Neurotherapy for PTSD

Comprehensive Neurotherapy at BODY MIND & BRAIN in Gold Coast is the best “treatment” for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). But to be precise, Neurotherapy is an intervention that addresses the underlying cause and not just another passive treatment to temporarily suppress symptoms. Let me tell you why it’s the best option.

(If you want to study the topic in more depth, have a look at the academic literature in the section SCIENTIFIC REFERENCES at the bottom of this page!)

What You should know about PTSD

Before rushing into any treatment or therapy, it is crucial to collect some information first. We know, trauma can cause PTSD. The question is: What exactly is PTSD? And what is the best therapy for PTSD?

The War inside the Brain

When a Brain is overwhelmed by distressing emotions, it can fail to recover and remain stuck in a dysregulated state. Apart from the atrocities of war, there are many sources of overwhelmingly distressing emotions — especially during childhood — lingering on throughout adult life.

Abused Children unbeaten

Not every traumatic event leads to PTSD. Statistics show, people abused in childhood have the highest vulnerability — unsurprisingly. So it is fair to say, every Brain is vulnerable to emotional trauma, but some cannot recover and end up suffering long afterwards as well [Image Lightbox].

Symptoms Day and Night

PTSD affects many Brain networks which can cause a multitude of symptoms: Problems with mood and emotions, insomnia, hypervigilance, distressing memories, but also avoidant behaviours, social isolation, lack of joy as well as substance abuse are common problems [Image Lightbox].

A Perfect Storm

In Brains with PTSD, the threat detection system is stuck in constant emergency mode whereas the command centre — responsible for cancelling the alarm — is out of order. So, on the level of Brain circuitry, PTSD constitutes a “perfect storm”.

More Labels = More Better?

When the symptoms of PTSD become more severe, doctors usually label them as co-morbidities (= more likely in PTSD). It only shows that a dysregulated PTSD-Brain can create a lot of of problems which require a targeted rehabilitation — not more symptomatic drugs [Image Lightbox].

PTSD Treatment: The Body

Sometimes it is unavoidable to manage PTSD symptoms temporarily with medication, but that’s pretty much where it ends. Better than drugs are Exercise Therapy, Pet Therapy and — believe it or not — energetic techniques like EFT® (Emotional Freedom Technique; “Tapping”).

PTSD Treatment: The Mind

The recommended psychotherapeutic method for PTSD is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). Since this therapy can be slow, tedious and emotionally draining, we urgently advise to pair it with Comprehensive Neurotherapy in order to speed up the healing process.

Targeting the root of PTSD in the Brain

Trauma resolution with EMDR can be very beneficial. Yet, it falls short in cases of • many traumatic events (e.g. after childhood abuse) and • prolonged exposure (e.g. after childhood neglect). In such cases, it is best to normalise the affected Brain networks directly with Neurotherapy.

Altered Brains can change for the better

In summary: Traumatic events can disrupt normal Brain function — that’s PTSD. Neurotherapy re-normalises Brain function — that’s reasonable. Dr Daniel Amen’s famous SPECT scans show the PTSD-damage before, and the recovered Brain after Neurotherapy.

Normal Brain = No Symptoms

This graph of a real PTSD case shows how all the related symptoms decrease and disappear during successful Neurotherapy. The US Army uses Neurofeedback Therapy for the rehabilitation of PTSD because of its unmatched success rate.

Advantages of Neurotherapy

• … works effortlessly for everybody
• … is amazingly powerful and effective
• … corrects the root cause
• … is a very natural, drug-free solution
• … has no serious risks or side effects
• … is fully evidence-based (And the sessions are even fun! )

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SELECTED SCIENTIFIC REFERENCES

