Developed by Frank Corrigan MD and Jessica Christie-Sands PhD, Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) has made a significant leap in our understanding of trauma and other persistent mental health challenges. DBR offers an innovative and comprehensive framework for understanding the core brain mechanisms responsible for the trauma response, the complex impacts of trauma throughout the lifespan, and ultimately, how to access and process deep traumas. By better understanding the nature and complexity of trauma, DBR creates opportunities for the more effective processing of complex trauma and the pain of traumatic disconnection.

DBR has identified specific sequences which occur in the brain and body during the response to threat and disconnection. These sequences are generated deep within midbrain structures and are likely not effectively accessed through most current therapies. Unlike other approaches, DBR uses the language of these midbrain structures to access traumatic sequences and unlock the brain’s organic healing capacity to process core traumatic wounds. Uniquely, DBR targets traumatic sequences which occur prior to the development of explicit memory and language offering new opportunities for accessing core wounds from prenatal and early childhood experiences.

The simple answer is that Deep Brain Reorienting may be helpful for anybody who experiences unresolved mental health challenges related to the activation of trauma sequences deep in the midbrain. However, it’s not only people who have experienced trauma who benefit from DBR. When we look more deeply, we find that many persistent mental health challenges may be linked to or exacerbated by midbrain traumatic sequences, often early in life.

Clients may be reluctant to process core wounds even when they are the cause of so much suffering. There are, no doubt, far too many clients who have had adverse reactions to other, harsher therapies. However, clients who engage in DBR therapy can find the experience to be quite surprising. Clients often report that their experience of DBR is far gentler, more efficient, more effective, and significantly deeper than other therapeutic interventions. It is for these multiple reasons we use Deep Brain Reorienting as the primary treatment framework at CAMI.

DBR will be unlike any therapy previously encountered. DBR is an experiential, body-based therapy and its uniqueness lies in its capacity to speak the language of midbrain trauma sequences. The first step in Deep Brain Reorienting is to develop specific resources which access midbrain mechanisms while also providing grounding to prevent overwhelm during processing. The client and therapist then collaborate to identify a theme to process and narrow that theme to the precise moment the midbrain registers an initial “uh-oh”. Since DBR is speaking to the trauma circuitry directly, clients will not need to dive deeply into traumatic memories or event history. Upon developing resources and identifying the “uh-oh” moment, processing can begin. The therapist will support the client to unleash the brain’s natural capacity to process this sequence by working through trauma-related shocks, affects, and disconnection wounds.

Clients are often amazed at how little story-telling is necessary in DBR and remark about the relative quietness of their sessions even when deeply connected with the therapist. Processing can often involve multiple sessions to process multiple traumatic sequences. DBR is complete when the client has metabolized the traumatic sequence. This can lead to a reduction of symptoms, a greater sense of inner vitality, a more integrated sense of self, greater inner clarity, and improved functioning in daily life.