As stated by Cureus, “What happens to the child in the early years is crucial to the child’s life course and developmental trajectory.” Despite this fact, it can be common to dismiss early childhood trauma. When we neglect to address the impact of early childhood trauma on mental health in adulthood, however, it is only a matter of time before trauma-related challenges begin to interfere with daily life. Thus, learning about effective treatments for overcoming trauma-related challenges and symptoms, such as neurofeedback therapy, can encourage individuals to utilize the professional support and resources they need to establish lasting recovery.
At Wisconsin Wellness, neurofeedback therapy is one of many trauma therapy treatments we offer to clients to support trauma integration and improve quality of life. Alongside neurofeedback therapy for trauma treatment, we also offer numerous forms of psychotherapy to treat both mental health disorders and substance use disorder (SUD). Our goal is to enhance and improve the lives of every client we serve by individualizing and catering treatment to their unique needs and goals for recovery. Learn more about the Wisconsin Wellness way by contacting us today.
Understanding the Impact of Early Trauma
To understand the impact of childhood trauma, an individual must first understand what childhood trauma can entail. As stated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “Child trauma occurs more than you think. More than two thirds of children reported at least 1 traumatic event by age 16.” Some examples of potentially traumatic events can include, but are not limited to:
- Physical abuse, assault, or violence
- Psychological abuse or neglect
- Sexual assault
- Community, school, or family violence (including witnessing or experiencing domestic violence)
- Sudden or violent loss of a loved one
- Military family-related stressors (including deployment and parental loss)
- Serious accidents, life-threatening illnesses, or other major life transitions
It is important to recognize that trauma is not an event in and of itself; rather, trauma is what occurs as the aftermath of a traumatic or life-threatening event. Oftentimes, it is both a physical and psychological response to an event that has caused either physical, emotional, or life-threatening harm. Many people who experience a traumatic event will go on to live happy and healthy lives without enduring the long-lasting effects of trauma. However, others may experience challenges in accepting the reality of past traumatic events and develop distressing trauma-related symptoms that impair their quality of life.
The Lasting Effects of Trauma on Brain Development
When faced with a threatening event, an individual’s sympathetic nervous system becomes activated, and stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, are released. The surge of these hormones triggers the body’s fight-or-flight (stress) response, preparing the body to either fight the threatening stimulus or flee from it. Meanwhile, effects of the fight-or-flight response include increased heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate and quickened thought and attentional focus.
Once an individual discovers that a perceived threat is either dealt with, harmless, or no longer present, their sympathetic nervous system will deactivate and, in turn, their parasympathetic nervous system will activate. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for restoring the body back to a state of relaxation and balance.
When an individual experiences a traumatic event or chronic stress, however, their sympathetic nervous system can remain active, even long after a perceived threat is removed. As explained in Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, “Stress results in acute and chronic changes in neurochemical systems and specific brain regions, which result in [long-term] changes in brain “circuits,” involved in the stress response.” Meanwhile, chronic activation of this response can increase the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related symptoms.
Other lasting effects of trauma on brain development include impaired brain structure and chronic dysregulation of internal communication and functioning. As a result, individuals with untreated trauma are at risk of experiencing:
- Deficits in verbal declarative memory
- Chronic emotional dysregulation
- Cognitive challenges, such as impaired reasoning and judgment
- Chronic mental health problems
Trauma Changes a Child’s Brain and an Adult’s Life
As highlighted in Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services by SAMHSA, “Trauma, including one-time, multiple, or long-lasting repetitive events, affects everyone differently. . . How an event affects an individual depends on many factors, including characteristics of the individual, the type and characteristics of the event(s), developmental processes, the meaning of the trauma, and sociocultural factors.”
Though a variety of reactions may be experienced by those immediately after experiencing a traumatic event, many of these reactions will resolve without long-term implications. However, some individuals will develop symptoms that not only impair their quality of life but also meet the criteria for trauma-related disorders, including anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and PTSD. Meanwhile, without professional intervention, distressing symptoms associated with unresolved childhood trauma will continue to worsen with time.