PTSD

Hull “Neuroimaging findings in post-traumatic stress disorder” Br J Psychiatry 2002 181:102-10
Depue et al “Reduced Amygdala Volume Is Associated with Deficits in Inhibitory Control: A Voxel- and Surface-Based Morphometric Analysis of Comorbid PTSD/Mild TBI” Biomed Res Int 2014:691505
Starcevic et al “Volumetric Analysis of Amygdala, Hippocampus, and Prefrontal Cortex in Therapy-Naive PTSD Participants” Biomed Res Int 2014:968495
Qi et al “Cortical inhibition deficits in recent onset PTSD after a single prolonged trauma exposure” Neuroimage Clin 2013;3:226–233
Sun et al “Alterations in White Matter Microstructure as Vulnerability Factors and Acquired Signs of Traffic Accident-Induced PTSD” PLoS One 2013;8(12):e83473
Kuo et al “Amygdala volume in combat-exposed veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder: a cross-sectional study” Arch Gen Psychiatry 2012;69(10):1080-6
Hall et al “The relationship between Hippocampal asymmetry and working memory processing in combat-related PTSD – a monozygotic twin study” Biol Mood Anxiety Disord 2012;2:21
Morey et al “Amygdala volume changes in posttraumatic stress disorder in a large case-controlled veterans group” Arch Gen Psychiatry 2012;69(11):1169-78
Qin et al “A preliminary study of alterations in default network connectivity in post-traumatic stress disorder patients following recent trauma” Brain Res 2012;1484:50-6
Herringa et al “Post-traumatic stress symptoms correlate with smaller subgenual cingulate, caudate, and insula volumes in unmedicated combat veterans” Psychiatry Res 2012; 203(2-3):139–145
Zhou et al “Early Altered Resting-State Functional Connectivity Predicts the Severity of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Acutely Traumatized Subjects” PLoS One 2012;7(10):e46833
Rabinak et al “Altered Amygdala Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” Front Psychiatry 2011;2:62
Kroes et al ”Structural brain abnormalities common to posttraumatic stress disorder and depression” J Psychiatry Neurosci 2011;36(4):256-65
Kroes et al ”Association between flashbacks and structural brain abnormalities in posttraumatic stress disorder” Eur Psychiatry. 2011;26(8):525-31
Eckart et al ”Structural alterations in lateral prefrontal, parietal and posterior midline regions of men with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder” J Psychiatry Neurosci 2011;36(3):176-86
Hayes et al “Reduced hippocampal and amygdala activity predicts memory distortions for trauma reminders in combat-related PTSD J Psychiatr Res. May 2011;45(5):660–669
Cardenas et al “Changes in brain anatomy during the course of PTSD” Psychiatry Res 2011;193(2):93–100
Apfel et al “Hippocampal Volume Differences in Gulf War Veterans with Current Versus Lifetime Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms” Biol Psychiatry 2011;69(6):541–548
Carrion et al “Converging evidence for abnormalities of the prefrontal cortex and evaluation of midsagittal structures in pediatric PTSD: an MRI study” Psychiatry Res 2009;172(3):226–234
Woodward et al “Smaller global and regional cortical volume in combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2009;66(12):1373-82
Bremner “Alterations in brain structure and function associated with post-traumatic stress disorder” Semin Clin Neuropsychiatry 1999;4(4):249-55
Fiszman et al “Traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures” Epilepsy Behav 2004;5(6):818-25
Frayne SM et al “Medical care needs of returning veterans with PTSD: their other burden” J Gen Intern Med 2011;26(1):33-9
Matsuo K et al “Hypoactivation of the prefrontal cortex during verbal fluency test in PTSD: a near-infrared spectroscopy study” Psychiatry Res 2003;124(1):1-10
Pacella et al “The impact of ptsd treatment gold coast on the cortisol awakening response” Depress Anxiety 2014 Oct;31(10):862-9
Krüger et al “Sudden losses and sudden gains during a DBT PTSD treatment gold coast for posttraumatic stress disorder following childhood sexual abuse” Eur J Psychotraumatol 2014 Sep 17;5
Galovski at al “Changes in Anger in Relationship to Responsivity to PTSD Treatment gold coast” Psychol Trauma 2014;6(1):56-64
McLay et al “Effect of virtual reality PTSD treatment gold coast on mood and neurocognitive outcomes” Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw 2014;17(7):439-46
Rauch et al “Review of exposure therapy: a gold standard for PTSD treatment gold coast” J Rehabil Res Dev 2012;49(5):679-87
Peniston EG et al “Alpha-theta brainwave neurofeedback for Vietnam veterans with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder” Medical Psychotherapy 1991;4(1):47-60
Graap et al “EEG biofeedback treatment for Vietnam veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder” J Neurotherapy, 1997;2(3), 65–66
Nelson et al “Neurotherapy of traumatic brain injury/posttraumatic stress symptoms in OEF/OIF veterans” J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 2012;24(2):237-40
Wahbeh et al “Peak high-frequency HRV and peak alpha frequency higher in PTSD” Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 2013;38(1):57-69
Zotev et al “Prefrontal control of the amygdala during real-time fMRI neurofeedback training of emotion regulation” PLoS One 2013;6;8(11):e79184
Kluetsch et al “Plastic modulation of PTSD resting-state networks and subjective wellbeing by EEG neurofeedback” Acta Psychiatr Scand 2014;130(2):123-36
Foster et al “Surface and LORETA Neurofeedback in the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury” In Thatcher/Lubar “Z Score Neurofeedback: Clinical Applications” Academic Press, San Diego, CA (2014)

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