Self Regulation Therapy©
A Mind-Body Approach to Healing Symptoms of Trauma and Stress
An Interview with Dr. Lynne Zettl
by Naomi Lepage

The Canadian Foundation for Trauma Research & Education (CFTRE) was founded by Dr. Lynne Zettl and Dr. Edward Josephs to further the understanding of the fields of neurobiology and psychophysiology, through education and research, as they pertain to the treatment of traumatic conditions. They have married the newest neuroscience literature and applied it to clinical practice for psychotherapists and body workers. Dr. Zettl and Dr. Josephs are committed to conducting research and to training professionals in effectively treating people who suffer from symptoms of trauma and other forms of dysregulation in the autonomic nervous system.

Dr. Lynne Zettl is a licensed clinical psychologist with a private practice in Vancouver, British Columbia. She specializes in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in adults and children from a psychophysiological perspective. Her doctoral dissertation researched the experience of trauma in emergency service personnel and the efficacy of a psychophysiological treatment for post traumatic stress disorder. She has been integrating psychodynamic psychotherapy and somatic approaches such as Bodynamics, CranioSacral Therapy, and Somatic Experiencing in her practice for twelve years. Dr. Zettl is currently researching the efficacy of Self Regulation Therapy (SRT) as a treatment for chronic pain and insomnia in individuals suffering from PTSD. Dr. Josephs and Dr. Zettl have taught throughout North America, Europe, Northern Ireland, and Russia.

A Harvard graduate, Dr. Edward Josephs practiced as a clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist for ten years, until January 2001. He specialized in the evaluation and treatment of brain related injuries, trauma, pain management, and exposure to environmental neurotoxins in adolescents and adults. His interest in traumatic stress was piqued while working with brain-injured clients after motor vehicle incidents. He noted the similarity between brain injury symptoms and PTSD and obtained remarkable improvement in brain-injured clients while working from a psychophysiological perspective. Dr. Josephs’ doctoral dissertation studied the efficacy of an innovative approach to chronic pain. He has been trained in many of the current trauma treatment modalities including EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and Cognitive-Behavioural techniques. Dr. Josephs now devotes his full attention to developing seminars, teaching, and doing research for the CFTRE.

Naomi Lepage: What is Self Regulation Therapy (SRT)?
Dr. Lynne Zettl: SRT is a non-cathartic mind/body approach aimed at diminishing excess activation in the nervous system. It has its basis in neurobiology and reflects our innate capacity to flexibly respond to novelty or threat. Significant overwhelming events at anytime in one’s life can result in changes in the nervous system that negatively impact the way a person feels and relates to others. SRT enables the nervous system to integrate overwhelming events and brings balance to the nervous system. It works by providing a safe, contained environment in which the individual can complete the thwarted responses of fight, flight, or freeze. By resourcing the client, new neural pathways are developed to flexibly manage daily challenges and stressors. Once the nervous system is balanced, individuals are able to experience joy, closeness in relationships, and vitality and resilience in the body.

What symptoms are helped with SRT?
Dysregulation is the inability to modulate emotional and behavioural responses, as a result of developmental derailments or shock trauma, which manifests in many disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and mood disorders, phobias, and personality disorders. Physical symptoms of dysregulation include insomnia, asthma, allergies, migraines, tinnitis (ringing in the ears), hyperacusis (sensitivity to sound), photophobia (sensitivity to light), chronic pain, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, autoimmune diseases, gastrointestinal difficulties, headaches, pain in neck and back, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ), and alcohol and drug abuse.

What can you expect with SRT?
Because it is a non-cathartic approach, you can expect to feel a sense of control and a general sense of well-being at the end of a session. You may experience a discharge of excess energy in the nervous system through heat, tingling, or trembling. Occasionally, you may experience an increase in pain, but it is typically short-lived. As SRT helps to bring balance to the nervous system, you can expect to feel more alive, and more able to manage the unavoidable stress in daily life.

Are there any adverse effects of SRT?
Because it works with sensations in the body, you may notice that there is an increase in your sensory experiences, both positive and negative. Although the overall effect is a decrease in activation (i.e., anxiety, tension, pain), people will sometimes experience an increase in activation for a short time as their nervous system learns to balance energy.

How many sessions will it take?
It is likely that you will begin to feel better after a few sessions. It is important to talk with your therapist about your goals, both short and long-term, so that your progress can be assessed and an endpoint be established. Typically, both improvement of symptoms and completion of treatment are attained in significantly less time than conventional therapies.

What is the Neuroscience of SRT?
When an animal is confronted with a novel or life-threatening situation in the wild, it responds naturally by fighting, fleeing, or freezing. If the animal survives, it discharges excess energy from its nervous system through shaking, trembling, and twitching. This discharge leaves the animal ready to fully respond to any subsequent threat. Animals may move through this sequence several times in a day without experiencing any negative effects or exhibiting symptoms of trauma.

Apart from our well-developed neo-cortex or “thinking brain,” our innate responses to threat are identical to animals in the wild. However, we are not always able to respond in the natural way that our nervous system was designed. You may remember feeling cold and trembly after a minor accident or close call. You may have been encouraged to stifle your feelings, told to pull yourself together, or felt embarrassed about your response. After all it was just a minor accident. Nevertheless, your “animal brain” responded as if it was a life-threatening situation, and a great deal of energy was mounted in your nervous system to protect yourself. It is likely that you were unable to fight or flee and instead you froze. Following this minor accident, you may have had trouble sleeping, were nervous particularly in situations that were similar to the accident, had intrusive thoughts about your vulnerability, startled easily, had pain, and felt generally anxious or depressed. These are signs of dysregulation in the nervous system.

For more information contact the Canadian Foundation for Trauma Research & Education, Inc., 1488 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6G 3J6, telephone (604) 693-0090, toll free 1-866-3TRAUMA (1-866-387-2862), fax (604) 694-0086, website www.cftre.com, email info@cftre.com.

Naomi Lepage holds a BFA from the University of Saskatchewan, is a certified Self Regulation Therapist, and has completed several courses with Upledger Institute. She has a private practice in Saskatoon where she integrates SRT with CranioSacral and Visceral Manipulation body therapy. She has had much success in working with head and/or body pain, sleep problems, and chronic conditions arising from high impact traumas including motor vehicle accidents and falls, surgery and dental related traumas, and globally activating traumas. For an appointment call (306) 222-7337.