Emotional Trauma & PTSD

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Neurofeedback

Neurofeedback for emotional trauma & Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

When a person has an emotionally traumatic experience that is overwhelming, the trauma of the event (or events) gets stored in the brain in an unprocessed way.  This is because areas of the brain like the hippocampus, that are important for long term memory storage, don’t work as well when the person is under stress, and so effectively the memory is now ‘in the wrong place’. 

Depending on the nature of the event(s) and the age at which the trauma happened, this can affect brain function, and therefore how people experience life, in several ways.  Common signs can be anxiety, depression, flash backs, shaking, phobias or Tourette’s like symptoms, but there are many more.  Generally, the natural area of difficulty that a person has is heightened.  This means, for example, if you are already a bit anxious, you become more or chronically anxious.  Depending on the severity, this can be very debilitating.

A relaxed alert state is dependent on many factors.  Two key factors are the interconnection of systems within the brain, and the level of and relationship between the frequencies on which they run. 

Emotional trauma and PTSD can switch up the ‘fight / flight / freeze’ responses in the limbic system, which then doesn’t recognise when it’s safe to ‘rest and digest’, leading to the person being unable to relax, often with a ‘tired but wired’ feeling.  There are also areas of the brain that store unprocessed trauma, and the imbalances this can cause are also linked to difficulties in regulating emotions.

Action Plan

The first thing to do is understand the person’s history and assess their brain frequencies.  If there is additional information from family and friends as well as professional reports these can be helpful.  There can be many systems within the brain that may need help to find a better balance, therefore full understanding is key.  Once we have a good level of understanding, I will help the person retrain the frequencies that are in need, helping them move towards a more relaxed alert state.

Emotional trauma and PTSD can switch up the ‘fight / flight / freeze’ responses in the limbic system, which then doesn’t recognise when it’s safe to ‘rest and digest’

Counselling

Counselling for emotional trauma & Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

With this area of work more than any other, it is important to balance the person’s counselling needs with their neurofeedback needs.  For example, neurofeedback can trigger emotional processing, and working with an old trauma is likely to require more of the session time being focused on the counselling.  

From the work of many researchers and therapists, there is a deep awareness that trauma is not just ‘mental’, but also stored physically and there is a deep interconnection between these two areas.  Therefore, working with any kind of trauma requires working with many aspects of the person.

Action Plan

My priority is to work at the person’s pace.  Emotional trauma is difficult, and it is common for people to start talking about what troubles them several sessions into us working together.  My role is to provide a sense of safety, so the person feels safe and supported in exploring their traumatic experience(s). 

Some people want to keep the neurofeedback the focus, others the counselling.  However, most want a blended session, so we are addressing the trauma both on the level of the brain and the emotions, but it is up to the individual and we can change focus as the therapy progresses.