is to bring a message of hope to all she encounters.