The NeuroHealth Process
The Four Foundations of working with your FND nervous system
Body: Claiming Your Space
Functional neurological symptoms are expressions of your body. At the level of body, you may experience uncontrollable shaking, difficulty breathing, clenching, paralysis, inability to speak, or stiffening of the body. Other experiences include feeling foggy, tingly, out-of-body, numb, overtaken by a strong energy, or feeling trapped in his or her body.
Within the Foundation of Body you will discover how to listen more deeply to your body, identify and stay present with physical sensations, and respond to these signals in order to interrupt the cycle of your episodes. You will learn how your nervous system works and how to regulate your nervous system through grounding, resourcing, breath, and movement practices.
Mind: You Are Not Your Thoughts
Functional neurological symptoms are expressions of your mind. At the level of mind, you may experience racing thoughts, negative beliefs about yourself, repetitive worries, intrusive memories, constant fears about the future. The mind may tell you to avoid certain aspects of your life because of the possibility of having an episode. Within the Foundation of Mind you will discover that you do not always have to believe your thoughts. You will become more aware of how your thoughts affect the way your body reacts and how, in turn, your interpretation of these physical sensations affects the way you feel. By being a “witness” to your internal narrative, your body can relax into the present moment rather than re-living the past or anticipating the future.
Emotions: Finding Freedom
Functional neurological symptoms are expressions of your emotions. At the level of emotion, you may experience helplessness, fear, confusion, hopelessness, isolation, shame, anger, overwhelm, anxiety, or loss of control. These are very common feelings for people who have been diagnosed with epilepsy and/or functional neurological symptoms.
Within the Foundation of Emotion you will discover that these feelings are normal and healthy reactions to a crazy-making and often misunderstood life situation. You will become more aware of the human tendency to struggle against painful emotions and chase pleasant emotions. In learning neither to push away nor hold onto emotions, you build the capacity to experience the full spectrum of feelings and tap into their natural wisdom. This “emotional freedom” allows you to slow down and positively impact the neuropathways of the emotional spiral seen in functional neurological symptoms.
Energy Systems: Exploring Yourself More Deeply
Functional neurological symptoms are an expression of your energy. At the level of your energy, you may experience a change in perception, that “something comes over you,” a weird energy, a gap in time, an indescribable strangeness, disorientation, or some kind of shift in “normal” reality. You have probably felt or experienced that others cannot relate to these experiences. Know that, among individuals with functional neurological symptoms, these are typical experiences. Within the Foundation of Energy Systems you will discover that these experiences are not something to be afraid of. You will be supported through a process of making new meaning and integrating the more subtle or spiritual aspects of your being. The inexplicable and energetic layers of experience become a ground for discovery and growth rather than fear and isolation.
Through our work together, we will support you in improving your quality of life. We’ll help you
- Learn to differentiate between both real and perceived limitations caused by your FND.
- Improve unwanted emotional aspects of your diagnosis, including shame, PTSD, depression, anxiety, and/or anger.
- Recognize precursors to your main FND symptoms and transform (not avoid) your relationship with them.
- Gain a deeper understanding of how nervous system activation builds increasingly: including anxiety, depression, symptoms of PTSD and FND.
- Learn how to regulate the nervous system’s under or over-activation.
- Increase mindfulness and self-awareness in regards to smallest emotional, physiological, and physical changes, leading to your ability to “not go into FND symptoms.”
- Learn how to regulate your breathing (CO2 levels) to increase oxygen levels available to the brain.
- Deepen into mindfulness practices including interactive meditation.
We use a variety of complementary techniques, depending on each patient’s individual needs. Our work together may include psychotherapy, mindfulness training and meditation, stress-reduction techniques, professionally guided support groups, biofeedback, neurofeedback, and the UNYTE-ILS program.
Intensive Outpatient Program
At the Boulder Center for NeuroHealth we offer a six-week intensive outpatient program serving clients from out of state as well as Colorado.
More about it
The Intensive Outpatient Program can be a very beneficial route to choose for any client who wishes to receive in-depth care on their journey of healing.
Dr. Moenter recommends six consecutive weeks with four weekly sessions with Dr. Moenter in addition to sessions with a NeuroPT and a gifted bodyworker, both experienced in working with FND.
The highly personalized and focused in-person approach is preceded by tele-health sessions through a HIPPA compliant system, as well as follow-up telehealth sessions to help with integration and deepening into the psychoeducational teachings and psychotherapeutic nervous system self-regulation.
Clients often choose to come out to Boulder again after an integration period of several months, to deepen into their ability to regulate the nervous system.
The outpatient program is built around your needs, and in our consultation appointment we will together develop a format that works best for you.
Lodging is NOT provided by the Boulder Center for NeuroHealth, but you may find hotel and/or Airbnb opportunities in and around Boulder to create a holistic experience for yourself.
Contact US to set up an initial consultation and learn more about how the intensive outpatient program can help you.
“There is power inherent in committing yourself to the process of creating health in all levels of your life.” Christiane Northrup, M.D.
