Integrative Re-Solutions®
Written By Lori Kochevar, M.S., L.P.C.
and founder of Brighten the Brain. Lori
has served as a professional in the child
welfare system for over 25 years, and is
a mother of two adopted children.
Hope for Traumatized Children
and Families
Brighten the Brain provides innovative
solutions to families and treatment
providers who are raising children with
the greatest challenges. Providers and
families need the means to effectively
address and resolve learning
difficulties, special needs, and
unattached violent or shutdown
behavior. Parents have often tried
multiple techniques with minimal
results, which is discouraging. Brighten
the Brain moves families from stuck-in-
pain to being unstoppable in their
journey. The success of these families is
the inspiration for this mission.
Trauma and attachment-breaks create
neurological reactivity in a child's brain,
limiting his or her ability to function.
Brighten the Brain optimizes the brains
of those children, enabling them to
move up the pathway of success.
Brighten the Brain works toward the
following outcomes:
Long-term, significant, and sustainable
neurological change for children and
parents who have experienced trauma,
secondary trauma and/or severe
attachment breaks.
Training for biological, foster and
adoptive families who are better able
to support this neurological healing
process.
Training for clinicians and treatment
providers to build satisfaction and
capacity to work effectively for these
families.
Brighten the Brain uses sophisticated
technology and neurologically based
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strategies to upgrade the physiology of
traumatized or attachment-disturbed
children. With these techniques, the
behavioral symptoms that would create
havoc for a biological family, prevent a
family from adopting a child, or create
the need for a higher level of treatment
for a child in the foster-care system, are
eliminated or reduced significantly.
Through Neurofeedback (NFB), the
brain finds new paths of health,
flexibility, and resilience. Brighten the
Brain simultaneously addresses
secondary trauma that affects the
parent/caregiver/potential adoptive
parent. Integrative Trauma Resolution
(ITR) trains professionals and parents to
use brain-based protocols. This allows
children and parents to give and
receive love and become effective
members of the world in a way that
would not have been possible before,
due to the inordinate amount of time it
takes to deal with undigested trauma.
One mother stated that she had 80%
more time in her life after participating
in this program. With this time she has
gotten a part time job, is participating
in a graduate school level training
program and has noticed more ease in
all of her other responsibilities.
Noticeable benefits are
reported by 80% of people
trained in just 10 sessions
Trauma in the Neurological and
Chemical Systems of the Body
Children need to belong to a family.
Unfortunately, children who have
experienced trauma, learning
differences, and/or attachment breaks
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often develop survival behaviors that
push away the family.
Therapy and education are significantly
more effective after the child and
parents can reliably access the
executive cognitive functions in the
brain.
The sympathetic and parasympathetic
nervous systems work in concert to
activate motion and settle into
relaxation to create functional fluidity.
For a child whose nervous and
endocrine systems have been impacted
by trauma and attachment breaks, the
symptoms of un-discharged traumatic
stress make daily life extremely
difficult. This in turn challenges the
caregivers of a child whose nervous
system is “stuck on” anxiety, panic,
hyperactivity and an inability to relax;
or “stuck off” in depression, exhaustion
and chronic fatigue; or, even more
confounding, is bouncing between
“stuck on” and “stuck off.”
Reactive Attachment Disorder
Trauma
Many traditional approaches to
treatment for the Reactive Attachment
Disorder (RAD) and severe trauma are
only partially effective. Children with
severe trauma and attachment
disruptions become dysregulated in
their survival behavior/ neurology
during a triggering event. Psychological
models that focus on frontal lobe
functioning and insight usually do not
help when a child is triggered. The
reptilian brain in which survival
For more info contact
Lori@brightenthebrain.com
970-352-8873 1
instincts are neurologically triggered
creates a biochemical cascade of
hormones and a muscular structural
reaction in the body and memory of a
traumatized child.
During times of overwhelming stress,
children and adults are unable to
access the frontal lobe, where cognitive
processing, cause-and-effect thinking
and emotional integration occur.
Instead, mental energy is concentrated
in the reptilian back brain to maximize
their perceived sense of survival. The
neurological behavior options of fight,
flight or freeze are clearly
demonstrated in the behaviors of a
human stuck in a dysregulated state.