Signs You’re Living With Childhood Trauma
According to the aforementioned publication by SAMHSA, individuals may exhibit a variety of trauma-related signs and symptoms not only after experiencing a traumatic event but also long after the event has concluded. More specifically, some of the trauma-related symptoms experienced in adulthood that can be triggered by untreated trauma from childhood include:
- Emotional symptoms: Including severe emotional dysregulation, such as feeling too much (overwhelmed) or feeling too little (numbing), as well as difficulties managing unpleasant emotions like anxiety, anger, and stress
- Physical symptoms: Including somatic complaints, hyperarousal, sleep disturbances, and specific issues related to each of the body’s internal systems
- Cognitive symptoms: Including cognitive errors, excessive guilt, idealization, trauma-induced hallucinations or delusions, intrusive thoughts and memories, triggers and flashbacks, and dissociation, depersonalization, and/or derealization
- Behavioral symptoms: Including reenactment behaviors that are either high-risk or self-injurious, chronic involvement in destructive relationships, using alcohol and other drugs to self-medicate, and avoidance behaviors
- Social/interpersonal symptoms: Including pulling away from loved ones due to beliefs that no one will understand or that their trauma is a burden, difficulties in developing healthy attachments with others or trusting others, and a deep fear of abandonment
- Developmental symptoms: Though age-specific, some developmental symptoms of trauma for adults include sleep problems, increased agitation or hypervigilance, and substance abuse
Additional symptoms of untreated childhood trauma in adults include:
- The presence of mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety disorders
- Low self-esteem and a distorted sense of self
- Difficulties focusing and concentrating on simple tasks
- Physical health concerns with no identifiable cause
- Being unable to cope with personal triggers, whether or not they serve as a reminder of past trauma
- The presence of SUD
Current Efforts to Treat Trauma
Treating early childhood trauma and associated PTSD in adulthood is undoubtedly complex. The process of obtaining recovery involves not only processing and integrating past traumatic experiences but also addressing the presence of any co-occurring conditions. As explained by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), “Most people with PTSD—about 80%—have one or more additional mental health diagnoses.” Thus, PTSD and co-occurring disorders like depression, substance abuse, anxiety disorders, and more must be treated in tandem to ensure long-lasting recovery.
There are many psychological treatments available to address early childhood trauma and PTSD, including both trauma-focused interventions as well as interventions that are not trauma-focused. As explained in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, “Trauma-focused treatments directly address memories of the traumatic event or thoughts and feeling related to the traumatic event.” Examples of trauma-focused treatments include prolonged exposure (PE) therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and cognitive processing therapy (CPT).
Yet, because these treatments expose individuals to trauma-related stimuli, they can pose their own challenges to treatment and recovery. According to Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, “In exchange for its effectiveness, the distress of exposure therapy renders the patients with difficulties in engagement and with a considerable rate of early drop-out (i.e., 20–40% within the first 2 months of the treatment period), which may lead to suboptimal outcomes.” In addition, complex and severe PTSD can also contribute to treatment resistance, meaning that some may not respond at all to certain trauma-focused treatments.
On the other hand, non-trauma-focused treatments work to minimize and/or alleviate the intensity of PTSD symptoms without revisiting traumatic events. Many non-trauma-focused treatments have demonstrated clinical effectiveness. Some examples of non-trauma-focused treatments include relaxation, interpersonal therapy, person-centered therapy, and stress inoculation training (SIT). Additionally, neurofeedback therapy is also a non-trauma-focused treatment that can be especially valuable for overcoming early childhood trauma and associated symptoms of PTSD.
What Is Neurofeedback Therapy?
As explained in Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, “Neurofeedback is a method that assists subjects to control their brain waves consciously.” Using electroencephalography (EEG), an individual’s brain waves are recorded in real-time, providing immediate feedback to participants through audio cues, visual cues, or a combination of both. This is a non-invasive procedure that assists participants in developing healthier patterns of brain activity to improve their quality of life.”
A neurofeedback session begins with electrodes being placed on an individual’s scalp. These electrodes are responsible for recording the “cortical activities of the brain regions that are closest to them,” as stated in the aforementioned article. During neurofeedback training sessions, a participant is aware of the changes that are happening in their brain activity and can monitor their progress while working to achieve optimal performance.
While neurofeedback sessions can differ between programs and facilities, it can help to know what to expect. With an electrode headset placed on the participant’s scalp, the participant may be asked to watch something on a screen, such as a movie. Sensors from the headset will measure and detect the amount of energy that certain brain regions are putting out as the participant becomes engaged in what they are watching.
When the participant’s brain waves are too fast or too slow, the screen will become dim, or the movie will pause. Meanwhile, with each correction that an individual makes to become calmer or more focused, such efforts will reflect in a consistent visual screen.
How Neurofeedback Targets Trauma in the Brain
Neurofeedback therapy incorporates various techniques and strategies from other approaches like mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) as well as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to promote relaxation and mindfulness. It works to target trauma by helping participants strengthen the mind-body connection, thereby enabling them to reach optimal relaxation and concentration. During the moments where neurofeedback stimuli evoke feelings of stress or anxiety, participants can respond by shifting their cortical activity to reduce any discomfort or distress in the present moment.
