Clinical rounds and information session for healthcare physicians and their support team, outlining a unique approach to trauma and mental health.

1. Jesse Hanson MA, PhD, RP
Clinical Director, Helix Healthcare Group

2.  To clearly define trauma
 To develop a more comprehensive understanding of the
physical, cognitive and emotional impact of trauma on
mental health
 To understand how neuroscience has influenced our
approach to trauma
 To learn about effective and unique strategies for
treating trauma

6.  Acute:
◦ Activation of the fight-or-
flight response
◦ Increased cortisol and
norepinepherine
◦ Tachycardia
◦ Shutting down of the
prefrontal cortex
 Chronic:
◦ Hyperarousal, agitation
◦ Insomnia, nightmares
◦ Heightened startle response
◦ Fatigue
◦ HPA axis dysregulation
◦ Cortisol mediated brain
changes
◦ Chronic pain
◦ Obesity
◦ Hypertension, CVD

7.  Acute
◦ Derealization and
perceptual changes
◦ Dissociation, detachment
◦ Anxiety
◦ Social isolation, withdrawal
◦ Guilt, shame, self-blame
 Chronic
◦ Depression, hopelessness
◦ Panic attacks
◦ Difficulty maintaining
relationships
◦ Substance abuse
◦ Self destructive behaviours
◦ Impulse control issues
◦ Inability to make healthy
choices

8.  Acute:
◦ Stress response involving the
amygdala, hippocampus and
prefrontal cortex
◦ Singular, hyper focus on
stressor
 Chronic:
◦ Intrusive thoughts
◦ Difficulty concentrating
◦ Enhanced fear conditioning
◦ Impaired working memory
◦ Impaired spatial and pattern
pattern recognition
◦ Smaller hippocampal and
anterior cingulate volumes
◦ Increased amygdala function
◦ Decreased medial prefrontal
cortex function

10. “Neurons that fire together, wire together.”

13. How should we
approach trauma

14.  Psychotherapy
 Cognitive processing
 Somatic processing
 Eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing
 Acupuncture
 Hypnotherapy
 Sound therapy

15.  University of Toronto’s Music and Health Research
Collaboratory (MaHRC) looking into Vibroacoustic
Therapy (VAT)
◦ VAT uses low frequency sounds who’s vibration essentially
creates a type of sound massage
◦ MaHRC is exploring the medical effects of low frequency
sound in reducing the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease
◦ Find impact goes beyond the brain, providing deep physical
cellular stimulation to skin, muscles and joints, resulting in
decreased pain and increased mobility

16.  British Academy of Sound Therapy research findings:
◦ 95% of clients suffering from stress-related disorders reported
increased calmness and following treatment
◦ Those receiving sound therapy showed statistically significant
reductions in arousal of the autonomic nervous system (as
measured by stress response monitors) compared to control
group
 Multiple studies suggesting that sound therapy has a
deeply calming effect on the nervous system

17.  Physiological effects
◦ Krumhansl (1991) – Examined physiological correlations of
anxiety by measuring heart rate before and after music
therapy intervention
◦ Gomez & Danuser (2007) – Found significant correlations
between musical structure (tempo, pitch, melody) and
psychophysiological responses (anxiety, relaxation,
excitement)
◦ Lingham & Theorell (2009) – Found that stimulating music
increased heart rate and respiratory rate and decreased
expiratory CO2

18.  Neurological effects
◦ Gaynor (1999) – Music therapy creates sound vibrations that
affect the body at a cellular level
◦ Schore (2001) – Accessing the right hemisphere of the brain
facilitates health and balancing of psychological states
◦ Hanson (2010) – Music and sound affect the right hemisphere
of the brain
◦ Brattico & Pearce (2013) – Different parts of the brain are
activated with listening to different types of music

20.  The instruments vibrate in a
way that activates the right
and left brain in a back and
forth pattern called binaural
frequency, which is essential
for healing and theta brain
states.

23. 416.921.2273 (CARE)
www.helixhealthcaregroup.com

24.  Bremner, Douglas. Traumatic stress: effects on the brain.
Clin Neurosci. 2006;8(4):445-461.
 Majer, Matthias. Association of childhood trauma with
cognitive function in healthy adults: a pilot study. BMC
Neurology. 2010;10:61.
 McFARLANE AC. The long-term costs of traumatic
stress: intertwined physical and psychological
consequences. World Psychiatry. 2010;9(1):3-10.
 McNally, RJ. Psychological mechanisms in acute response to
trauma. Biol Psychiatry. 2003;53(9):779-88.
 Nayyar, Anjum. Good vibrations: using sound to treat
disease. U of T News. 2012.