Deep Brain Reorienting
DBR is a new psychotherapy that is exciting the trauma field as clients experience processing that feels anchored and manageable rather than overwhelming. It has been developed by Dr. Frank Corrigan, a Scottish psychiatrist with extensive clinical research on the neurobiology of trauma. I have the honour of being trained by him.
See here for more info about Dr. Frank Corrigan and the history of his work.
The transformational theory and practice of Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) lies in its focus on a critical moment most approaches miss. It is a trauma therapy that focuses on the very first moments of a traumatic response—specifically, the milliseconds of brainstem "shock" that occur before defensive reactions (like fight, flight, freeze or collapse) and emotions (like fear, shame, or rage) arise. Unlike many traditional trauma therapies that may overlook this critical moment of shock, DBR focuses on the clearing of this shock, often with high energy impacts coming from the brain stem and showing up in the body.
DBR begins by grounding clients in the present moment through a process called "Where-Self"—a deep awareness of the You who is able to orient in space and time to the here and now.
Once grounded, clients identify the orienting tension—the subtle physical response that precedes shock, anchor into it—and then we wait with attention and care to allow the natural processing to occur.
This careful slowing down allows the brainstem to process the trauma at a physiological level, leading to embodied shifts due to the clearing of long-held shock and the deep brain’s response.
DBR is collaborative, non-invasive, and does not require retelling past trauma in detail. Instead, it helps clients process specific triggering moments slowly and safely, restoring the body's natural vitality and promoting healing from PTSD, anxiety, depression and dissociation, by working with the brain’s own inherent healing mechanisms. It is a transformational rather than counteractive therapy.
It may be refreshing to come to a session and not have to talk about your history, you may prefer not to talk much about it with me. We will chose a moment that you would like to work on. Perhaps the tone of voice from a colleague or family member made you fearful, a dismissive text left you feeling angry or shameful, an unfriendly face left you feeling suspicious or vigilant all afternoon, or a one off event- the moment your body registered the vehicle coming towards you. In other words the moment, the millisecond, that elicited a reaction (in your brainstem).
If you find that your body is braced most of the time, that you are alarmed or shocked by things that do not make much sense in your current context; or you feel numb and disconnected from yourself and the world around you-then working and processing at deeper levels in the brain with DBR could help alleviate whatever is showing up from past events. Often an overwhelming event can compound a sense of pain, may leave one with a long term sense of mistrust, vigilance, insomnia, anxiety or depression. We turn away from an event, or the bad news that felt intolerable, quite literally in the deep brain regions. DBR offers us the capacity to fully process, the brain stem does the “work”, not upper levels of the brain.
We do things carefully and take our time with it. This happens with full collaboration with you, so that it gives pain the chance to clear and resolve. A new perspective of yourself may emerge at the end of a session, small shifts, a change in the capacity for a sense of well-being, giving hope for eventual change.
See here for more info about Dr. Frank Corrigan
DBR is a neuroscience-based treatment for PTSD see here for more information about significant clinical trials 2023 After 8 sessions of DBR , clients had a significant reduction of PTSD symptoms.