PTSD can interfere with your ability to go about your normal daily tasks. A person with PTSD may be bombarded with upsetting memories. They could also be very edgy or have trouble sleeping. So how do you resolve PTSD? One innovative solution is the RESET Therapy. RESET Therapy stands for Reconsolidation Enhancement Stimulation of Emotional Triggers. Developed by Dr. George Lindenfeld, the therapy claims to be a lasting and permanent treatment that aids patients in overcoming PTSD. Dr. Lindenfeld joins Timothy J. Hayes, Psy.D. to share how he came up with RESET therapy and why and how it works.
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RESET Therapy: A Better Way To Resolve PTSD With Dr. George Lindenfeld
George Lindenfeld, PhD is a Clinical Psychologist and Founder of the Medical Psychology Center in Asheville, North Carolina, which specializes in the evaluation and treatment of traumatic life experiences. He is the creator of RESET Therapy which stands for Reconsolidation Enhancement Stimulation of Emotional Triggers for the resolution of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This process includes the use of the Bio Acoustical Utilization Device, BAUD for short.
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Welcome.
Thank you.
I like to start with a question, what got you started in the work you’re doing and what drives your passion for it?
Tim, I didn’t realize it but as a youngster, my grandfather, who was born in Austria-Hungary, migrated over to the US to avoid being drafted into the Hungarian Army. I would ask him about his family. He came from a large family of about 8 or 9. When I did that, his face would get ashen and he looked like he checked out. I didn’t realize it but I certainly do now that he had PTSD. My inspiration goes way back in time. He lost his entire family in the holocaust and he couldn’t cope with it.
RESET Therapy: Reconsolidation of memory allows us to alter trauma memory.
Unbeknownst to me, there was a driving force to, what is this? How does it do this to someone? More importantly, is there a way to alter it to set a person back on their life course? I started out in the Navy Seabees swinging a pick in a coral and I thought, “I think I can do a little better than that.” I was in the Navy Reserves ended up in St. Albans Naval Hospital from mano, jaundice and hepatitis. That was not the life I want to live so I applied to go to college, but I was too sick to take the college entrance exam. This was at Oswego State University in New York.
I applied to be a Shop Teacher and wonderful people, they said, “You’re a vet. We’re going to give you a chance.” They let me in with no tests. “You got to have a B average if you’re going to continue.” By my bootstraps, I pulled myself up to Windy Hills in Oswego, New York, this was in the winter, to learn to become a Shop Teacher and I was intent on doing that. I minored in Psychology. This was part of the fascination of what makes people tick. Indeed, I became a Shop Teacher.
The powers that build through all these troubled kids into my class, out of Algebra, Science and Math class were put with me. I figured, here’s a chance to learn about these kids and for me to expand my knowledge. I signed up for a Master’s degree in the school of Psychology in the City of New York. I would drive in at night. That took me about five years to accomplish while I was teaching. Right about the time I got my Master’s, New York State decided you have to have a Doctorate to be in charge. Otherwise, you’ve got to work under a doctor. I’m a stubborn cuss and I admit it.
I said, “I’ve gone this far. I don’t want to work under someone else. I’m going to go ahead and get the Doctorate.” I packed up my family, dragged them out to Logan, Utah up in the mountains and started a PsyD I began with and it turned into a PhD in Child and Developmental Psychology. My path was unfolding, even though I wasn’t fully aware of it taking me to, I believe, where I was meant to go. I spent a year postdoc at the University of Oregon Medical School and qualified me to be a Clinical Psychologist so I could treat whoever came through my door.
I tried the traditional therapies to make a long story short to see what I could do about this PTSD stuff. Being a veteran, I was committed to changing the stats of 20 to 22 who has taken their own life every day due to PTSD. I found the traditional stuff but it just didn’t work. I’m sure there are some out there that find it wonderful. I just didn’t. I couldn’t find a way to get talk to alter the effects of trauma. It perplexed me through a great part of my practice. I’ve had over 50 years in practice.
Opening up to your traumatic experience one more time will be the path for you to be free of it.
A few years ago, my daughter was also a Psychologist, Dr. Katherine Billiot, who came upon this sound device at a workshop she went to. It’s called the BAUD. She came home and said, “Dad, I think you might be interested in this for what you’re doing.” Honestly, that’s been my interest from that point on. The use of binaural sound has been fascinating for me.
I believe it is a key when it’s done properly to unlock the memory system. We call it reconsolidation of memory that gives us an opportunity to alter trauma memory. By the time we’re done, free the individual of the emotional aspects of that experience.
How long ago was it that you started about the BAUD?
I’m going to say in 2013.
Does the BAUD stand for Bio Acoustical Utilization Device?
That is correct. It has a little battery-driven device with four knobs that set off a sound of frequency. I call it to use to tune in to resonate with trauma circuitry in the brain. It’s then offset by up to 20 hertz, which creates a special effect called a binaural beat. Nobody else can hear it, only the listener. That key, I believe, unlocks that trauma memory then opens it up to alteration.
