Thoughtful articles on therapy, trauma, relationships, and the nervous system.
These reflections explore experiences and patterns that can feel confusing, overwhelming, or hard to shift — including trauma, relationship difficulties, shutdown, hypervigilance, self-protection, and the ways people can come to organise themselves around stress, disconnection, or survival.
Some pieces are more reflective. Others are more practical. All are written to help make difficult experiences feel a little more understandable.
If something here resonates, you may also wish to explore:
Feeling constantly on edge can be exhausting. This article explains hypervigilance in plain language: why the nervous system stays on guard, how trauma and chronic stress can shape this response, and why it is not a sign of weakness or overreaction.
Read MoreMany people come to therapy with good insight into why they struggle, yet still feel hijacked by anxiety, shutdown, shame, or relational patterns. This article explores why trauma is not only cognitive, and why meaningful change may require attention to relationship, affect, the body, and the nervous system as well as reflection.
Read MoreTransactional Analysis, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and Deep Brain Reorienting may sound different, but all are deeply relational approaches. ILF neurofeedback can also support the nervous system conditions that make grounded attunement and relational presence more possible.
Read MoreWorking relationally in therapy means more than talking about relationships. This article explores self-exploration, ego states, shock, affect, and the integration of top-down and bottom-up approaches.
Read More“I understand why I’m like this — but it still happens.” If you can relate to this, read more about how trauma operates in relationship.
Read MoreSome difficulties live primarily in the nervous system, not in the story.
Read MoreDBR and ILF neurofeedback can complement each other: neurofeedback supports regulation and sleep; DBR resolves shock patterns. Here’s how integration works.
Read MoreConfused by DBR, EMDR, and somatic therapy? Here’s a clear, balanced guide to how they differ, what they share, and who they can suit.
Read MoreHave you ever jumped at a sudden noise, felt your stomach drop when someone’s tone changed, or noticed your body tense before you even understood why?
That’s not you being “too sensitive.” That’s your nervous system doing its job.
Read MoreWhat happens after Deep Brain Reorienting? Common responses include tiredness, vivid dreams, emotional softness, and calmer reactivity. Here’s how to integrate.
Read MoreWondering what happens in Deep Brain Reorienting? Here’s a step-by-step guide to a DBR session, including pacing, safety, and after-care.
Read MoreDeep Brain Reorienting (DBR): a gentle way to resolve shock and trauma
Read MoreA few reflections about my experience and practice of mindful meditation.
Read More© Paolo Imbalzano. All rights reserved.
Relational psychotherapist, ILF neurofeedback practitioner, and clinical supervisor in Shinfield, Reading, Berkshire, UK.
In-person and online psychotherapy, neurofeedback, and supervision.
+44 (0)7803 049039 · paolo@presentingpast.co.uk
UKCP Registered Psychotherapist · BACP Registered Member · CTA-P
