Calm Body.
Sound Mind.

http://www.aurorapsychotherapycentre.comRequesting An Appointment 

If you would like to book an appointment please contact our intake co-ordinator Angela Allan at (289) 635-2505 or CLICK HERE to request a therapist.

Angela would be happy to assist you answering any of your questions and provide more information about our therapists and the methods we use. Please expect a 20 minute intake consultation which will help us better understand your needs.

Angela will book your first appointment with the therapist and provide you all the necessary information to prepare you for your first session.

Please inquire about a 15 minute free telephone consultation.

Click  HERE to learn more about our psychotherapists.


 

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence based psychotherapy treatment which helps to access, clear and resolve traumatic memories and other painful life experiences from the past.

The goal of EDMR is to help you to process your traumatic memories in a very natural way by fostering connections between your brains memory networks. This can help you to learn and move on from trauma as opposed to being stuck in and endless loop of thoughts and emotions from the past.

After a thorough assessment, you will be asked specific questions about a particular disturbing memory. Eye movements, similar to those during REM sleep, will be recreated simply by asking you to watch the therapist's finger moving backwards and forwards across your visual field. Sometimes, a bar of moving lights or headphones is used instead. The eye movements will last for a short while and then stop. You will then be asked to report back on the experiences you have had during each of these sets of eye movements.

Experiences during a session may include changes in thoughts, images and feelings. With repeated sets of eye movements, the memory tends to change in such a way that it loses its painful intensity and simply becomes a neutral memory of an event in the past. Other associated memories may also heal at the same time. This linking of related memories can lead to a dramatic and rapid improvement in many aspects of your life.

In each session the therapist will ask you…

1. An image in your mind related to the painful memory.
2. The negative beliefs about yourself you associate with that memory.
3. To describe how that memory makes you feel — both emotionally and physically.
4. And lastly, what positive belief about yourself you would rather have associated with that memory.

Together, you and your therapist will process the disturbing memories from your past. Along your journey you will acquire many new insights, tools and resources. You know that you have processed your traumas when you no longer get triggered emotionally and you are grounded more in your authentic self. EMDR is an exciting and rewarding experience, but expect to work hard!

Contact our Intake Manger, Susan Graham, to learn more about EMDR and the therapists available to provide this therapy.

Why pay attention to the body after trauma?

The recognition of the effects of traumatic events to the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) has been widely recognized. Now there is awareness that the body remembers pain and can be greatly affected by showing multiple physical symptoms.

Supporting clients to recognize and regulate emotional states can make a difference in the way clients see the world and make meaning. Finding safety inside the body can be a game changer in experiencing relationships, connection to self and the world, and making decisions towards personal goals.

Somatic approach therapies can help clients reconnect with their bodies. This includes regulating work, such as supporting clients in finding flexibility in their nervous system, repairing attachments, creating safety and helping them move through the window of tolerance.

Clients will then learn to handle stressors and avoid defaulting into defensive behaviours. In addition, clients will be naturally able to access optimal energy in their bodies. They will be able to start to feel and think without being overwhelmed, feel creative, connected with others, gain perspective and even feel compassionate with themselves and others ( Linda Thai, 2019;Terrell& Kain 2018).

Talk therapy is the hope of many individuals struggling with mental health. After clients acquired enough awareness of self and insight of their past and they commit to engage in different practices and perspectives, they expect to complete the healing process., However, it has been proven through research that more often than not - a single approach is just not enough.

Trauma and other adverse experiences affect the brain deeply in many regions. There are many brain structures affected, neuro-networks are firing and wiring together, communicating in millions of patterns, most often by the fear-driven brain. Clients' survival mechanism of the brain creates a fear-based reality that interferes with their daily living. Talk therapy alone can not possibly access all these regions that have been settled for years in complicated patterns, or change the narrative default and rigid conditioning.

The benefits of Neurofeedback have been studied and continue to be proven, with thousands of clients improving their quality of life, while having access to a non-invasive, drug free treatment. Neurofeedback can be helpful for symptoms of ADHD, anxiety, depression, cognitive and sensory integration, sleep problems and pain. Even clients that struggle with developmental trauma and can get access to the underlying root cause of their symptomatology, and can optimize the neuroplasticity of the brain. Supporting a better success of the psychotherapy treatment.

What is Clinical Neurofeedback?

Clinical Neurofeedback refers to the combination of Psychotherapy and Neurofeedback.

Both interventions aim to help clients understand their mind and their brain. Neurofeedback is an intervention that uses the brain’s capacity to change in order to regulate the brain's electrical activity. It is a direct way to train the brain to improve its function and to regulate symptoms. Psychotherapy helps the client process and assimilate information, thereby becoming complementary to Neurofeedback.

During a regular Neurofeedback session, three or more electrodes are placed on the scalp in specific areas of the brain, where one is actively training and others are placed to act as references and poles. A state-of-the-art electronic equipment allows clinicians to amplify frequencies in a computer interface setting, helping clients to receive instant feedback of the brain wave frequencies. Through the process of operant conditioning, clients will learn to retrain their brain to achieve more of the desires brain waves in specific areas and reduce them in others.

There is a multitude of electrical activity in the brain, with the most brain wave frequencies being Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta and Gamma. These frequencies range from slower to faster and are measures in Hertz per second. Each frequency is associated with certain behaviours, mood and other functions of an individual. For instance, Delta waves are associated with states of deep restorative sleep, while gamma waves are mostly associated with intense focus and helping the integration of information between areas of the brain. Alpha waves are mostly correlated with states of relaxation, but ready to react if needed.

Biofeedback
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) training requires placing sensors on the fingertips and measures the respiratory rate, pulse and skin conductance. Feedback is given on a computer screen with images that indicate if the respiration and heart rate are being regulated. The purpose of using HRV biofeedback first is to oxygenate the brain before neurofeedback to improve the

Quantitive EEG ( Electroencephalogram) is a non-invasive assessment that collects electrical activity from different structures of the brain. By placing 19 electrodes in different brain regions (known as Bradman sites), it is possible to record frequency rhythms generated by cortical mechanisms inside the brain. 

This EGG technology collects readings of frequency rhythms in the following ranges: Delta 0-3 Hz, Theta 4-7 Hz, Alpha 8-11 Hz, SMR 12-15 Hz, Beta 15-18 Hz, High Beta 22-36 Hz and Gamma 36-45 Hz. This information is compared to a normative database that can reveal possible abnormalities in the distribution of frequencies. The comparison allows the neurotherapist to better understand the client's brain connectivity and to support them by establishing protocols to achieve the client's individual learning goals. The analysis also provides a baseline to assess progress over time. 

ERP's (Event related potentials) have been defined by brain potentials associated with information flow in cortical areas evoked by some event, stimulus or movement.