DEEP BRAIN REORIENTATION
DEEP BRAIN REORIENTING (DBR): HEALING OF THE SHOCK AT THE CORE OF TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE
DR FRANK CORRIGAN
Throughout a career spanning over 30 years as an NHS Consultant Psychiatrist in Scotland, Frank combined his extensive clinical experience with research on the neurobiology of trauma and its underpinnings in major psychiatric disorders. His research broadly explored the intersection between
affective Neuroscience and the science of healing culminating in the development of Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR)®. This new and novel psychotherapeutic approach emphasises the importance of tracking a distinctive neurophysiological sequence embedded in ‘deep brain’ systems. One of the most unique aspects of DBR as a trauma-focused therapy, is the embodiment of a natural healing process that is consonant with the evolutionary process of the developing brain and nervous system.
DR JESSICA CHRISTIE-SANDS
Dr Jessica Christie-Sands is a Consultant Psychologist registered with the Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC), a Chartered Scientist (CSci) and Associate Fellow of the British
Psychological Society (AFBPs). She is an EMDR Europe Approved Consultant, a Certified Advanced Sensorimotor Psychotherapist and a Certified Neurosequential Practitioner in both NMT and NME. Her current research interest lies on the interface between embryology, prenatal adversity, and perinatal mental health with a particular focus on the neurobiology of early life shock and pre-attachment wounding and the painful presence of absence. She is co-author of the original paper on DBR with Dr Frank Corrigan as well as two book chapters focusing on early life disruptions in connection and their impact on the developing capacity for attachment.
WORKSHOP
Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) is a trauma psychotherapy based in an understanding of the brainstem mechanisms for orienting and affective / defensive responding. It introduces the idea of preaffective shock, an activation arising in the brainstem, with many attendant subjective phenomena; intensification of subsequent affective responses; disruption of sleep; enhanced vigilance; and disruption of memory processing.
Sometimes it is difficult to get to the core of an adverse experience because returning to the event is emotionally overwhelming and there is a protective tendency to turn attention away from the memory as soon as possible. Sometimes there is a more evident dissociation from the present-day experience through numbing, blanking out, shutting down or switching into a self-state like that which occurred at the time of the original trauma. Relying on the human brain’s inherent capacity of healing, DBR aims to treat traumatic shock and its sequelae in a way which is not overwhelming and does not precipitate dissociative responses.
Learning Objectives:
Describe DBR and when it can be used in trauma treatment
Describe the importance of shock and recognize its signs
Define the orienting tension and its role in trauma and in DBR
Describe the sequence at the heart of DBR and how it works in practice
Identify the parts of the brain involved in processing threat and trauma
Demonstrate the locating of Where-Self and define its importance for DBR
Training time: 3 hours
4th Australia and New Zealand Refugee Trauma Recovery in Resettlement Conference
© Copyright 2025 FASSTT