Trauma and neuromodulation

The developmental impact of relational trauma is enormous. The structure of the brain is developing during the first years of life, and any traumatic event affects all areas of its formation.

On the other hand, there is no greater trauma in childhood than experiencing abandonment. The social brain of the newborn, baby and child will look for known signals that can provide calm to feel security, to ensure basic security that allows them to stay relaxed to be able to serve the world without the perception of a threat constant. If this is not the case, the nervous system experiences chronic levels of overactivation or underactivation that are maintained even after having an adequate system of care and attachment.

• Related article: "Neurofeedback: what is this therapeutic tool and how is it used?"

Neuromodulation in trauma cases

On the prologue of the book Neurofeedback in the treatment of developmental trauma: Calming the fear-driven brain by Sebern F. Fisher, Bessel A. Van der Kolk tells us how he met S. Fisher in 2007 at a conference on attachment and how he faced in that encounter a new paradigm, a new way of understanding the mind, the brain and the body. He tells us how he interviewed patients treated with neurofeedback at the S. Fisher, and how surprised he was by his remarks. One of them collects and summarizes the evolutions described by these patients:

“Yes, I gradually became an attached person. When you are not afraid or confused, you can meet people in a different way ”.

Vitaliza professionals have been intervening with neurofeedback since 1999 and we have the enthusiasm of Bessel A. Van der Kolk, one of the leading trauma specialists, when assessing neurofeedbck. This leads us to subscribe to his words: “Probably the biggest challenge in mental health is how we can help patients with serious affect regulation problems, such as those I interviewed in the office of Sebern.

This is often the result of severe childhood abuse and neglect - also known as developmental trauma - in which a lack of synchronicity in the first relationships with the caregiver leads to abnormal rhythms of the brain, mind and body. " "In neurofeedback, We seem to encourage the brain to establish new oscillatory patterns that improve its natural complexity and its inherent and necessary bias towards self-regulation".

On Vitalizes Health Psychology, neurofeedback is part of our therapeutic intervention, to help and facilitate the regulation of the central nervous system.

Early Leaving Trauma Therapy

Two years ago we started an investigation with children who have suffered early abandonment; We had been intervening with adopted children and their families for years, and we set out to investigate what we had observed at the clinical level until then.

One in four internationally adopted minors between the ages of 8 and 12 in Spain has problems with school adaptation, while more than one a quarter of parents report externalized and internalized problems, in addition to poor adaptive skills, which require attention specialized. When they reach adolescence, internationally adopted children are referred to mental health services more often than non-adopted children.

In our Vitaliza psychology cabinet, we frequently come across families with internationally adopted children who come for psychological support, especially in ages prior to adolescence. The evaluation and treatment of these cases requires an approach that takes into account both the difficulties of school adjustment and the deficits in cognitive functions, such as behavior problems, and the abilities and capacities that children and their families have to cope with them.

The empirical evidence available on the efficacy of treatments focused on trauma in the child and adolescent population is limited and usually focuses on treating the symptoms traumatic, while there is a tendency to relegate other psychological symptoms that very frequently derive from exposure to trauma and cause more inability.

For this reason, at Vitaliza we wanted to empirically demonstrate that neurofeedback training can serve as an emotional stabilizer, combined with other therapies such as eye movement reprocessing therapy or EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), improving emotional regulation and providing experiences of achievement and connection emotional.

Conference on Trauma and Neuromodulation

The experienced professional in Neurofeedback Sebern Fisher, with whom we will have the opportunity to learn in Conference on Trauma and Neuromodulation, she expresses in her book Neurofeedback in the treatment of developmental trauma, that thanks to brain training, we can alleviate the consequences of abandonment in early childhood.

This study will be presented at the first Conference on Trauma and Neuromodulation, which will take place in Madrid from April 16 to 19 organized by the Spanish Society of biofeedbck and neurofeedback, SEBINE. In these days we will present our research, which aimed to evaluate the emotional, cognitive and behavioral changes associated with Combined Neurofeedback and EMDR Treatment in Internationally Adopted Children Aged 8-11 Years.

These Days are an opportunity to learn how Neurofeedback works and what it can contribute to Developmental trauma. The Conference will count, as we have already said, with the presence of the renowned expert in trauma S. Fisher. In this space, we will have the opportunity to share the results obtained after applying the combined neurofeedback and EMDR treatment.

These results support the hypotheses raised, finding statistically significant results reported by both children and families, in all areas evaluated. As relevant data, it should be noted that the area in which the most evidence of improvement from various sources of information is concentrated is that of cognitive functioning. Parents observed statistically significant reductions in attention problems, somatic complaints, hyperactivity-impulsivity, anger, and isolation. The children reported an improvement in family relationships and self-esteem, both statistically significant.

This shows a greater adaptation to the various contexts, in which both parents and children see important signs of improvement that seem to confirm each other. All this leads us to confirm that the combined intervention of neurofeedback training and EMDR improves emotional regulation in children with neglect trauma, in addition to other areas cognitive. To quote the prestigious therapist Sebern Fisher again "Just as emotional regulation is the first task of good parenting, it is also the first task of effective therapy."

Authors: Anabel de la Cruz, neuropsychologist. Cristina Cortés psychologist specializing in trauma.