Traditional Models Are Often
Minimally Effective with RAD
and PTSD
Traditional approaches used to treat
Reactive Attachment Disorder and
complex traumas often create
frustration for the clinicians, caregivers
and children. When the neurology is
addressed through brain-based
protocols, breakthroughs occur.
Historically, cognitive behavioral
programs generally combine cognitive
restructuring techniques with
behavioral techniques related to
conditioning, such as classical, operant,
aversive, Pavlovian, and exposure
therapy. Much of what has been taught
in our schools as learning, parenting
and therapeutic approaches was based
on this underlying theory. For children
who are unable to reliably access their
frontal lobe, these strategies are
counterproductive when we consider
the newest research findings on how
the brain works.
Instructions that focus on
understanding “inaccurate” thinking
around the traumatic event or the
emotions underlying the trauma when
the child becomes triggered, can either
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ignite further emotion or shutdown at a
certain point in the trauma triggered
response. Before the child is able to
access their frontal lobe in a consistent,
reliable manner, treatment protocols
that focus on emotions or insight can
easily overwhelm the traumatized
child. Biological, foster, and adoptive
parents routinely report this
phenomenon.
Power of Survival Neurology
When humans experience trauma, our
mind takes a snapshot, assigns a
meaning to the event and reenacts the
memory when retriggered by a stressor
(Levine 1997). Historically, practitioners
have relied on cognitive strategies
intended to allow people to “reason”
themselves out of symptoms. The
problem with this approach is that
when responses are wired in the
survival neurology, we cannot access
the frontal lobe or override the
protective physiology to change
behaviors. For the purpose of survival,
the structural and muscular systems of
the physical body hold onto the pattern
and children grow into adults who are
unable to think themselves out of
certain behaviors (Lowen, M.D., 1958.
Ogden 2006). These traumatic
experiences that are etched into the
brain and central nervous system
memory make it difficult for the child
to evolve out of fight, flight or freeze
behaviors.
Additionally, the meaning that humans
assign to a stressful event is
emotionally loaded because energy
flows to the back-brain where life-and-
death intensity codes are neurologically
and chemically embedded. As
neurobiological hormones of stress
(cortisone and adrenaline) flood the
child’s body, instantaneous thoughts
like “all adults are unreliable and
unavailable” reinforce “stuckness” on
all levels. Focusing on the problem
before the neurology is optimized is
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counter-productive because it
strengthens the original ineffective
neural routes. Stress and unresolved
issues become physically hardened in a
cumulative manner in our bodies and
minds, leading to ongoing physical and
mental health issues.
Advantages of Bypassing the
Conscious Mind
Conversely, Neurofeedback bypasses
the conscious mind and directly trains
the brain to functional fluidity. As the
brain becomes more competent and
effective, physical and emotional
symptoms resolve. The energy saved
through this organic efficiency is then
available for a child to grow, learn and
thrive.
On a structural level, Neurofeedback
helps strengthen the rate and quality of
neuro-communication between all
areas of the brain. This allows the
cognitive mind to engage and make
solid, conscious decisions. For the
traumatized child who lacks these
connections, the reactionary states of
flight, fight or freeze are the behavioral
choices observed over and over again
when faced with a perceived stressful
situation. Keep in mind that this
behavior may be triggered simply when
the parent says no to candy for
breakfast.
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Counterproductive
Conditioning Strategies
Holding therapy which involves
swaddling and holding the child tightly,
regardless of how hard they resist is
based on operant conditioning
techniques that are similar to the time
when Skinner (1953) put a person who
is afraid of rabbits in a room full of
rabbits until he or she “gets over it”.
The current neurological understanding
is that the subject’s nervous system
shifts into a state of overwhelm and
shutdown, rendering the person unable
to have the neurological flexibility to
respond to the stimuli. At the time
holding therapy was created, it seemed
to work for a certain population.
However, because the current brain
research was not available at that time,
we could not clearly see the drawbacks.
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Unfortunately, many parenting,
teaching, and treatment strategies
based on operant conditioning are
embedded in our cultural
understanding of how change occurs.
