Health Check Podcast
(01/03/17)
Who is this Web Page for?
In my first book, Ending the Nightmare of PTSD, I choose to focus on our combat Veterans and their significant others, in order to instill a seed of hope where before, there has been prevailing despair. My intent was to inform our service men and women as well as their loved ones that there now exists a rapid and noninvasive way to end the daily suffering incurred as a result of their combat related sacrifices. I choose to do this to replace the pervasive and erroneous belief that too many of our mental health professionals have about PTSD being a lifelong psychic injury that cannot be healed.
My second book: (Brain On Fire: A Therapist’s Guide to Extinguishing the Flames of PTSD), was designed for those healers who seek an alternative, revolutionary approach based on a hypothesis that although PTSD is triggered by trauma, it is really a disease of memory.
I challenged healers to question status quo beliefs about the permanency of PTSD and to join me in an exciting new adventure into a world of transformative opportunity by understanding and then implementing a treatment I have come to call RESET Therapy (Reconsolidation Enhancement through Stimulation of Emotional Triggers). The third book in the series (The Treatment of PTSD Comorbid Conditions: Including: Addiction; Chronic Pain; Complex PTSD; Dementia; Depression; Sleep Disorder; Survivor’s Guilt; Traumatic Brain Disorder has been created for the purpose of detailing how varied circuits involved in the above conditions may be remediated. The term comorbid generally refers to at least two different disorders that simultaneously occur in the same person. Thus, each chapter is focused upon a specific comorbid condition that frequently accompanies PTSD.
My perspective is that generally, each of these conditions represents a facet of the PTSD neuronal network in the brain. I believe that we can refer to it as a multi-faceted diamond although what is reflected from this undesirable gem is black light. I have found that at times, when the core trauma circuit is reset, the other conditions normalize as well. On other occasions, a specific facet of the circuit requires an individualized ‘tuning in’ so that the binaural sound resonates with that specific target. Furthermore, conditions such as depression are amenable to this type of treatment in their own right, independent of the presence or absence of trauma. Thus, the practitioner can apply RESET Therapy within the context of multiple and varied clinical situations.
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My review of current PTSD literature suggests that presently a micro focus dominates research efforts absent of an overview systemic perspective of the condition. I found one recent book (2016) that diverges from this ever-narrowing perspective taking a much broader and comprehensive view. The authors report that:
“Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has a prevalence of 6.8% among the American population and an even greater prevalence among combat veterans. The conventional view of PTSD has been to view it as a psychological adjustment disorder characterized by depression and anxiety in response to stressful circumstances. Recently, however, it has become apparent that it is much more than a psychological adjustment disorder. This began with the appreciation of the fact that dementia is much more common in PTSD than earlier thought, suggesting neurological changes associated with the disorder. There is now evidence for psychiatric changes (e.g., mood disorders, substance use and abuse), cardiovascular changes, auto-immune changes (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis), tumorigenic changes, etc. (Bukhbinder & Schulz, 2016).”
I included the above material because it is my belief that the authors of this book are on the right track. My own perspective is that human beings have not yet adapted to a level necessary for them to sustain the pressures and stresses of modern life. Rather, when we experience trauma, our minds are programmed at a genetic level to go into a defensive, protective mode to ensure our survival. Understanding this self-protective cortical mechanism permits us to turn the growth switch back on by resetting the altered frozen neuronal circuitry. Each chapter of this text addresses different comorbid features that are frequently associated with PTSD. Case studies will be provided where possible to illustrate the potential for change that RESET Therapy can offer.
Originally, I thought that seven chapters would suffice however, I was stunned by the concurrence and elevated percentages of sleep disorders in those with chronic PTSD. Amazingly, this was the case even in those Veterans who were alleged to have ‘successfully’ completed treatment for PTSD. How can we be so blind? I've come to the conclusion that unless the comorbid condition of sleep disorder is eliminated through the specified ‘gold standard’ or experimental treatment, the PTSD neuronal network remains activated even if this is at a subconscious level. To state it differently, if the sleep disturbance isn’t normalized, I consider the treatment to be a failure in re-establishing a homeostatic systemic balance in the afflicted individual. Although this has not yet been proven, the hypothesis becomes readably testable. I will plan to explore this thesis in the near future.
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Once again, I need to state that this is not a DIY (Do It Yourself) project. Beyond what you have read in my earlier books, you will need to implement specialized ‘hands on’ training leading to your being certified in RESET Therapy before applying this treatment in clinical settings.