Deep brain reorienting group intervention (DBR-GI) as a tool for transforming embodied countertransference reactions and potential vicarious traumatization in trauma therapists

To (i) describe a deep brain reorienting group intervention (DBR-GI), and (ii) explore whether the deep brain reorienting (DBR) method as a group intervention ameliorates countertransference reactions and distress in psychotherapists who provide trauma therapies. Distress that potentially otherwise could lead to vicarious traumatization. All participants in this small, naturalistic study (n=32) were experienced trauma psychotherapists in ongoing group supervision. They were offered an opportunity to process their reactions to relational difficulties and/or distress related to their clinical work with DBR-GI during consultation hours and all signed informed consent. The participants’ self-assessed experiences of discomfort before and after DBR processing were measured with the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS). They also provided verbal and written statements regarding their experiences after the DBR-GI intervention. SUDS ratings/values related to participants’ experiences of discomfort before and after the DBR-GI moment were significantly changed, p<0,000 (binomial calculation). The subjective ratings were aligned with the participants’ summarized verbal and written statements, where worry and unease changed towards a (re)gained felt sense of embodied freedom, presence, agency and clarity, including reduced transference reactions. Preliminary results are promising. Potentially, DBR-GI seems to diminish trauma-generated countertransference and related reactions, also when used as a group intervention. New knowledge concerning which groups of clinicians who benefit from the intervention needs to be further enhanced and implemented in consultation/supervision. Whether or not DBR-GI is a helpful method during supervision of more inexperienced colleagues and if the group adaptation of DBR offers a possibility in work with clients should be investigated.