These strategies are contraindicated for
RAD, PTSD, and TBI.
For example, as an early attempt to
address the desperation of a family
parenting a child with RAD, many
parents were taught holding
techniques. Creating a freeze response
in the child does not appear to produce
any useful results. It is imperative that
we take the brain research that is now
available to change our clinical
practices to include brain-based
protocols.
Children with RAD are neurologically
reactive to relationship triggers.
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Holding these children and forcing
them to engage is typically ineffective.
The “holding therapy” technique
creates overwhelm, reinforcing
previous learning patterns of terror and
power imbalance. This can trigger
cumulative entrenched memories
established by past abuse.
When fight or flight behaviors are not
effective to escape the holding therapy,
the child’s behavior is forced to regress
backwards to a place of freeze. The
child may become compliant, but his or
her neurological well-being has been
compromised. Van Der Kolt (2011)
noted that the rescued victims in
hurricane Katrina that had their
movement restricted while being
transported to safety were further
traumatized by being strapped down
and unable to move.
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Even those that are working
in a trauma-informed
setting, often need a bridge
to implement the plethora of
brain research that is
coming out daily and to fully
understand its implications
for best practice. Ultimately,
it is neurological relief
coupled with state of the art
brain practices that will
create progress.
(Hughes 2012, Siegel 2012)
Shortcomings of Consequence
Based Learning Model
Organizationally, many delinquency
models, school-based learning for
troubled youth, and juvenile treatment
facilities rely on a consequence-based
model of earning rewards for good
behavior or losing rewards for bad
behavior. These strategies tend to be
minimally successful long-term.
Positive reinforcement is the only
model that has current research to
show it is generalizable. Examining
behaviors and cognitions have gotten
us so far, and we continue to know as
clinicians and customers that
something is still missing. Predictably,
children learn how to manipulate the
system without achieving a close
enough relationship with therapists and
those trying to address the attachment
and trauma issues. These issues must
be fully understood to identify the
underlying fight-or-flight behavior that
created the necessity for the child’s
placement.
Ultimately, a primary relationship with
a committed, mindful parent is the
most effective vehicle to heal
attachment issues.
Resolution of attachment issues largely
depends on the capacity to develop a
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solid relationship to another person.
This level of interaction best occurs in a
family that will commit fully to the
child’s well-being. As the child gains
regular and reliable access to all areas
of their brain, the relationship creates
the container and cognitive/emotional
coherence necessary to learn from the
natural and well thought-out parental
consequences. We never support
consequence that predictably threatens
the perceived existence of any being in
that they are ineffective and
counterproductive
Consequence-based strategies pre-
suppose that children trust that the
behavior their guardian is “shaping” is
in the best interest of the child. Many
children/adults lack a secure sense of
trust and ability to accurately assess
others. A traumatized child with severe
attachment breaks often has difficulty
trusting that any other human has his
or her best interest at heart. Most of
these belief systems reside in the
cellular memory (Pert 1997) and are
not consciously processed until they
are able to integrate and optimize their
Central Nervous System functionality. It
is truly miraculous to witness a child’s
sense of trust and ability to
comprehend their traumatic past,
organically unfold as their neurological,
biochemical, and muscular-structural
systems become functionally fluid.
Brighten the Brain Outcomes
Integrative Re-Solution restores the
“internal operating system” for the
well-being of our children. Integrative
Re-Solutions has significantly reduced
placement disruptions in foster and
adoptive children with challenging
behavioral issues. Research clearly
indicates that the long-term welfare of
our children is positively affected by
minimal shifts in placement (Fahlberg
1991).
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Professionals trained to use Integrative
Re-Solutions are able to physiologically
enable children and parents from the
“inside out” to create a different way of
interacting with others. The program
has resulted in dramatic shifts in the
ability of previously diagnosed children
to function at home, school and on the
playground. Observations from
teachers, peers, siblings, parents, and
other professional’s support Brighten
the Brain’s clinical assessment
measurements of significant change.
