Developmental trauma has long been recognized as a condition that affects many individuals. It stems from early childhood experiences of abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Those affected by this type of trauma, generally involving a primary caregiver, experience symptoms that indicate varying degrees of emotional dysregulation. These symptoms can include fear, rage, social isolation, anxiety, self-destructive behaviors, and more as a result of traumatic experiences. This condition is also referred to as a type of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Many therapists have attempted to address and remediate individuals affected by this disorder, with varying degrees of success. Research into the areas of the brain affected by traumatic experiences has uncovered a mind-brain connection between the traumatic experiences and the individual’s response to the trauma.
Psychotherapy alone has been hampered in successfully remediating the condition. Recent research in brain function has provided evidence of the involvement of deep brain areas that process and respond to traumatic experiences. These deep brain areas are separate from and independent of the psychotherapy model of intervention, indicating that they are generally inaccessible to that modality.
Current research is focusing on the deep brain structures most affected by trauma. These areas of the brain are not easily accessible through talk therapy because they are nonverbal in nature. For example, the right amygdala (right temporal area) is one area of the brain affected by emotional experience. It is nonverbal and cannot tell time (a function of the left frontal area). Therefore, any therapy addressing emotional content must do so nonverbally in the emotional, nonverbal processing center. Other areas of the brain, particularly in the brain stem, are similarly affected and responsive. Because these areas are nonverbal, they are apart from the language of talk therapy.
Neurofeedback can calm the trauma-affected parts of the brain. Calming through neurofeedback, when combined with psychotherapy, effectively remediates the effects of developmental trauma.