Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) Therapy
Healing from the Inside Out
At Arbor Cove Therapy, we believe healing begins with rest — emotional, mental, and physical. Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) is a neuroscience-informed, body-based therapy that gently helps you resolve pain held deep in the nervous system — especially the kind rooted in shock, disconnection, and early relational trauma.
DBR offers a way to finally soften those protective patterns that kept you safe in the past, but feel limiting now.
What Is Deep Brain Reorienting?
Developed by psychiatrist Dr. Frank Corrigan, DBR is designed to support healing by following the brain’s natural order of processing distress — starting in the deep brain, where automatic survival responses like shock and bracing first occur.
These early responses often don’t involve memory or language. Instead, they show up as patterns:
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Shutting down or going numb in conflict
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Overreacting to small things without knowing why
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Feeling emotionally flat, foggy, or overwhelmed
DBR helps you process those internal signals before the emotional overwhelm takes over — making healing possible, without retraumatization.
GROUNDING IN THE "WHERE SELF"
We begin with a unique form of grounding — helping you notice where you are in space, not just what’s around you. This creates a steady internal anchor before turning toward emotional material.
How DBR Works
TRACKING ORIENTING TENSION
As you begin to gently sense into a moment or feeling, your therapist will help you notice subtle tension in the face or back of the head — often around the eyes or base of the skull. This is called orienting tension, and it’s one of the first signs that the deep brain is responding to distress.
CLEARING SHOCK, FEELING EMOTION
Staying with this orienting tension — without rushing — allows your body to release shock. This is the freeze or overwhelm that often occurs before emotion even arrives. When this clears, emotions like fear, sadness, grief, or anger can come forward gently and safely.
Your therapist is right there with you throughout — creating a calm, supportive space for whatever arises.
What DBR Can Help With
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Shutting down in stressful moments
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Feeling anxious “for no reason”
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Persistent tension or internal bracing
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Emotional numbness or fogginess
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Unprocessed grief, abandonment, or trauma
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Relational patterns that feel confusing