Integrative Trauma Resolution/
Psycho-physiological Capacity
Model
Brighten the Brain employs Integrative
Trauma Resolution, which addresses
components of the chemical, structural,
and neurological systems of the body
to optimize the psycho-physiological
capacity of the clients we serve. This is
an evolutionary and revolutionary step
forward in resolving trauma issues that
were previously addressed primarily
through psychological and emotional
strategies. Traditional therapy depends
on the patient’s insight and ability to
form and maintain a relationship with
the therapist. Establishing a therapeutic
relationship with a child or very stuck
adult with RAD, can often be difficult
because attachment patterns are often
well hidden from the consciousness.
Improving the psycho-physiological
capacity is the most direct route to
well- being.
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 Brighten the Brain - Integrative Re-Solutions Results
Prior to
After Integrative Resolutions
Integrative Re-Solutions

Frozen Psychotic
14-year old Depression
Disassociative. Extreme shut
down.
4 years with family, adoption
stalled.
Low initiation.
Is unable to feel menstruation
pain.
Low self-care, refused showers
and cleaning up after self.
Cutting/self-harm.
Flat affect.
Has shallow, superficial,
strained relationships.
After 10 2-Hour Sessions
Taken off Concerta.
Out of Freeze mode, Body
release trauma stored in CNS.
Shows compassion and
kindness.
Began expressing feelings.
Thanksgiving. “I’m grateful I
made it in this home 1 more
year.”
Youngest son is including her
now.
Uses her foster family’s last
name.
Says “mom” and “dad”.
After 20 2-Hour Sessions 1 year later
Hoarding minimized. Only received 20 sessions
Expressing thoughts and Mom credits Brighten the
feelings. Brain.
Process info and respond to Attachment progress
questions. continues.
Improved eye contact.
Parents’ paradigm shifted to
Fewer school behavior/
physiological capacity.
performance issues.
Adoption finalized after 5
Has fun with friends and
family. years.
Increased efforts to connect.
Allow safe touch.
Feel physical pain (cycle).
Enjoys family nighttime
rituals.
Anticipating, enjoying, and
asking for family.
Follows hygiene routine.
Chores in 45 mins. vs. 4 hours.

Fight Flight After 10 2-Hour Sessions Four months later

8 year old Spina Bifida
20 + surgeries
RAD/PTSD/DD
Screams when sees hospital.
Fights procedure.
Resists tasks and instructions.
Nurses thought she had no
verbal skills, in freeze mode.
Is difficult to manage- low trust.
Has severe attachment issues.
Shows appropriate anxiety.
Connects verbally with nurses.
Mood is stabilized, happier.
Says “ I don’t want to” rather
than “I will never.”
States needs.
Mom can console her through
process.
Relaxed enough she slept
through a procedure.
G-tube x2 with less reaction
than flu shot 3 weeks before.
Family will use NFB through all future transition.
Functions well in public school full-time after 3 years needing
to home school due to overwhelm.
Parents were thoroughly trained in parenting paradigms - ITR
before application of NFB.
Shows lasting attachment gains–Increased affection, asks to be
held, gives random hugs and says “I’m glad you are my mom
and that you adopted me”, wants to hear adoption story, has
deeper connection to the family.
Learning improvements apparent
Loves eating lunch in the cafeteria with friends versus
overwhelmed by activity

2 years later/after 30 3 years later/after 50

Fight
4-year old
RAD/PTSD/Sleep disorder
Takes 2.5 hours or longer to get
her to sleep, and wakes up 5-6
times nightly
Screams, kicks up to 8
hours/day
Has terror at bath time
Vocal cords damaged by
screaming.
Very violent, could not be held
After 10 2-Hour Sessions
10 to 30 minutes to get to
sleep, some nights no wake-
ups, easier to get her back to
sleep.
No reaction at bath
time/enjoys playing.
When triggered, able to work
through incident and tell mom
needs.
Huge increase in ability to
participate in daily routines.
Sessions
Went from bottom of class
behaviorally and academically
in Kindergarten to the top of
her class in 2nd grade.
Advanced abilities in reading,
writing, and math.
From RAD diagnosis to teacher
reports in 2nd grade of most
empathetic child in room
Supports peers when they are
afraid.
