What If the Most Popular Trauma Tool Is the Wrong Place to Start?

Internationally renowned clinician-researcher Ruth Lanius, MD, PhD joins Janina to trace their shared roots at Bessel van der Kolk’s Trauma Center and explore how brain science can—and should—change what we do in the therapy room. They dig into why grounding must precede mindfulness for highly dissociative clients, the promise of Deep Brain Reorienting, adapting SMART for adults, and how real-world samples (not just tightly controlled trials) can finally validate the integrative treatments therapists use every day. They wrap with a clear, brain-based take on psychedelics (hello, default mode network) and a hopeful vision for the next decade of trauma care.In this episode, you’ll hear:The early days at the Trauma Center—and why a non-blaming, grief-literate clinical culture mattersLanius’s pivotal neuroimaging findings that differentiated hyperarousal from dissociationWhy many clients “retain nothing” without grounding, grounding, grounding before skills trainingWhat Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) targets (orienting → shock → pain/affect) and who it’s not forAdapting SMART (Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment) for adults and how sensory pathways invite language and connectionThe case for real-world evidence so insurers cover integrative, neuroscience-guided careA concise brain-based explanation of how psychedelics may help (disrupting habitual patterns, influencing the default mode network)Ruth Lanius:  https://www.ruthlanius.com/Finding Solid Ground (program & research) — by Bethany Brand, Ruth Lanius, and colleaguesSensory Pathways to Healing from Trauma: Harnessing the Brain’s Capacity to Heal — Lanius et al. (new book mentioned)Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) — Frank Corrigan’s model (overview + training/info site)