With repeated efforts in shifting brain activity and associated brain waves during sessions, each participant is working to establish a newfound sense of safety in themselves. They are, quite literally, teaching their brain to self-regulate. For those who struggle with complex PTSD and other long-lasting effects of childhood trauma in adulthood, neurofeedback therapy can be a game-changer not only for reducing trauma-related symptoms but also for promoting a healthier quality of life.
More specifically, according to Alpha Psychiatry, neurofeedback therapy is recognized as both a safe and effective treatment for addressing symptoms of panic and panic disorder when used alongside traditional treatment approaches. In addition, an efficacy evaluation conducted by Frontiers in Neuroscience found that neurofeedback therapy is effective in alleviating anxiety symptoms in those with anxiety disorders by enhancing mindfulness abilities.
Are There Different Types of Neurofeedback Therapy for Trauma?
In addition to treating trauma, neurofeedback therapy can be used to treat many other diagnoses and symptoms. Furthermore, there are several types of neurofeedback therapy, and each type is used to monitor different electrical activity in the brain associated with specific symptomatology. According to the previously mentioned journal titled Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, the main seven types of neurofeedback include:
#1. Frequency/Power Neurofeedback Therapy
This form of neurofeedback therapy is used to alter the speed or amplitude of specific brain waves to, ultimately, treat symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, and insomnia. It involves the use of two to four surface electrodes.
#2. Slow Cortical Potential Neurofeedback Therapy (SCP-NF)
This form of neurofeedback therapy is used to improve the direction of slow cortical activity to treat symptoms of ADHD, epilepsy, and migraines.
#3. Low-Energy Neurofeedback System (LENS)
This form of neurofeedback therapy delivers weak electromagnetic signals to stimulate the brain, allowing it to reset itself. What sets this form of neurofeedback therapy apart from others is that it does not require conscious effort from the participant. Still, it is used to treat a plethora of symptoms and diagnoses, including:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- ADHD
- Insomnia
- Fibromyalgia
- Restless leg syndrome
- Anxiety and anxiety disorders
- Depression
- Anger
#4. Hemoencephalographic (HEG) Neurofeedback Therapy
This form of neurofeedback therapy uses photon-based signals rather than electron-based signals used with standard neurofeedback therapy and associated EEG. It is used to treat ADHD, depression, and migraines by providing feedback on cerebral blood flow.
#5. Live Z-Score Neurofeedback Therapy
This form of neurofeedback therapy uses a normative database to record and compare ongoing electrical activity that is happening in the brain. It is used specifically to treat insomnia.
#6. Low-Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (LORE-TA)
This form of neurofeedback therapy provides three-dimensional images of cortical current density by using “19 electrodes to monitor phase, power, and coherence,” as explained in Basic and Clinical Neuroscience. These neuroimaging techniques work to curate an accurate representation of an individual’s brain structure and internal functioning. It is used to treat symptoms and diagnoses that involve impaired self-regulation, such as SUD and addiction, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
#7. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Lastly, this form of neurofeedback therapy is the most recent form of neurofeedback, offering a higher spatial resolution than other forms. It is used to regulate brain activity by addressing large-scale brain network functions. Some of the symptoms and diagnoses that fMRI neurofeedback is used to treat include:
- Anxiety and anxiety disorders
- Depression
- PTSD
- SUD
- Schizophrenia
Improving Quality of Life With Neurofeedback Therapy at Wisconsin Wellness
At Wisconsin Wellness, we work to address any presenting diagnoses and concerns by using an array of psychotherapy approaches and other treatment modalities. Simply put, we are committed to helping everyone, whether an individual is struggling with complex symptoms of PTSD or an anxiety disorder or seeking transformational healing. No matter why someone seeks treatment, we are dedicated to meeting every client where they are in their healing journey through the use of both individualized and person-centered care.
Neurofeedback is just one of many different treatment modalities we offer to address symptoms of trauma, SUD, and other mental health conditions. Meanwhile, clients can consider utilizing neurofeedback alongside other treatments, like family therapy, for example, to improve the quality of their interpersonal relationships and overall quality of life.
When early childhood trauma is left unaddressed, it can trigger long-lasting effects on brain structure and functioning in adulthood. For instance, unresolved trauma can be the culprit of a dysregulated nervous system, causing an individual to feel constantly anxious or in panic. Unresolved childhood trauma can also contribute to self-destructive behaviors like alcohol and drug use. Fortunately, non-trauma-focused treatments like neurofeedback therapy can help alleviate trauma-related symptoms by monitoring and responding to brain waves in the present moment. At Wisconsin Wellness, we offer neurofeedback therapy alongside many other psychotherapy approaches to uniquely improve the quality of life of each client we serve. Learn more about our outpatient treatment programs by calling (920) 404-2100 today.