Sessions
Therapist reports ability to
resolve emotional issues
around abandonment and
abuse that had overwhelmed
her to the point of shutdown
(freeze) previously.
Well-liked by peers and
teachers

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 or comforted. Dramatic decrease in violence
toward self and others.
Systemic Multidisciplinary
Brain Based Trauma
Informed Approach
Brighten the Brain uses a systemic,
multi-disciplinary and advanced trauma-
informed approach to support
Attachment and Bonding. Consultation
to teach parents how to create a
regulated state for their child and
themselves is paramount. Brighten the
Brain succeeds by using the most
efficient form of treatment available to
systemically address PTSD, secondary
PTSD, and RAD. In the past, this has been
difficult terrain because even well-
grounded, skilled, clear, caring, loving
parents and clinicians find it difficult to
remain balanced when a child’s behavior
is highly dysregulated. Based on previous
abandonment, abuse and neglect,
children with RAD exhibit a frequency
and intensity of dysregulated behavior
that is consistent with survival
neurobiology (fight / flight / freeze).
Integrative Re-Solutions gives
jumpstart to the neurobiology of these
traumatized children as well as the
parents who are struggling with
secondary trauma, so that nourishment
can be given by the parents, and
received, integrated, and metabolized by
the child.
Neurofeedback results are stronger and
longer lasting when the family supports
the changes. When encountering too
much stress, change or triggering
circumstances (i.e. the child feels the
stakes are too high, as in loss of a
parent’s love), a child can revert to
previous neurobiological behavior
patterns. Once the neurological
evidence for the new behaviors have
been seen in the child’s behavior, they
need to be supported through the
primary relationships and the
environment. As clients acknowledge
the substantial and seemingly small
changes, the family can create enough
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Show significant increase in
reparative sleep patterns.
functional fluidity to allow more change
to unfold.
Measurement Tools &
Treatment Aims
We strive for change across domains on
an analog scale that is neurobiologically
informed. Brighten the Brain provides in-
depth assessments to determine which
skill sets for both the child and the
parent are in need of strengthening.
From here we develop a comprehensive
family training program. For example,
one child we work with had explosive
rage reactions, with remorse (some do
not show remorse which is initiated in a
different area of the brain) while the
parent had difficulty switching tracks of
focus. Using attachment and bonding
experiences while suggesting parenting
strategies to address the specific areas
of the brain in need of optimization, we
were able to make significant progress
with this family.
a healthy place, attachment and bonding
Effective Parenting Strategies
Clinicians can often ascertain when a
child has RAD by the frustration
exhibited by traditionally trained parents
and caregivers. Even the most
sophisticated parenting strategies (Post
2006; Siegel 1999; Purvis ) leave parents
of severely traumatized children unable
to sustain compassion-based parenting
strategies. This is why retraining the
traumatized brain is essential. It is
important that parents use effective
intervention techniques when a child is
regressed. Two examples of this are
decreasing the stressors or increasing
comforts in the child’s environment.
Parenting strategies that are
neurobiologically informed are the best
option for children with trauma and
attachment reactions. Parenting models
in sync with the Brighten the Brain
philosophy are Beyond Consequences
(Post 2006), Connected Child (Purvis)
BrightentheBrain.com
and Co-Modulation Parenting (Siegel
1999).
Online Support & Training
In addition, Brighten the Brain provides
online Interactive Parent Support and
Training Groups that can provide skill-
based relationship-focused parenting
that uses a psycho-physiological capacity
model.
Only when the central nervous system is
regulated neurologically (Robbins 2008)
and hormonally (Kuchinskas 2009) does
a human feel safe to be in a relationship.
Only then can a child’s mind begin to
form and act on thoughts that indicate
he or she can be nourished, fed and
loved, even if that has not been the case
in the past. From this physiologically
can occur for the child diagnosed with
RAD. Many factors play into the success
of each situation. Having parents who
are fully committed to the child long-
term and willing to address their own
attachment issues is critical. In addition,
the age at which we begin working with
a child and the number of times the
brain has been myelinated is important.
