Breaking Harmful Cycles
I worked as a social worker for 20 years. I have worked for the State Child Protective Services and the Family Preservation Services. Throughout my career, I assisted families and children who came from unfortunate, abusive and neglectful situations. I helped them find more suitable circumstances to relieve them from violence, neglect and stress. I would help them break the harmful cycles they would find themselves in.
After receiving my master’s degree in rehab counseling, I began work for the Vocational Rehabilitation Office to assist those with disabilities to find ways to improve their living, education and employment situations.
For most clients in public agencies, there is a protocol regiment of Medication Management and Mandatory Counseling. As I reflected on this regiment for my clients over the past 25 years, I was disillusioned and frustrated that this was the only source of treatment or help for those individuals in need. In most cases, this treatment plan did not fix the problems and the protocol seemed to last for years in order to make any kind of difference. Clients had to be vigilant and determined for many years in order to make changes in their lives and circumstances.
Unfortunately, within the counseling and medication centers the employee turnover was very high. The consistency of treatment/services were always being interrupted and the client would have to start from the beginning of their story each time. Sometimes retelling of the “story” was so traumatic that it seemed that the client would get stuck in the trauma and never move past it.
A Firm Belief
I have a firm belief that people want to do well in their lives and they do the best they can. I also believe traumatic or stressful events in our lives causes us to get stuck to some extent, not allowing us to live to our full potential.
AN Amazing discovery
One day a few of my co-workers were gathered at the water cooler talking. Katie was telling them about a treatment program she had found to help her son. Katie adopted a special needs child, Ethan. Ethan was diagnosed with Autism. He would have loud out-bursts (he did not have a volume dial), he was clumsy, forgetful, socially awkward, and had learning problems. But he is also a joy to be around, and a happy young man who loves to be teased.
Ethan attended the middle school across the street from our office and each day after school he would come to the office so his mother could take him to the baby sitter. We all knew when it was 3:30 p.m. because Ethan would come blasting into the building, with his arms full of school work, losing papers as he went and banging into walls, furniture and people as he progressed down the hall to his mother’s office. If his physical presence was not noticed, you would definitely hear his booming voice. It was a daily spectacle. Katie was worried about Ethan at school because he was struggling with his education and getting into trouble because he would not stay on task.
I joined the group at the water cooler and learned that the middle school recommended that Ethan start taking medication to settle him down. Katie did not want to put Ethan on medication so she began a search for a drug free solution to treat Autism. She came across the Brain Integration website and was impressed with it. She called many of the practitioners listed on the website and ask them questions about the process, treatment and outcomes. She was convinced this was what Ethan needed. I was skeptical. Ethan had an appointment that Friday.
The next Monday, Ethan came to the office promptly at 3:30 p.m. What an amazing difference!!! He quietly entered the room, greeted each adult in a polite, quite manner. He walked quietly to his mother’s office and began telling her about his day. He had his homework neatly packed away in his backpack and pulled it out to show her what was expected. He was easier to have a conversation with. I asked him a few questions about his day, the brain integration, and what he was planning for the next weekend. He was able to answer these simple questions without hesitation (something he had never done). I wanted to know more.
Katie gave me the website and phone number to the practitioner that she went through. I dove into the information, and I read every word on the website but still wanted to know more. I ordered the books Susan McCrossin recommended for her practitioners, but I wanted to find out more. Katie said it had made such a difference in Ethan that she was going to get the treatment herself and invited me to go see what the process was like. At this point I wanted to experience this for myself, so I called her practitioner to see if he could fit me in and I booked the opening he had.
Felt Like I was Drowning
I struggled in school. Even though I was able to maintain a strong B average throughout school and obtain a Master’s degree, I had to work three times as hard as other students. I was lacking in my memory, and I also had processing difficulties. I knew the information in my head but I was not able to get them out of my mouth when asked a question or when I would do a presentation. I did not dwell on these issues, and I thought it was just the way I was.
At the time I talked to Katie about brain integration, I was struggling at work with high caseloads, deadlines, paperwork, shortage of staff, and my own expectations of doing a good job. I was feeling overwhelmed with work and its expectations. I was working about 60-70 hours a week, trying to keep up and I still felt like I was drowning. From the time I was born I have had Asthma and during this time period I could not keep it under control with medication. I had two trips to the hospital for treatments and was taking medication regularly to help me breath.
Breaking Blockages
I met with the practitioner, Trevor Olsen, in January 2014. He explained that when we are five-years-old or younger and we experience stress, the brain does not know what to do with the stress. Our young brains send it to the subconscious and from there it is stuffed in an unused (at the time) part of the brain, just to get it out of the way where we don’t have to think about it anymore. But what it really does is cause a blockage in that part of the brain and then when a child starts to learn in school, this part of the brain passage way is inaccessible to transport and process information. Learning has to take alternate routes to get to the processing center, and if there are significant blockages the information takes longer to get where it needs to go and it takes time to move to the conscious mind where it can be used. These blockages can delay, confuse, or bounce around in the head. Therefore, a person with blockages can appear to be less intelligent than other students.
Trevor also said that stressors that happen after the age of five are also stored, but they are stored in other body parts and they appear as migraines, back pain, asthma, and a whole variety of ailments. I asked him what role genetics play in ailments because usually families will have the same tendency towards a certain ailment. Trevor indicated that there was a genetic component, that we are predisposed to put the stress in the same area’s as the family in our history, but all ailments/disease have an emotional grounding.
