Infantile PTS and Re-Set Therapy Keynote Presentation by Owen Connolly at the 4th Annual Conference on Brain Disorders, Neurology and Therapeutics, June 10-11 in Dublin, Ireland

1. 4th
Annual Conference on Brain
Disorders, Neurology and Therapeutics
Pulses
10-11 June 2019 – Dublin

2. Infantile Posttraumatic
Stress and Reset
Therapy

3.  Whilst not presently represented in
the DSM-V, DTD is understood as a
combination of PTSD and acute
anxiety, emotional dysregulation
and affective disorders associated
with trauma, relating to
development.

4. This theory suggests that:
 Children come into the world biologically pre-
programmed to form attachments with others, as
part of a survival strategy
 Bowlby hypothesised that both infant and mothers
have evolved a biological need to stay in contact
with each other

5. Main points on his theory on attachment are:Main points on his theory on attachment are:
• A child has an innate (i.e. inborn) need to attach to one main
attachment figure that the child should receive the continuous
care of this single most important Attachment figure for
approximately the first 2 years of life
• That the long term consequences of maternal deprivation might
include the following:
▫ Delinquency - Reduced Intelligence - Depression
▫ Affectionless Psychopathology - The inability to show affection
for others. Are prone to antisocial behaviour and have little
regard for their actions or behaviour.

6.  Whereas the child’s attachment relationship with
their Primary Caregiver leads to the development of
an Internal Working Model....

7. There are three main features of the internalThere are three main features of the internal
working modelworking model
 A Model of others being trustworthy
 A Model of Self as valuable
 A Model of Self as effective when dealing with
others

8. All of the above would be frightening if there was no
way back for the child who was to have had the
experience of being separated from his or her
mother by adoption or any other traumatic event, such
as outcomes arising from a difficult or traumatic
birth experience or prolonged separation in the first
two years of life.

9.  The use of the fMRI’s have been able to show that
changes take place in the brain (as a result of
separation ) that may influence the self regulation
required for the child be able to pay attention, to
value themselves, to deal effectively with others and
find it difficult to trust

10. Where to startWhere to start
 To work with the child it is important that the
evidence is supported by the parent self report,
reporting that the child has been traumatised by
separation or by a difficult birth process.
 Also that the child presents with signs that the
child’s natural defence mechanism is active, e.g. the
Fight or Flight mechanism with an elevated fear
being evident.(infantile post traumatic stress
disorder)

11. Natural alarm systemNatural alarm system
 When a young person is told that they did exactly
what they were designed to do and that they have
the power to change their behaviour by resetting
their natural alarm system, they are so relieved.
 This presentation purposes to give examples of how
this has been shown to work with individuals and
groups of schoolchildren.

12.  Our three brains
-the rational brain (the frontal lobes)
-the mammalian brain ( limbic system)
-the reptilian brain (all other vertebrates)

13.  Ventrimedial region not developed if child has no
positive experience to draw on from a life of
threatening experience
 Anterior cingulate region – child's higher brain is so
unfinished due to miss information the child
received during development believing they are
worthless

14.  Link between brain development and conditions
such as ADHD? Can the child interpret internally
the threat by invasive birth process or
abandonment?
 Trauma corrupts information being sent to
orbitofrontal region
 Dorsolateral prefrontal region also affected by fear
when threatened

15.  This will assist children to self regulate following
diagnosis of childhood trauma
 With accompanying symptoms of ADHD and ADD;
obsessive-compulsive behaviour, oppositional-
defiant behaviour and emotional affective
dysregulation
 A check list has been compiled for the sub-criterion
and items of Developmental Trauma Disorder
(DTD)

16. Subcriterion Items
Inability to modulate, tolerate,
or recover from extreme affect
states
Getting mad and cannot calm
down
Temper tantrums or hot
temper
Problems managing/tolerating
angry affect
(DTD) criteria
B. Affective and physiogical dysregulation. The child exhibits impaired normative
developmental competencies related to arousal regulation, including at lease two of
the following:
B1.

17. Subcriterion Items
Disturbances in
regulation of bodily
functions
Bowel movements
outside of toilet
Sleeps less/more than
most kids
Wets self during
day/bed
B2.

18. Subcriterion Items
Diminished awareness
of sensations, emotions
and bodily states
Difficulty knowing or
describing internal
states
Emotional
unresponsiveness
B3.

19. Subcriterion Items
Impaired capacity to
describe emotions or
bodily states
Difficulty expressing
wishes and desires
Difficulty labeling and
expressing feelings and
internal experiences
B4.

20. Subcriterion Items
Preoccupation with threat,
impared capacity to perceive
threat
Feeling afraid something bad
might happen
Feels others are out to get
him/her
Acting or feeling as if
traumatic event were recurring
(DTD) criteria
C. Attentional and behavioural dysregulation. The child exhibits impaired
normative developmental competencies related to sustained attention, learning, or
coping with stress, Including at least three of the following:
C1.

21. Subcriterion Items
Impaired capacity for
self-protection
Shows too little fear of
getting hurt
C2.C2.

22. Subcriterion Items
Maladaptive attempts
at self soothing
Inability to self sooth
Plays with own sex
parts too much
Repeatedly rocks head
or body
Thumb-sucking
C3.C3.

23. Subcriterion Items
Habitual or reactive
self-harm
Self-injurious
behaviour
Tried to kill self
Child suffers from
unexplained injuries or
may even deliberately
injure self at times
C4.C4.

24. Subcriterion Items
Inability to initiate or
sustain goal-directed
behaviour
Problems with age
appropriate capacity to
plan and anticipate
Problems with age
appropriate capacity to
focus on and complete
tasks
C5.