Neurofeedback Optimizing
Potential
Neurofeedback is a cutting-edge
technology with decades of history and
research. NFB creates a healthy nervous
system with which children can optimize
their ability to regulate their own
behavior. Neurofeedback is proven to
decrease anxiety, trauma and stress.
And like riding a bike, once your brain
learns the optimal pathways to success,
it never forgets. Bodies that have found
the new neural routes will remember
how to find the zone and stay in flow.
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NFB supports the capacity to relate,
relax and heal, as well as the ability to
perform and respond from our most
skilled place.
Neurofeedback enables providers and
families to provide more stability during
placement of traumatized children. The
benefits of Neurofeedback training are
deep, profound, cumulative and
unchanging. Leaders in the field of NFB
experience a success rate of nearly 90
percent (Robbins 2008).
The effectiveness of Neurofeedback is
enhanced by training in physiologically-
based parenting and relationship
strategies that allow parents/spouses to
co-modulate with their children/partner.
Brighten the Brain relies on a non-invasive
system that is easy to use, safe, quick, and
long-lasting. Traditional Neurofeedback
systems targeted a specific brainwave
pattern. The state-of-the-art system used
by Brighten the Brain does not depend on
targeting brainwaves to create change.
Rather, the system trains the brain to be
functional fluidity to create optimal
performance. The system is much safer
than other forms of Neurofeedback
because it allows the brain to recalibrate
itself versus imposing perceived best
outcomes. The problem with perceived
best outcomes is over/under training the
brain.
We train the brain in real time, moment
to moment. Unlike traditional
Neurofeedback systems that train one
brain wave at a time, the Brighten the
Brain system trains 16 brain areas at
once to relieve clients from symptoms
much faster than older systems. The
change is not dependent on excessive
effort, diligence, or practice. The change
occurs because of physiological shifts.
These internal modifications create a
long-lasting, ongoing improvement in
the ability of those served by Brighten
the Brain to relate to the world.
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As the neurology stabilizes, the innate
wisdom of the physical body begins to
heal the issues that most threaten a
person's ability to survive and thrive. For
example, a child’s ability to establish a
secure bond with others typically must
improve before his or her school grades
improve. Sometimes there is a mismatch
between what the parent or system
would like to see improve first and what
is decided by the neurology of the child.
It is imperative to trust the innate
wisdom of the physical body to
reestablish homeostasis.
Results
Results of Integrative Trauma Resolution
vary from person to person. Some
people experience change immediately
and others need multiple sessions. Some
experience immediate shift and growth
while others grow slowly and steadily.
Progress can go “up and down,”
depending on how well the caregivers
Complex Case Dips in Behavior :
Integrative Re-Solutions –Concerns and Improvements
Integrative Resolutions Services
Age 11-13
Homeschooling program- gained 2-4
years of competency academically in
reading, writing and math,
Medication reductions include the
decrease from 200mg Trazodone to
25mg; from 4mg Risperdal to 1.5mg;
and 60 mg of Adderall to 7.5 mg.
Moved from TRCCF to Adoptive Home,
Violence toward peers, property
damage and anxiety disorder are
minimized until he began puberty
Significant increase his ability to think
before he acts
Went from nightly being awakened by
nightmares, with 200 mg Trazodone to
one sleepless night in 8 months.
His communication has changed from
non-talkative and withdrawn to regular
interaction with the family.
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His ability to self-regulate behaviors
Continues deeper into core issues7versus
continues to improve. Now able to
avoiding, very painful for him and the family
discuss core issues (birth family, sexual
abuse, past failed adoption, starvation).
support the changes through their
parenting approach and the internal and
external dynamics of the family.
Traumatized children that are
nuerodevelopmentally sequentially
higher, tend to respond to stress with
fight or flight. The most neurologically
damaged children are most likely to
exhibit a freeze response (Remy 2009).
As they mature, children who do not
respond when hurt, can sublimate their
pursuit of meeting their needs. Children
stuck in freeze mode do not typically
react violently, as do those in fight/flight
mode. Their hopelessness is reflected in
withdrawal from life, and this
debilitation can be overwhelming and
draining to them and those around
them.
