Mental Health/Trauma

Mental Health/Trauma

What is Mental Health?

For many of us, emotional health is a difficult topic to discuss because of the stigmatism attached to it. Our culture is fixated on labeling behaviors but other than providing a code to bill to insurance, it does little to help correct the issue.

Emotional Difficulties can be:

  • Anxiety/Depression
  • Impulse behaviors such as ADD/ADHD, PDD, ODD, Aspergers or Autism.
  • Obsessive or Compulsive thinking or behaviors such as gambling, sex, eating or shopping.
  • Stress related issues such as performance anxiety, panic attacks, high blood pressure, headaches or digestive issues.
  • Trauma issues like grief/loss, PTSD, phobias, physical, emotional or sexual abuse, sleep problems or nightmares.
  • And the list goes on…

Mental Health and Brain Dysregulation

But what if emotional health is the result of dysregulation of the neurotransmitters and neural networks? What if there was a way to balance these without the use of synthetic chemicals?

The brain has an amazing capacity for change. This is called neuroplasticity.  Read More...

Every experience changes the brain, it takes events and develops perceptions, which in turn creates behaviors. If behaviors are repeated enough, neural networks begin to wire together and produce a predictable response to given stimulus. This can create an over or under functioning for areas of our brain as well as dramatic shifts in both directions . Brain mapping has taught us that different areas of our brain are utilized in performing certain operations.

We can break down emotional health issues into three basic categories, overarousal, underarousal or instabilities.

  • Overarousal is the overstimulation of a neural pathway.
  • Underarousal is the understimulation of a neural pathway.
  • Instability is the shifting between these two states.

My Philosophy

In my practice, I have found several modalities helpful in working with emotional health issues.

Nutrition, nutrients and amino acids are essential for providing the basic building blocks for maintaining brain health.

Neurofeedback and EMDR can stimulate neural networks and help the brain regulate and heal itself.

Motivational Interviewing and CBT are counseling strategies used for continued growth.