If you’ve experienced trauma you know it. But not with your head. You know it with your body.
Maybe you are compelled to work out excessively. In DC it can be hard to know what excess is since everyone is always running a marathon.
You may be unable to sleep or unable to sleep without nightmares. Or unable to sleep without nightmares unless you drink before you sleep or use cannabis at night.
Perhaps you have a hard time at work. Paying attention, listening to others, needing to get up, looking around, dealing with social anxiety, isolating yourself, and oversharing at the company happy hour, are all signs that you are processing trauma.
These are all symptoms that your body is out of sync.
Downplaying our Trauma
Many of us who have had trauma downplay it. Your trauma is trauma regardless of how much more or less trauma someone else has. It isn’t one of these “eat your food because kids in Africa are starving” contradictions.
Trauma can be easily defined as anything that overwhelms your ability to cope. This can mean the classic issues, like sexual assault, motor vehicle accidents, abuse from parents, abuse from partners, bullying, etc. It can also mean when someone yelled at you. Or when you hit turbulence in an airplane. Or when you had a really bad interaction with a doctor.
Denise LaBarre wrote a book called The Issues Are in Your Tissues. Bessel van der Kolk wrote a book called The Body Keeps the Score. Our Director, Schuyler Cunningham, has published multiple papers on traumatic stress in peer-reviewed journals.
Don’t downplay your trauma. It is too costly. Discover how neurofeedback for trauma can help you.
Beyond the Standard for Trauma-Informed Care
The standard of care for trauma-informed care is talk therapy and medication. Trauma-informed mental health care needs to include an element to help your body process the trauma. A fascinating book looks at why most animals who experience trauma process it immediately. Humans don’t process it immediately.
Schuyler Cunningham, our Director, has written a book on neurofeedback and his chapter on neurofeedback is published in the Social Worker’s Desk Reference Guide (see chapter 60).
Neurofeedback is an evidence-based treatment for depression. 50 years of advanced research shows how neurofeedback is effective and is a compliment to the current standard of care.
Neurofeedback for Trauma
In fact, Neurofeedback retrains your brain. This is really important for people with trauma. It is really important because it incorporates your body into the therapy. If we listen through our bodies we can heal our trauma quickly. Neurofeedback for trauma is all body based.
There are a few different kinds of neurofeedback. DCNE also uses many forms of amplitude training to target brain waves, including Alpha/Theta training, as well as z-score training, and infra-slow fluctuation (ISF) neurofeedback. These are all accepted forms of neurofeedback and can be very effective.
We don’t fit you or your brain into a box. We use the best kind of neurofeedback for trauma for you.
What to Expect During Neurofeedback for Trauma
We begin our neurofeedback process with a QEEG. The QEEG is the baseline measure of your brain wave activity. We turn the data from a QEEG into a BrainMap. The Brain Map is a summary of the brain wave activity during the QEEG.
Most other practices haven’t invested in the extensive training required to administer and interpret a QEEG. That means you have no idea how the neurofeedback training is going. We have invested. We will show you the results.
Our motto is a reframe of the famous Gandhi quote “Be the change you wish to see.” We say “See the change you wish to be!” A QEEG allows you to see how you’re improving with neurofeedback for trauma.
The Brain Map Guides Us to the Best Treatment Options
From the Brain Map we decide the best form of neurofeedback training for your brain and to meet your goals. For example, if you were in a relationship with a narcissist, you might have some trauma. We can help with that. When you’re done with your neurofeedback training we take another QEEG and make another Brain Map. Then we SHOW YOU the results so you can see for yourself.
A QEEG cannot be used to make a mental health diagnosis. It can support and further explain a diagnosis.
Neurofeedback Training is the Next Step After the QEEG.
It is the actual practice of training the brain to function better.
Neurofeedback trains the brain to function better but rewards and/or inhibits brain waves that might prevent the brain from functioning in the healthiest manner. The goals of the training are always set by you so that we know which mental health symptoms we want to reduce or enhance. If your goal is to deal with the anxiety of the unknown, neurofeedback for trauma can help with that too.
You are Involved Every Step of the Way
This can be very hard to understand. There are technical words, abbreviations, and YOUR BRAIN!
To bring you along during your neurofeedback for trauma we will send you a number of emails during your neurofeedback training. These emails educate you about the process. They also seek your input about how it is going. We want to hear from you about what you’re experiencing. You are the most important part of this equation.
Your Commitment to Neurofeedback for Trauma
Neurofeedback for trauma sessions is usually about 45-60 minutes long. We really encourage training two times per week. It makes the whole process faster for you and people tend to get better results. We even give a discount if you do two sessions per week because we really want you to do two sessions per week.
During the neurofeedback session, we will place a cap on your head. This involves minimal touching of your head only. We tell you this so you can prepare and so you can ask us questions during your free consultation. We want you to be comfortable.
Most people do at least 25-30 sessions. The number of sessions you need will be determined as we go. That is why you’re involved every step of the way.
We offer neurofeedback for trauma because it is effective.
In fact, we have seen it work for over 10 years. We are happy to discuss any possible side effects with you before you start neurofeedback for trauma.
Our clients see a marked improvement in their mental health symptoms after using neurofeedback for trauma. Many of them can reduce or even stop their medication entirely. In fact, we do neurofeedback because so many of our clients asked for something besides medications.
Discover how Neurofeedback for Trauma in Washington, DC can help you today.
Maybe you’re sick of the medication rat race. Or you’re sick or tired of “Uh-huh, tell me more” therapists. If you are ready for something new.
Our clients love the results they get from neurofeedback, that it sticks over time, and that they can often come off or reduce the dose of their medications.
We will guide you through the process. We offer consultations for anyone interested in our services or who wants to know more. You can book your consultation on our website, by texting us at 202-998-2343 (ADHD), or by emailing [email protected].
We offer free consultations because we want to answer your questions before we begin neurofeedback for trauma. We are your resource, even if you don’t work with us.
Beyond Neurofeedback for Trauma
In addition to cutting-edge neurofeedback, we offer:
- Neurofeedback for ADHD
- Neurofeedback for Depression
- Comprehensive mental health assessments
- ADHD mental health assessments for children and adults
- EMDR-focused therapy for trauma
- ADHD focused therapy
- Therapy for Anxiety
- Therapy for Depression
At DCNE we aren’t just an “uh huh, tell me more” kind of therapy practice. We want to get in there with you and provide real tangible results. This is accomplished through assessments, behavioral counseling, and emotional processing to deal with the stigma of mental health and not feeling good enough.
It is a complete package to get you where you want to be. Get in touch with us today.