How does Somatic (body-based) Psychotherapy help?
The ways that functional neurological symptoms impact your life can be greatly helped by Somatic-based Psychotherapy Sessions. Dr. Moenter treats functional symptoms from a polyvagal based perspective, offering Sensorimotor Psychotherapy as the framework of her treatment.
By working with those states of nervous system dysregulation directly. using Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Dr. Moenter treats clients with FND in a more holistic way. The focus of the sessions is not on achieving “control over” the symptoms but on changing underlying psycho-biological mechanism which lead to those functional changes in the brain experienced by clients with FND.
The loss of control over your body and/or mind and the unpredictability of functional neurological symptoms can have a significant emotional impact on your life.
As a person with FND, you are most likely familiar with feelings of helplessness, depression, anxiety, loss of control, overwhelm, shame and guilt. You might feel as if you don’t fit in and have to depend on others for support and daily care. This is a lot to hold for any person and is especially difficult to deal with when those feelings arise in addition to having FND.
Dr. Moenter, as the lead clinician at the Boulder Center for NeuroHealth, can help.
Over the years, Dr. Moenter has helped many individuals and families to step out of the secrecy, shame, and fear often experienced as a result of their own or a family member’s FND.
In her work with individuals, couples, and families, Dr. Moenter supports and challenges each person in a life-affirming, person-centered, joyful, and mindful way. She will help you explore and transform the challenges many individuals diagnosed with FND know quite intimately.
The Process
The main focus at the Boulder Center for NeuroHealth is to help you master the skill of nervous system regulation. Through relational mindfulness you will learn how to self-regulate your emotions, thoughts, and physical experiences.
Through your work together, Dr. Moenter will help you:
- Learn how to use mindfulness and self-awareness to create a more contemplative “nervous system-friendly” lifestyle.
- Identify pre-symptom warnings, including subtle changes in your physiology, thought patterns, and feeling state.
- Learn stress management techniques individualized to your lifestyle
- Reduce possible symptoms of PTSD, including hypervigilance, intrusive thoughts, feeling detached or dissociated, hypersensitivity, irritability or angry outbursts
- Explore ways to self-regulate states of hyper or hypo activation of the nervous system.
- Identify emotional, behavioral, physiological, and environmental challenges and learn how to be with rather than to avoid.
- Discover a greater quality of life while implementing a healthy lifestyle, including: exercise, nutrition, sleep, mindfulness, connection to nature, gardening, community, animal companions, independence, emotional health, and more.
- Recognize and cope with feelings of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, anger, shame, avoidance behavior, isolation and loneliness, and suicidal thoughts.
Healing Happens
Healing happens on many levels: emotionally, spiritually, and physically. When you develop an understanding of the interconnectedness of your symptoms with other aspects of your life; both in your past and present, you enable true healing to begin.
Let’s explore and understand those influences and de-link them, so you can experience greater emotional freedom, joy, and confidence. Referencing Ron Kurtz, we believe that “the impulse to heal is real and powerful and lies within the you…We are not the healers. We are the context in which healing is inspired.”
Contact Dr. Moenter to set up an initial consultation
Unyte-ILS
Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)
Developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is an auditory intervention designed to reduce stress and auditory sensitivity while enhancing social engagement and resilience. Based on Dr. Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, by calming the physiological and emotional state, the door is opened for improved communication and more successful therapy. The SSP is a research-based therapy showing significant results in the following areas:
- Social and emotional difficulties
- Auditory sensitivities
- Anxiety and trauma related challenges
- Inattention
- Stressors that impact social engagement
- Regulation of the Autonomic Nervous System
Optimal Resilience
This non-invasive intervention involves listening to music that has been processed specifically to retune the nervous system (regulating state) to introduce a sense of safety and the ability to socially engage. This allows the client to better interpret not only human speech, but, importantly, the emotional meaning of language. Once interpersonal interactions improve, spontaneous social behaviors and an enhanced ability to learn, self-regulate and engage are often seen.
If you are curious and would like to learn more, feel free to call Dr. Moenter at 303.258.1116
Breathing, Stress, and Seizures
Breathing is a behavior essential to human life. The body’s homeostasis, especially changes in arterial carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, is greatly influenced by an individual’s breathing behavior. As early as in the 1930s researchers have been investigating the relationship between breathing, brain waves, and seizure activity.
Chronic hyperventilation, or over-breathing, can trigger and exacerbate functional symptoms.
Chronic hyperventilation is a learned behavior leading to Hypocapnia. Hypocapnia is a CO2 deficiency in the blood and other body fluids, leading to cerebral vasoconstriction. Hypocapnia can trigger and exacerbate a wide variety of physical and functional neurological symptoms including physiological slowing of brain rhythms, interictal discharges, and FND.
Optimal Breathing
Bringing awareness to and regulating your breathing to a level of optimal health can lower functional symptoms.