Traditional systems are not well-
designed to support parents who are
raising a child with severe trauma,
attachment issues, special needs, or
learning differences. The behavior of
children who are gaining internal
neurological equilibrium, sometimes
becomes more difficult before it gets
better. This journey is best supported by
Issues- After Hormone Influx at age 13
Shift to day-treatment program for school
due to multiple stressors in the family
Off of all Trazodone, fish oil, zinc and
magnesium.
Still in Adoptive home, Violence re-appeared
different, less intensity more damage to
property.
Dip in this ability and on the upswing again
Off Trazodone, Sleep continues to be much
improved, work through nightmares not
triggered happen s1X every 2 months
Working on teaching requests versus
demands. Learning to take accountability,
not be triggered all day.
970-352-8873
to deal with the reality and severity.
an Integrative Re-Solutions Certified
clinician.
Ample research supports the
effectiveness of Neurofeedback on a
plethora of symptoms. Neurofeedback is
shown to be an effective treatment for
depression (Hammond 2004); trauma
and attachment breaks (Huang-Storms
2008; Pop-Jordanova 2004; Askovic
2009); anxiety (Michael 2005); affective
disorders (Rosenfeld 1999); migraines
(Stokes 2010); sleep disorders (Okonula
2007; Gleeson 2009); substance abuse
(Scott 2005; Corbitt 2010); traumatic
brain injury (Trudeau 1998; Yucha
2008); and ADHD (Levesque 2006; Strehl
2006).
Many of these are traditionally treated
with pharmacology. Brighten the Brain
has found that many of the clients we
serve have experienced a successful
reduction in dosage, or are no longer in
need, of prescribed medications.
Neuro-Sequential Treatment
Planning
Bruce Perry (2009) clearly demonstrates
that Neuro-sequential development of
the brain requires matching activities for
an optimizing experience. Parents whose
brains have been optimized and can shift
their re-actions in the heat of a difficult
moment, create stability and constancy
in the external environment of the child.
Using this model, we have found that it
is critical to have a network of
therapeutic respite options available for
the parents entrusted with children who
are this dysregulated. This creates the
critical break in the present moment to
stop old interaction patterns and allow
for the opportunity to respond from a
healthy place versus reacting from fight
flight and freeze.
Brighten the Brain clinicians recognize
that it is imperative to acknowledge how
seemingly small behaviors, such as
smiling at a peer or being able to do
homework are gateways toward
substantial quality-of-life changes for
Copyrighted, please contact author to collaborate
people in freeze mode. It is important to networks of multi-disciplinary providers,
note that moving from freeze to and 3) systems that are using flexible
flight/fight is a neuro-sequential step Integrative Trauma Resolution
toward healing, even though this strategies.
behavior is more difficult to manage.
Integrative Re-Solutions works toward Most often, parents who are supported
resolution, not management. Therefore, are able to make the best decisions for
sometimes it is imperative to allow the their children. We find that only family
child to go through the crisis to get to relationships can fully provide the
the healing. Every child speaks a constancy and stability needed to
different emotional language when develop secure attachment. Supporting
needing assistance and support from professionals and parents with effective
those around them. training, comprehensive evaluations,
and physiological optimization tools is
Brighten the Brain Supports
ultimately how we will resolve the
Parents and Professionals complex dynamics of trauma and
attachment symptoms.
Children with RAD often shut down in
relationships. When they develop the
core strength as the neurobiology begins
to awaken to shift from the superficial Desperate for a family
responses of projection, reflection, and
distraction they organically, from within, A desperate 11-year-old boy with seven
begin to have access to their core issues. prior placements and one failed
Initially, this can be difficult and adoption was moved from a group home
challenging for them and their circles of to a residential treatment facility. A
support. foster family was willing to take him out
of the facility despite psychological
When this deep level of work is
reports that indicated that he would
occurring, it is important that the entire
never be able to function in a family.
team is being supported to avoid the
pitfalls of unresolved transference. This They had witnessed how effective
is an opportunity for everyone on the
team to heal any unresolved issues in
the safe container of professional
consultation. It is the team’s job to
completely support the parents and
frame this difficult behavior as an
opportunity for the child to work
through their daunting past reality. It is
important that we as a team do not try
to distract the child or ourselves from
this work. The child sets the pace as
his/her neurology heals.