25. Subcriterion Items
Intense preoccupation with
safety of the caregiver or other
loved ones
Worried a lot that something
bad might happen to parent
Gets too upset when separated
from parents
(DTD) Criteria
D. Self-and relational dysregulation. The child exhibits impaired normative
Developmental competencies in their sense of personal identity and involvement in
relationships, including at least three of the following:
D1.

26. Subcriterion Items
Persistent negative
sense of self
Feelings of being
damaged or defective
Low feelings of self-
esteem, self-confidence
or self-worth
Feels or complains no
one loves him/her
D2.

27. Subcriterion Items
Extreme and persistent
distrust, defiance or
lack of reciprocal
behaviour in close
relationships with
adults or peers
Distrust of others
Never doing what is
told
Feeling alone all the
time
D3.

28. Subcriterion Items
Reactive physical or
verbal aggression
towards peers,
caregivers, or other
adults
volatile interpersonal
relationships
Gets into fights all the
time
Physically attacks
others
Threatens others
D4.

29. Subcriterion Items
Inappropriate attempts
to get intimate contact
Interpersonal boundary
issues
Afraid to be left alone
Child is unusually
sexually precocious and
may attempt age-
inappropriate sexual
behaviour with other
children or adults
D5.

30. Subcriterion Items
Impaired capacity to
regulate empathic
arousal
Difficulty attuning to
other peoples emotional
states
Difficulty with
perspective taking
D6.

31. First session:10/07/2013 Challenge
level:2
Gender: Female Age:15 Time:15:19:20
*please note the low coherence rate

32.  In the first session adopted female 21/203 was given a
sheet with presenting issues
 She identified with 21 out of the 37 issues
 These were:
 (C1) Feeling afraid something bad
might happen
 (D2) Pretending I am someone else
 (D2) Feeling sad or unhappy
(B3)Going away in my mind trying not
to think
(B1) Wanting to yell and break things
(B1) Crying
(D3) Wanting to yell at people
(D2) Feeling like I did something
wrong
(B3) Feeling like things aren't real
(B3) Daydreaming
Forgetting things, I can’t remember
things
(C1) Feeling nervous or jumpy inside
(C1) Feeling afraid
(D2) Pretending I’m somewhere else
(C1) Being afraid of the dark
(C1) Worrying about things
(D2)Feeling like nobody likes me
My mind going empty or blank
(D4) Feeling like I hate people
(B1) Feeling mad
(C4) Wanting to kill myself

33.  Inviting the client to engage in taking a deep
breath – typically this will reveal a lifting of the
shoulders and short breaths in through the
mouth.
 Spacially, engaging with the client in assessing
their spacial understanding and the influence
of the presence of other (the therapist) on their
breath and level of anxiety response.


34.  Affirming to the client that there is actually
nothing wrong with them – that their responses
have been governed by their natural alarm
system over which the therapist will teach the
client how to manage. The client is empowered
to understand that only they have the power to
re-set their alarm, under the guidance of the
therapist.

35.  The client is advised that their code to re-set is
theirs to access; usually a date of birth e.g.
060194, and then the word ‘RESET’ – ensuring
the client understands what the word ‘reset’
means.
 This practice can span cultures and languages
without discrimination, it is easily accessible to
therapists and therefore clients worldwide.
 After reset, the client is taught how to breathe
properly, into lower diaphragm. Evidence of the
reset is in the breath work.

36.  Deep-diaphragmatic breathing is represented
to the child as ‘teddy surfing’.
 A teddy or soft-toy is selected by the child and
is placed on the tummy. The child witnesses
teddy rise and fall, in a ‘surfing’ way.
 It is important for the child to inhale through
the nose and to exhale through the mouth.
Inhaling through the nose expediates the
accessibility of oxygen throughout the child’s
system.

37.  The client’s entire physiology demonstrates a
near immediate change – cold sweaty hands are
no longer cold and sweaty, as the oxygen supply
to the blood is available to the extremities more
readily again.
 Reset therapy bridges the gap between symptom
management and causal determination which
other forms of psychotherapy require much
greater time and engagement to achieve. Reset
therapy can access both symptoms and causality.

38. Final session: 21/07/2013 Challenging level:2
Gender: Female Age: 15 Time:16:38:40
* Now note the high level of coherence after a few sessions of therapy

39. ANY QUESTIONS?
Further information available on
my practice, www.counsellor.ie

40.  Bowlby J (1973) Attachment and Loss, Volume 2: Separation, Anxiety and Anger, Hogarth
Press, London.
 Raine A, et al (1998) Reduced prefrontal and increased subcortical brain functioning assed
using PET scans
 Blunt Bugental D et al. (2003)the hormonal costs cost of subtle forms of infant maltreatment,
Hormones and behaviour .
 Anisman H. (1998) Do early life events permanently alter behavioural and hormonal responses
to stressors ? International journal of developmental neuroscience jun-jul;16(34):149-64
 Cozolino , LJ (2002) The Neuroscience of psychotherapy: Building and Rebuilding the Human
Remain , W.W .Norton & Co., London.
 Sunderland, M. (2006, 2007). Your childs brain. In E Ripley (Ed.), what every parent needs to
know (pp. 18 – 19). London: Dorling Kindersley.
 Lacroix L , et al. (2000) Differential role of the medial and lateral prefrontal cortices in fear and
anxiety , Behavioural Neuroscience Dec ; 114(6): 1119-30.
 Connolly, O J (2006) .Standing on the Shoulders of Giants. Nurture Press. Ireland
 Wiley, D. S. (2013). Complex Trauma in the Livesof Urban Children. Journal of Traumatic Stress,
26(4), 483 - 491.
 Doc childre, . (2011). emWave2 [computer software]. California