Many people who over-breathe, which triggers a variety of symptoms such as seizures, are not aware of their behavior. Fortunately, optimal breathing behavior can be learned. At the Boulder Center for NeuroHealth we use Respiratory Biofeedback to teach you about your breathing behavior. We want you to be knowledgeable and empowered to regulate your over-breathing and consequently Co2 levels.
We use the CapnoTrainer® , an educational instrument to identify, evaluate, and teach you about how optimal breathing behavior can positively impact your life. On this journey of breathing education you will learn how to identify your own behavior and how it impacts your emotional and physical health. You will be able to detect deregulated breathing chemistry through experience, notice subtle shifts in your behavior and shift your breathing behavior towards health and optimal body chemistry.
If you are curious and would like to learn more, feel free to call Dr. Moenter at 303.258.1116
An Evidence-Based Solution
Over the past decade, the scientific literature has seen a phenomenal increase in the number and quality of research studies demonstrating the positive impacts of meditation. The success of meditation is directly correlated to a number of biometric ‘indicators’ – of which Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is considered to be one of the strongest.
The base of (formerly) Unyte’s Interactive Meditation program was created by Wild Divine, a true pioneer in mind-body technology, which sold tens of thousands of biofeedback devices in 60 countries over 15 years, and whose products were referenced in over 100 scientific journal articles. Our Interactive Meditation platform is back under the brand of Wild Divine, now partnered with another biofeedback pioneer, Somatic Vision, also referenced in numerous studies and articles.
The Benefits of HRV Biofeedback
HRV is a measure of the variation in time between heartbeats and is considered to be a strong indicator of your meditative state. It has been shown through decades of research that a higher HRV correlates with an optimal, relaxed nervous system state, positive emotions, and improved health.
According to the research, HRV biofeedback may, as part of a healthy lifestyle, help in the following ways:
- • Improve ability to handle adversity or stressful situations
- • Decrease anxiety
- • Stress management
- • Reduce depression
- • Improve responses to anger-inducing stimuli
- • Improve sleep quality
- • Reduce pain
- • Improve gastrointestinal disorder symptoms
- • Improve mood and psychological well-being
- • Help fine-tune skills for optimal sports performance
from: Wild Divine Research – Wild Divine
The combined elements of an ILS program — movement, treated music and bone conduction — help build the foundation for brain and body organization. By addressing brain function at a foundational level, we are better able to become more mentally and emotionally resilient, more effective at school or work, and function in our modern world.
How does the ILS work?
The ILS creates an experience that activates multiple sensory systems to create and strengthen neural connections and networks, harnessing the power of neuroplasticity.
Just like with physical activity, specific, simultaneous and repeated multisensory stimulation gradually trains the brain and body to process and respond to multisensory input more effectively through improved organization, leading to improved function in the world.
The ILS provides multisensory input through filtered classical music, delivered via air- and bone-conduction headphones and movement activities. The ILS activities are fun and can easily be customized for all ages and skill levels.
From: Integrated Listening System for Nervous System Regulation | Unyte
Mirror Therapy
Mirror therapy was first proposed as a potential therapeutic intervention by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran to help alleviate Phantom limb pain, a condition in which patients feel they still have a pain in the limb after amputation.
Ramachandran and Rogers-Ramachandran first devised the technique in an attempt to help those with phantom limb pain resolve what they termed a ‘learned paralysis’ of the painful phantom limb. The visual feedback, from viewing the reflection of the intact limb in place of the phantom limb, made it possible for the patient to perceive movement in the phantom limb. Their hypothesis was that every time the patient attempted to move the paralysed limb, they received sensory feedback (through vision and proprioception) that the limb did not move. This feedback stamped itself into the brain circuitry through a process of Hebbian learning, so that, even when the limb was no longer present, the brain had learned that the limb (and subsequent phantom) was paralysed. To retrain the brain, and thereby eliminate the learned paralysis, Ramachandran and Rogers-Ramachandran created the mirror box.
From: Mirror Therapy – Physiopedia (physio-pedia.com)
Dr. Moenter uses Mirror Therapy as part of her work with one-sided paralysis, limp weakness, or pain syndrome.
Movement Education
Dr. Moenter integrates her over 45 years of experience in dance, yoga, meditation, and mindful and creative movement practices in her work with FND.
One room in her practice is dedicated to exploring mindful movement.
Using protective floor mats allows clients to engage in the body’s natural curiosity re-engaging in less familiar movements such as independently getting in and out of the wheelchair, using wall-mounted ballet bars for support, allowing for sensory-informed play with yoga balls, swinging chairs, and fidget toys.
Playful exploration of voluntary movement is a large component of Dr. Moenter’s work with the FND nervous system, deepening into motor control, and body awareness.
Her mindful movement practices are inspired by teachers such as Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Francisco Kaiut, Aline LaPierre, Pat Ogden, Gabrielle Roth, and those many people she has shared a dance and yoga floor with.
Start your journey to a healthier nervous system NOW. Call or email to set up your initial consultation. P: 303.258.1116
E: DrAfra@boulderneurohealth.com
About Us
Boulder Center For NeuroHealth – Support for Individuals Diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND)