Resources

Retrain Your Brain

Retraining / Healing Books

The Way Out : A Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Approach to Healing Chronic Pain

- Alan T Gordon

Alan’s neuroplastic approach works for much more than pain. This is a brilliant, very accessible & comprehensive guide for healing!

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The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body - Les Fehmi, PhD & Jim Robbins

Learn to synchronize your brain and experience more ease

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Burnout : The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle - Emily and Amelia Nagoski

This is a highly recommended empowering guide to managing modern life as an embodied woman with plenty of cool science and research sprinkled in

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Unlearn Your Pain - Howard Schubiner, MD

Student of Dr Sarno, workbook for reprogramming

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The 4 Pillar Plan: How to Relax, Eat, Move, Sleep Your Way to a Longer, Healthier Life - Rangan Chatterjee, MD

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Inner Bonding: Becoming a Loving Adult to your Inner Child - Margaret Paul, PhD

A powerful psychological approach to reclaiming personal power and retraining your brain

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Feeding Your Demons - Tsultrim Allione

A miraculous modernization of the ancient Tibetan practice of Chod for transforming demons into allies. This may be the original retraining practice!

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Boundary Boss - Terri Cole

Learning to recognize what is ‘okay’ for us and what isn’t is as crucial as what keeps us from knowing or responding to that inner knowing.

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No Bad Parts - Richard Schwartz

This very approachable book teaches us how to begin integrating the parts of ourselves still waiting and needing to be recognized and responded to.

Trauma & Healing Books

The Brain that Changes Itself - Norman Doidge, MD

overview/case studies of interesting neuroplasticity applications

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The Brain’s Way of Healing - Norman Doidge, MD

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When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection - Gabor Mate, MD

Very accessible with lots of interesting meta-analysis and case studies about the effects of long term emotional stress on health

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The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease - Richard Scaer, MD

Seminal work on early trauma’s impact on lifelong health- technical and not an easy read

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The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel Van der Kolk

Very accessible and often intense book on what happens in the brain with adverse experiences and how that changes our reality 

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Waking the Tiger

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Healing Trauma - Peter Levine

Very accessible books on the body and brain’s response to overwhelming experiences.

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The Divided Mind - John E Sarno, MD

Sarno offers a radical perspective on how the nervous system mediates our modern health maladies and a way to address them.
I disagree with the motivation he assigns the deeper parts of the nervous system and the lack of depth in his treatment approach but find much of what he writes about very helpful.

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The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe- Stephen W Porges

 An amazing guidebook for understanding how our nervous system responds to and creates our experiences 

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The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity - Nadine Burke Harris, MD

Video & Audio

Neuroplasticity techniques for healing

Trauma Releasing Exercises Self Guided Course

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free 7 day introduction to breaking nervous system patterning with tapping

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Gupta Amygdala Retraining Program

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Free app for online access to Gupta Program Guided Meditations for Retraining 

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Free Open Focus introductory exercises

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Neuroplastix Michael Moskowitz, MD: Online techniques for retraining chronic pain

Online Resources

Nadine Burke Harris, MD TEDMED talk : How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime 

Phil Parker, DO Lightning Process (Brain Retraining) Developer

Basics of Neuroplasticity (animation)

Chronic Illness Trauma Studies Dr Veronique Mead, MD

Body Centered Guided Awareness

Suzanne Scurlock-Durana’s Full Body Presence Explorations

Ashok Gupta’s guided meditations for embodiment and healing

Healing Work

Grief and Praise - Martin Prechtel

“The Poetry of Self Compassion” David Whyte

“What Happened to You?” Oprah Winfrey interview about 60 Minutes segment on Healing Trauma (March 2018)

“Toxic Stress” Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, San Francisco Pediatrician on PBS News Hour

National Resources

Milne Institute - Practitioner Locator

The McKenzie Institute for Mechanical Diagnosis and Treatment of the Spine (practitioner locator)

Upledger and Barral Institute - Osteopathic Manual Therapy Training (practitioner locator)

Trauma Awareness and Recovery - Trauma Releasing Exercises Founder: David Berceli

Educational Kinesiology / Brain Gym

Local Resources

Inner Life Coach - Tree Dunbar

Continuum Movement - Beth Pettengil-Riley

Local Trauma Releasing Exercises International Instructor Maria Alfaro

Survivors Healing Center- Resource Center for Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Marketa Bilkova, LAc (Non-neuroplastic alternative healthcare practitioner) marketabilkova@msn.com