Neuroscience-based Trauma Treatment: How to Maximize Your Efficacy

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Jennifer Sweeton, PsyD, MS, MA Related seminars and products

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Dr. Jennifer Sweeton is a licensed clinical psychologist, author, and internationally-recognized expert on trauma, anxiety and the neuroscience of mental health. Dr. Sweeton was trained in the use of EMDR as a treatment method during her time as a clinical psychologist with the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs where she worked with active service members and combat veterans with PTSD.

She has been practicing EMDR for nearly a decade and has treated a variety of populations using EMDR and other memory reconsolidation approaches, including combat veterans, individuals with PTSD and complex trauma, and those suffering from treatment-resistant anxiety.

She completed her doctoral training at the Stanford University School of Medicine, the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, and the National Center for PTSD. Additionally, she holds a master’s degree in affective neuroscience from Stanford University and studied behavioral genetics at Harvard University.

Dr. Sweeton resides in the greater Kansas City area, where she owns a group private practice, Kansas City Mental Health Associates. She is a past President of the Oklahoma Psychological Association, the President of the Greater Kansas City Psychological Association for 2019 and holds adjunct faculty appointments at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Dr. Sweeton offers psychological services to clients in Oklahoma, Kansas, and internationally, and is sought-after trauma and neuroscience expert who has trained thousands of mental health professionals in her workshops.

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Jennifer Sweeton is in private practice. She has an employment relationship with the Oklahoma City VAMC. Dr. Sweeton receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.  She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.

Non-financial: Jennifer Sweeton has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.
 

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Objectives

1. Assess the five areas of the brain impacted by trauma, and how each contributes to post-trauma symptoms. 
2. Evaluate what neuroscience tells us about the recommended “order of operations” of trauma treatment, and why evidence-based therapies are often initiated at the wrong time. 
3. Determine the difference between “bottom-up” and “top-down” approaches to therapy, and when to use each during treatment. 
4. Use four techniques that can help prepare clients’ brains for the often intense, cognitive-heavy trauma therapies. 

Outline

• List five areas of the brain impacted by trauma, and how each contributes to post-trauma symptoms. 
  • Amygdala – smoke alarm 
  • Hippocampus – timekeeper 
  • Insula – interoception center 
  • Cingulate – self-regulation center 
  • Prefrontal cortex – executive functioning center 
• Explain what neuroscience tells us about the recommended “order of operations” of trauma treatment, and why evidence-based therapies are often initiated at the wrong time. 
  • Build alliance first 
  • Help clients develop felt sense in a safe manner 
  • Utilize bottom up techniques 
  • Utilize top down techniques 
  • Incorporate behavioral techniques 
  • Most evidence-based therapies start with #4 or emphasize #4 instead of emphasizing bottom-up, somatic, stabilizing approaches. 
• Describe the difference between “bottom-up” and “top-down” approaches to therapy, and when to use each during treatment. 
  • Bottom-up: Working with the body to change the brain, especially lower areas of the brain such as the amygdala and insula. 
  • Top-down: Working with the mind to change the brain, especially upper areas of the brain such as the cingulate and prefrontal cortex. 
  • Start bottom-up when treating trauma, before integrating top-down techniques. 
• Use four techniques that can help prepare clients’ brains for the often intense, cognitive-heavy trauma therapies. 
  • Mirror neuron activation in emotional centers to build therapeutic alliance 
  • Sensory awareness techniques, including grounding techniques, to increase felt sense and enter the body safely 
  • Vagus nerve activation through breathing-based techniques such as the 5-5-8-2 breath 
  • Body-based techniques such as autogenic training to increase heart rate variability, decrease amygdala activation, increase insula activation 
  • Lifestyle habits, and behaviors outside of session that can build brain-derived neurotrophic factor for hippocampal regeneration 

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Psychotherapists
• Therapists
• Marriage & Family Therapists
• Addiction Counselors
• Case Managers
• Physicians
• Nurses
• Other Mental Health Professionals

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