TRAUMA HEALING HOMEWORK
Alternating Bilateral Stimulation
When working with my clients, I suggest they do homework in between sessions using music digitally produced to provide audible Alternating Bilateral Stimulation (ABS), which is a component of EMDR therapy (Eye-Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) and Brainspotting (BSP). The unique Alternating Bilateral Stimulation has a relaxing effect and supports the neural integration of new perspectives and healing of negatively charged memories, particularly when it is paired with specific tasks I provide to support work done in individual therapy sessions.
ABS stimulates the hippocampus, a part of the brain which orients a person in time and space and prepares you for what to expect in that time and space. Traumatic experiences can affect the functioning of the hippocampus so that it fails to place you in the correct time and place. This results in flashback experiences and out-of-context feelings and reactions. The proper functioning of the hippocampus places traumatic experiences into a memory context that enables it to be encoded differently in the brain's filing system and thus can be remembered without the sense of re-experiencing it. The past can then truly be put behind you.
What is Healing Homework ?
Healing homework is given to my clients as part of their overall treatment plan. These homework assignments increase self-awareness, build inner and outer resources and coping skills, helps further understand and process critical events in a client's history, and helps gain more confidence, compassion, connection and clarity to restore and create a feeling of triumph and new Self energy in life, moving beyond trauma and being more aware, integrated, grounded in the present and safe and hopeful about the future.