Families are a Key Ingredient to
Healing Complex Situations
We are to address complex trauma and
attachment issues if we focus on
supporting the family through 1) easily
accessible web of therapeutic respite
providers, 2) well trained professional Integrative Re-Solutions was for their
BrightentheBrain.com 970-352-8873 8
other adoptive child and his biological
sibling. Since then they have witnessed
incredible improvements in the boy’s
ability to function. Things have not been
perfect for him and his adoptive family.
They credit their ability to keep him out
of the foster-system and in a family
home to the work they have done with
Brighten the Brain. We credit them and
their commitment.
Between the ages of 11 and 13, the
results were phenomenal. In the first
year he gained between 2-4 years
competency in reading, writing, and
math, as measured by the state of
Colorado homeschooling program. His
need for medications decreased
dramatically and he went from being
awakened nightly by nightmares to only
one sleepless night in 3 months.
One therapist who has worked with
many of the children who received ITR at
Brighten the Brain noted, “The progress
shown in weeks is incredible. Issues they
had been struggling with for years
resolved”
Cost –Savings – Maximizing our
Investment
This section examines the costs
associated with one family served by
Brighten the Brain. Adoptive
permanency of this child was previously
deemed improbable by his treatment
team. However, the child has shown
remarkable behavioral and
developmental advances that make the
option of permanent adoption possible.
The evaluating psychologist projected
the boy would remain institutionalized
until he aged out. The child has been in
eight placements, had one failed
adoption because his behavior was too
difficult for families and professionals to
manage, and he was on a ladder of
increasingly more intense and expensive
placements.
Copyrighted, please contact author to collaborate
Even though the time span before
adoption (48 months) is greater than Children have achieved successful
after the adoption (42 months), the adoptions earlier than projected
amount of money spent since the because of the program.
adoption is more than twice the amount
spent before. This demonstrates the One foster/adoptive parent
tremendous difference in cost of
commented in a program
intensive placements that burdens the
evaluation, “I was dreading the
child welfare system.
adoption and what it might do to my
More notable is the potential savings sanity, family and marriage. She [the
had the ITR been applied at the child] was so violent I was afraid of
beginning of this child’s case. The costs what would happen. Now we are
prior to adoption remain the same. Had looking forward to adoption day.”
the intervention been used at that time,
it is reasonable to believe that the
family’s first adoption attempt would
Children labeled as ‘unadoptable often
have succeeded.
found themselves adrift in the system
Beyond the evident benefits for the with a case plan of long-term foster
child’s emotional well-being, the family
care. Today, the North American
gaining a child, and all other intangible
gains had the adoption not failed, the Council on Adoptable Children and
cost benefit for the taxpayers and the other national child advocacy
Department of Social Services from using
organizations believe that no child is
ITR would have been $237,475. ITR
clearly saves money. This child has been unadoptable.
placed with a family that has committed NACAC, 2012
to adopting him.
Children Need Families to
Survive
Children need, more than perhaps
anything else, a stable family in which
they feel safe and secure. They fail to
thrive when placements are unstable, in
flux, and apt to change multiple times.
The quality-of-life improvements and
financial savings are substantial.
A parable tells of the old man taking his
morning walk on the beach, each day
throwing one starfish after another back
into the sea. A boy says there is no way
the old man can make a difference for all
of these starfish, adding most of them
will die. As he rescues another starfish,
the old man replies, “I have made a
difference for the life of this one.” Then
the boy also begins to pitch in. Together
we make a difference for the families we
serve, one brain at a time.
BrightentheBrain.com 970-352-8873 9
$350,000.00

$300,000.00

$250,000.00

175,200
$200,000.00

$150,000.00 44,714

$100,000.00
89,400 89,400
3
$50,000.00 27,125

$0.00
Cost if aged out of system ACTUAL: Using NFB at the back-end Potential costs if NFB used at front
($301,800) after the failed adoption ($171,314) end aided in the success of the 1st
adoption ($64,325)

Copyrighted, please contact author to collaborate BrightentheBrain.com 970-352-8873 10