The following areas can be addressed in counseling with Drader and Associates:

- PTSD and other trauma related issues

- Depression

- Anxiety

- OCD

- Relationship challenges

- Disordered Eating

- ADD/ADHD

The following counseling modalities are available with Drader and Associates:

- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

- Observed and Experiential Integration (OEI)

- Lifespan Integration

- Art and Play Therapy

Observed & Experiential Integration (OEI) is a new psychotherapy for psychological trauma and dissociation that involves alternately covering and covering the eyes, and tracking a visual stimulus. Deeper parts of the brain associated with intense symptoms like panic attacks, nausea, hyperventilation, and throat constriction are the targets of this new intervention, along with areas of the prefrontal cortex associated with emotional processing. The theory is that during psychological traumas the 6 major muscles of the eye are moving the eyeball in various directions to follow or locate visual stimuli and intra-ocular muscles adjust to focus the lens and dilate or constrict the pupil. It is hypothesized that messages from the visual fields and the eye muscles are transmitted to the brain through the visual pathway to the visual cortex in the back of the brain.

When someone then recalls that same experience, the information is brought forward, including the sensations, visual movement patterns, and body symptoms. As the therapist guides the eye, tiny halts, skips, and “glitches” can be seen at the points that seem associated with these earlier traumatic experiences. By “massaging” (guiding) one or both eyes in various directions, the stored multisensory experiences can be re-accessed briefly and released in terms of intensity, providing relief from current and future “triggers” associated with those cues in the environment. This “integration” is thought to occur both across the hemispheres of the brain, and vertically within the hemispheres. It is used to treat many conditions, including PTSD, agitated depression, eating disorders, dissociation, addictions, and relationship conflicts.

HOW WAS OEI DEVELOPED?

By Peggy Pace - much of this document has been excerpted from Pace’s book:

Lifespan Integration:  Connecting Ego States through Time.

Repetitions of the LI Time Line allow the body-mind to re-organize.

Lifespan Integration therapy is based on the hypothesis that much psychological dysfunction results from insufficient neural organization.  Due to trauma or neglect experienced during childhood, there may be a lack of connectivity between isolated neural networks which represent separate selves and self-states.  Alternatively, problems could be caused by suboptimal integration between various regions and layers of the brain.

Through the process of repetitions of the LI Time Line, the self system becomes increasingly more and better organized both in space and in time.  This increase in organization occurs in part due to the many shifts between selves and self-states which are required by repetitions of the LI Time Line.  With repetitions of the Time Line, transitions between self states become more fluid.  This fluidity also contributes to the stability of the self system.

The stability of a system is dependent upon its capacity to transition between and thereby exist within a range of possible states ..  (Schore, 2003, p. 93)

These shifts between multitudinous self states are made in the presence of a therapist whose calm and steady presence aids the client with emotional regulation and containment throughout the process. The therapist’s body-mind coherence is transmitted to the client in the same way that a parent transmits coherence (or lack thereof) to her child.  Repetitions of the client’s Time Line of memory images reinforce the new neural states, and help to construct a more coherent life narrative.  At the same time this builds a more solid core self.

To learn more about Lifespan Integration Therapy, You can download the following link:

Neuroscience of LI Therapy.pdf

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