I created the BrainRetrain method, a novel approach to healing. 

     This Scriptural Neuroplasticity-based method is a natural, drug-free approach that can help you relieve symptoms associated with Depression; Anxiety; PTSD; Chronic Weight; Chronic Illness; Multiple Chemical Sensitivity; Eating Disorders; Cutting and Self-harm; Fibromyalgia; Food Sensitivities; Grief/Loss; Chronic Pain; Insomnia; Financial Lack; Spiritual Emptiness; Addiction; and even Narcissism.

          The reason this approach is effective across so many conditions is because all of these conditions are related to Chronic Stress Response. Chronic stress occurs when we have the repeated or ongoing experience of something or someone triggering a negative, painful, or disempowering thought, emotion, belief, or memory, often on an unconscious level. Much of the time, we aren't even aware of our triggers, much the less the beliefs we blindly accept as truth, such as "I'm not worthy; I don't deserve it; I don't belong; I must work hard for success; God is angry at me; I am rejected; I am unloveable, or I must be perfect." These are just a few of the beliefs that may spark a painful or negative emotional response, such as anger, depression, anxiety, or sadness. These emotions can also motivate behaviors like overeating, or relationship sabotage. Do you ever do something and then think, "Why did I do that? I swore I would stop," but it almost felt like you had no control, or it seemed like such a good idea at the moment?

    Our beliefs create our thoughts, and our thoughts activate areas in the brain that stimulate the release of neurotransmitters. These are chemical messengers that correspond to those neural events and lead to an emotion or feeling. Neurotransmitters also signal the release of hormones and stress chemicals such as cortisol, adrenalin, glucose, and insulin. In the moment, stress chemicals help us to respond to a threat, which we were designed to either fight off, or run from. Most of the time, it's not appropriate to do either of these responses, such as when your boss is yelling at you, or your kids are screaming.

    So, stress response chemicals are not burned off by physical exertion and instead remain in our bodies. By the way, this is why exercise is so effective at reducing stress, anxiety, depression, and a host of other issues - it reduces stress chemicals! Without regular exercise, or even better - eliminating the unconscious resources for feeling so stressed out - stress chemicals remain in our bodies, sparking inflammation that, over time, can damage our systems, organs, and overall physical well-being. Chronic Stress Response also leads to weight gain, insomnia, and impaired mental health. When these past events are really traumatic, we can be triggered in many ways and by many people in a debilitating way, and we call that experience PTSD. 

    What is different about my approach?

   I directly target the maladapted stress response that is at the root of suffering for so many, then train your brain to change the function and structure of memories and pain on a neurological basis. When you retrain the stress response, you move your body from a state of survival to a state of growth and repair – where true healing can take place. This results in lasting, positive changes at the deepest levels.

    While others think that talking about the problem will help you reason out the solution on a conscious level, I found that our minds create the problem on the unconscious level (where 95% of information processing occurs at 400 billion bytes per second.) That means we can also use the unconscious as a resource to produce the solution!  

    We can do this by accessing the subconscious control center, teaching the brain how to heal from past trauma, and how to create more effective beliefs - all resulting in more positive thoughts, more enjoyable emotions, producing more successful behavior and outcomes! 

   Soon, you will be using the method yourself, dealing with new stresses and irritating people without the need to see a counselor or coach because you've learned how to let go and move on.

    That's the other difference in my approach - I don't create career clients. My job is to help you heal, then teach you how to heal yourself. In the future, I can provide occasional support, or help with a new painful event that feels like more than you can handle in the moment, but my goal is for you to no longer need me because you have learned to help yourself.

   What is the BrainRetrain​​ method?

     I have trained in and studied many effective techniques, but did not find that one single method was right for every person or every problem. So, I began to identify the most effective elements in each, and I noticed a core theme in what worked: learning theory and brain neuroplasticity.

At the basic level, our brains are constantly referring to past memories, typically those created until about the age of 4 years old, in order to decide how to respond in the here and now. If your past is full of the proof that life is frightening, evil, unloving, or filled with scarcity, that's what your brain is designed to "look out" for more of, so you can avoid that kind of pain. But, have you ever heard the saying, "what you focus on you get more of?" That's why we repeat the same patterns and create the same relationships over and over.

    Luckily, modern neuroscience has proven that your brain is literally able to unlearn and uncouple thoughts, emotions, and patterns from earlier trauma, and then learn to apply positive emotions and more useful coping skills, actually creating new memories to operate from in the current moment!

    This was the magic formula I had been searching for to help clients considered "treatment-resistant" like those with addiction (food, substances, relationships, you name it) and narcissism (either as the narcissist or the person feeling trapped in the relationship with the narcissist!)

    Not only did I begin to combine the most effective elements of all the techniques in which I had learned, trained, certified, etc., I began to formulate a repeatable and measurable system that other counselors can learn and apply to every client, while still responding to each client's specific issue and needs. Best of all, this method is great for teens and those with PTSD because it is not necessary for you to tell me details about what happened, or re-live those painful events. 

   What is BrainRetrain based on?

The BrianRetrain method began while completing my PhD, and was refined through ongoing training in and learning new methods and techniques including Biblical Counseling; Process Healing Method; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; EFT/EMDR/FEFT; Memory Reconsolidating; Neurolinguistic Programming; Hypnotherapy; Reality Therapy; Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Logotherapy, Gestalt Therapy, Family Systems Therapy, Grief and Loss Therapy, Group Therapy, and more.