When that happens and the person is using the BAUD device, do you then guide them on how to re-interpret or reconstruct the memory? Are they doing that all on their own?
I perceive this as a non-verbal intervention. I will explain the process to my patient. I tell them, “You have to activate the experience. If you think about it, you’re not going to get anywhere.” This is a sensory-based intervention. My promise is if you open it up one more time and experience that experience, that’ll be the path for you to be free of it. I’m discouraging thinking and I stay out of it during the process except I’m helping guide them to get the proper settings.
The volume part is pretty simplistic. They set the volume in each year so it reaches a point that it’s fairly loud but it’s not troublesome. I also used another type of headphone that I call bone-conducting for some people that are ultra-sensitive to sound or have some hearing loss in one or both use as an alternative to traditional headphones. Generally, people like that a great deal and I think they prefer that over the traditional headphones.
The understanding that I have of memory consolidation is when memory is accessed experientially or as they talk about and Coherence Therapy when we tap into the implicit emotional memory, it opens up a window of 4 to 5 hours during which time that memory can be reconsolidated, reconstructed, re-interpreted, all these different words are there.
In Coherence Therapy, they’re doing this experiential process and juxtaposing an implicit truth from the past that’s related to trauma and implicit truth from the present, which is grounded in safety or the mature person who survives the trauma. In this work, you’re not doing any juxtapositioning. You’re simply asking the individual to re-experience the trauma with the addition of the binaural sound. Is that correct?
That is correct. I simply don’t find it as complicated. By the way, RESET stands for Reconsolidation Enhancement by Stimulation of Emotional Triggers. By getting that sound, a binaural beat to resonate properly with the trauma circuitry, the change occurs. I haven’t had to juxtapose anything.
Are you working the two other knobs other than the volume controls on the BAUD? Are you letting the individual manipulate those frequencies themselves?
It depends. Some people take to it naturally and do very well with it. Others are distracted and they get into the thinking process. If that’s the case, I will assist them by doing the adjustments. I want them to stay focused on the sensory experience. I’m also monitoring bodily signs. I’m looking at chest breathing, abdominal breathing, muscular and facial grimacing. I’m taking in a lot of information at that time.
How long is the average session when you’re using the BAUD?
I don’t know if you’ve had this experience. I’ve seen changes in five minutes or under. Typically, when the setting appears to be correct, I will use SUDs for the patient to determine if there’s some change in effect. Generally, there are three populations that I encountered. One, there was an immediate change of anywhere from 3 to 5 points on a 10-point SUDs scale. The other may be a couple of points and the third, no change. In the no-change group, I come to the position that the settings are something not correct. I have to work a little harder to find it.
RESET Therapy: It’s critical to always test new ways of doing things.
In the other two groups, after the five-minute trial, I’ll give them the session off. We’ll talk about things, “What happened to you? What did you notice?” I’m looking for a fading of the stimulus. Many describe it as a cloud that’s lifting. In the five-minute dramatic changes, I noticed that the eyes light up. It’s like a person has come back into the body.
Are there other devices, tools or techniques that are involved in your RESET program?
Not at this point. I think it’d be nice to have an app. That’s in consideration down the road so we could have it on the iPhone or other phone systems to make it available at a reasonable cost. Certainly, that’s a consideration.
Do you mean having the BAUD, binaural sounds available?
Yes, having the binaural sounds available through common use, easy, accessible, reasonably priced instrument. I think that would facilitate a person’s treatment. They can learn to self-administer once they learn the frequencies. There are all kinds of potential applications.
It’s quite intriguing. I know there are a few people that I have loaned the BAUD to for a weekend to go home and do self-administration. Varying results, as you’re talking about, there are many of the people that I do it with who get all caught up in their head and thinking through it. A few of them grasped the idea of getting into the felt sense of the upsetting situation or memory and letting the BAUD do its work. I think it would be a great idea if it was as portable as people’s smartphones.
The coaching to avoid thinking and stay with the senses. I use the term Mikey likes it. You’re probably familiar with that cereal ad where the brothers are looking at Mikey. I use Mikey as the subconscious mind. I think Mikey does the guiding and the healing here to set things right again. I use the expression, “you have to feel it to heal it.” That might be a good one to share with some of the folks that you’re treated.
It’s basically at the root of Coherence Therapy. Several of the Somatic therapies say you’ve got to be doing a felt sense experience in order to undo what got downloaded during this traumatic felt-sense moment of the trauma.
You have to feel your trauma to heal it.
That’s right on. Since I’m in the space of talking about how I keep myself occupied and busy, I’ll chat with you about another article I’m working on. This is the result of an adult RAD patient, Reactive Attachment Disorder. His parents divorced when he was three. They’d played them off against each other, bought him things, bribe him this way, that way.