Keeping in Balance
A study of Eastern medicine, where Brain Integration was born, focuses on the person as a whole with the universe and keeping in balance with the energy around us. When a person is out of balance, caused by stress/trauma, that person will develop illness, ailments or diseases. When the blockages are cleared through the body’s natural electrical pulse, it allows for healing and a return to balance. In the case of learning difficulties, the balance allows the opening of brain passages that already existed but were blocked by stress/trauma. A person can then begin to use those parts of the brain that were previously not available. The learning disabilities disappear!
Holistic way to Better Health
Western medicine focused on using drugs or surgery to treat ailments and in today’s society they are a well-accepted way to take care of health issues. Drug companies, pharmacies and surgical clinics are multi-million dollar companies who control insurance companies, political policy and advertising in order to continue their services. What if there was a better, holistic way to be healthy, without the dependence on substances? Western medicine has its place, but I believe we are overly dependent on it.
Details of the Technique
Getting back to my balance with Trevor. He used the Chinese meridian points (these are the same points an Acupuncturist places the needles in Acupuncture) by touching them in a specific order with his fingers. He used hand signals or Mudra’s from Japanese culture to communicate to the body what area of the brain he was working on. He then he used muscle testing from Kinesiology to find out areas of my brain that had blockages. When he discovered a blocked pathway, he would put two fingers and a thumb on my forehead and his other hand on the back of my head and wait till he could feel a pulse. The pulse indicated that his natural electrical pulse had been projected to my brain where the blockage existed, but was now cleared.
After he cleared the blockages in my brain, he did a balance on my emotions by using the same process. He discovered that three months before I was born, my grandmother died. It was a great sorrow to my mother, and to me the unborn baby. As a result, I was born with Asthma. Trevor balanced that stress for me, as well as the stress with work.
Remarkable Change
I started noticing changes in my brain function right away. I was able to remember things after—I read them only once. I had to take my written driving test and I planned a three-day weekend to study for the test because I was used to working that hard for an exam. To my surprise, I read through the material once and knew the information. I was able to complete the practice tests with 100% after the first read. What a shock! I closed the book and wondered what I was going to do with the three days I had set aside for study. I took the test on Monday and passed the driving test with 100%.
I noticed my short term memory capacity increased. I could remember phone numbers without writing them down, and I could remember addresses and people’s names that I just met. I had never been able to do that before.
My anxiety levels greatly decreased. I was able to deal with the struggles at work even though there were not any changes to the physical job, I was able to realize I had done my best and that was all I could do. I was able to process information faster and communicate direction better.
Since my balance in January 2014, I have not had an Asthma attack, I have not had to purchase medication or make sure I have an inhaler in my purse for emergencies.
My Grandson's Journey
I was so happy with the results of Brain Integration that I scheduled my grandson for services. Ty had problems with his eyes from a very young age. One of his eye balls were fixed to the corner of his eye socket causing him to look cross eyed in one eye. He started having surgeries on them from about six months to eight-years-old. He was accident prone and always had a bruised forehead from falling on furniture as he learned to walk. As Ty entered school he was a shy, introverted kid who hated to be called on in class. He could not seem to get an answer right if the teacher put him on the spot. He struggled with his reading, spelling, math and he exhibited Dyslexic behavior even though he would spend hours trying to complete work and get it done accurately. He was placed in resource classes and given a tutor. Ty was having a miserable time in 4th grade when I took him to get his balance done.
One Friday his mother checked him out of school and I took him to see Trevor for his Brain Integration.
Ty’s parent/teacher conference was a month later. His mother went to the school expecting to hear the same old story about what a dedicated, hardworking student Ty was but his work was not up to grade level.
A Dramatic Change
Instead the teacher was anxiously awaiting Ty’s mom to come in to see him. The teacher was so excited to tell her that Ty had made a dramatic change in school. The teacher pointed to the calendar and showed his mom the next Monday after Ty’s balance and said I don’t know what happened to this kid, but on this day Ty raised his hand to answer a question in front of the class and the teacher was afraid to call on Ty. The teacher did not want to continue to traumatize Ty by an embarrassing answer to the question. But after several kids got It wrong, he felt safe in giving Ty a chance. The teacher was surprised by not only the right answer but the fact that Ty was able to talk about the subject in depth. In addition, his reading, math, and spelling dramatically increased. He does not reverse his letters/numbers anymore and he is able to read much faster. At the parent/teacher conference they set some goals to have Ty on grade level by the end of the school year. Ty accomplished those goals and is no longer in resource classes.
Getting to the Root of the Problem
I was amazed with the success and progress of my own balance and pleased it could help my grandson, but I looked around at my family, friends, clients etc. and realized how many people could benefit from Brain Integration. I realized it would be beneficial if I became a BI Practitioner.
Brain Integration gets at the root of a problem and clears it out like no other therapy I have seen. It is all done with the body’s natural electrical system and words do not have to be exchanged, as long as the subconscious of the client knows what is being worked on the negative energy can be cleared once and for all. There isn’t a need for long term therapy to relieve the stresses of past abuse or neglect. I don’t mean to say that therapy is not a good avenue, I am saying BI is a good place to start to clear the emotions. After that, then a person can learn new skills/behavior in therapy.
I see this as a huge step forward for those who have experienced trauma in their life but don’t want to keep re-living it each time they get a new therapist, caseworker or doctor. The emotion/trauma does not have to identify the person.
I have seen amazing results in people who have come to me for BI. I hope to help many more discover their full potential.
Terri Harris
Certified BI Practitioner