Psychotherapy Perspectives
Structural Dissociation
Dissociation is a protective mechanism of the brain and nervous system to try and minimize the impact of being overwhelmed. Dissociation happens to everyone. The degree of dissociation depends on how overwhelming the incident is to the individual, their window of tolerance to emotion and arousal in the nervous system, and the chronic nature of how often this may happen especially in childhood. Dissociation is on a spectrum. It can range from every day and normal, to severe and chronic. Treating dissociation is important in order to get to the underlying divide that disrupts the organic flow of information across the nervous system and helps treat the symptoms that are caused by dissociation.
EMDR Psychotherapy
EMDR psychotherapy addresses experiences that overwhelme the brain’s coping capacity, thereby generating traumatic symptoms and/or harmful coping strategies. Repeated studies show that EMDR therapy can heal in an accelerated rate from trauma. The technique uses eye movements that resemble REM sleep. These eye movements are thought to increase the ability for the brain to rapidly process memories. The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, we simply remove the block and healing resumes.
Relational Psychology
Relational Somatic Psychology is an integrated approach that considers body, mind, and spirit when addressing the whole field of human suffering and transformation. In the relational somatic process, we explore fixed ways of perceiving oneself and the world. What we would call "reality" may not be reality at all. Usually it's a way we perceive the world through our negative beliefs and feelings. We will examine the "truth" of our existing systems of meaning and the powerful emotions that hold them in place. Every trauma is created in a relational field, and it takes a healing relational event to correct them. The nervous system is able to have new experiences that can allow us to be free of all the limiting beliefs that hold us back from acheiving our full potential.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a method that integrates sensorimotor processing with cognitive and emotional processing. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy uses the body as a primary entry point in processing trauma, and as the mechanism to release the held back fight or flight defenses, attachment defenses and emotions. We often need to sequence through impulses that were sent in the nervous system and not acted on. These impulses can stay in the nervous system for years causing many problems such as adrenal fatigue, exhaustion, the inability to discern safety, feeling younger than we actually are, etc.
Deep Brain Reorienting
Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) uses mindfulness and somatic experience to access the core of a traumatic experiences. By working with the part of the brain that is the first to orient in situations of danger or attachment disruption, we can quickly get to the shock or underlying attachment pain that is often very difficult to access. The healing of shock can facilitate easier and faster access to healing the deep trauma and attachment wounds that lie underneath it. The brain can then re-orient to the present moment more fully.
Neural Organization Technique
The aim of Neural Organization Technique is to reorganize the function of the nervous system in relation to fundamental survival systems. These body systems are like a biological computer system composed of specific neurological programs for everything we see, do, and feel. Some programs are innate while others are acquired over time as needs present. Trauma, in all of its possibilities, can and will disrupt the neural programs within these reflex systems, which then send inappropriate, compensatory signals to the body. The purpose of the Neurological Organizational Technique is to re-establish optimal neural function by resetting neural pathways and undoing compensatory states.
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