His sense of worth was only based on what he might do for someone else. My concept was to see if I couldn’t interject through a surrogate mother, a totally loving, accepting experience. Unfortunately, we only did it once. He had about 30 some odd sessions but we slipped that in the last time. It had profound effects.
He was able to stop the relationship that dominated his life by having to do for you in order to get your approval. I believe he could have used a couple more but this is in another direction that is intriguing to me. Imagine if you will those kids separated on our Southern border, the effect that had on the bonding between them and their mothers or parents. We accept it’s non-changeable. That may not be true.
What was the process you used to try and instill a loving mother interject?
First, I used the traditional use of binaural sound to remove the toxic components of his operation. That’s where those 20 to 30 sessions came in. We also use some Talk Therapy, following the concept of individuation and how he was meant to be who he was meant to be, not based on meeting his parent’s expectations. On the day we did the surrogate, he had the sounds on, headphones on and he was into his space with it.
Surrogate came into the room, opened her arms to him, held him and he was able to conform. He started out with indicators of tears and anger. That transformed into acceptance and deeper embracing as reported by the surrogate. He let himself melt into this maternal person. Afterward, he told me he thought he could love. He didn’t think that was possible before.
That certainly coincides with a lot of theory and research on reactive attachment disorder. The concept that physical affection or actual emotional connection for someone who’s gone through reactive attachment disorder feels physically discordant or painful.
Many of these people end up with the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. They’re not exactly loved by our fellow therapists. They’re extremely difficult to deal with and maybe we can understand better why.
Aside from the Reactive Attachment Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, are there other areas of symptomatology or patterns that you apply the BAUD to?
I don’t see why there’s any limit. I’ve always been intrigued with Anorexia Nervosa’s distorted body image. Although I’ve not tried it I think that would be applicable in there as well. Anxiety disorders and depression, why not? Why isn’t someone experimenting with these?
If you know, what’s the availability or the access to BAUD? How many therapists would you say that you’re aware of that are using the BAUD?
In my awareness, a number have it but they don’t know how to use it so it ends up in a drawer somewhere, which is a shame. Those that use it think very highly of it. I recently trained a female psychiatrist in Australia. She commented on a young girl that was sexually molested provided one session with the BAUD and the youngster said, “I’m good. It’s gone.”
Do you train people in the use of the BAUD?
Yes. I train them and certify them.
What is that process like? How many sessions and over what length of time?
RESET Therapy: It’s the intact neuronal network that elicits resilience in the individual.
I’ll begin with about five training sessions for the certification process. The time is contingent on the individual’s understanding. I want them to get beyond being stuck with the thinking stuff and into the sensory stuff. That’s critical that they make that jump. For the certification, I want a session taped that I will review and score up so they need criteria for that.
Is all of this training done person-to-person or have you taken it doing some of it over the internet?
Internet. That’s the thing.
You didn’t have to fly to Australia?
No, but I did participate in a conference she put on. She said she had 750 people sign up so she’s doing quite well.
Once you certify people, are they then able to train others?
I would assume that’s going to be another level. The certification is their competency in providing RESET Therapy. I’d love to have a bunch of people doing research with me.
How long have you had the RESET Therapy name and model?
I’m going to say about three to four years. I’ve got a webpage. For a while, I was pumping out all kinds of info on it. I’ve slowed down because I’m not doing the research papers but the blog sections contain all kinds of information. It’s www.DrLindenfeldRESETTherapy.com that will give you a ton of information.
What’s another aspect of your work or your history and 50 years of doing therapy that we haven’t even touched on yet? Including if you want to field the question. What’s the one thing that you would like to see changed in the mental health field?
If we have effective treatments that can remediate conditions rapidly and we’re holding on to old concepts simply because I’d love to see that alter. I perceive I’ve come to the conviction and the way to do that is through patient demand. I’m not so sure it’s going to come through convincing therapists to make those changes. In fact, we’re seeing some of that now where you see an onset of life coaching.
What is life coaching? Isn’t that another term for people that want to help guide others that aren’t formal therapists? Where is all this stuff coming from? There’s a demand out there, which I don’t believe is truly being met. People want some balance in their life and seemingly, many of them are not finding it. Those that do, they rave about it. I see the drive coming through in that means. Mind you, I was a Neurotherapist. I had thousands of dollars in EEG equipment to be able to work with brainwaves.
I was into qEEG for a while and doing brain mapping and I got bored. Sorry to say but maybe it would take twenty sessions to get some effective change. I compare it with the results of binaural sound and there wasn’t any comparison. I’m not meaning to upset my colleagues but I think it’s inherent that they explore other ways that can provide people with meaningful relief.
Speaking of other ways, you’ve mentioned sound. When doing some research on you, I found also that you are doing some work with light as a therapeutic modality.
People want some balance in their life and seemingly, many of them are not finding it. Those that do rave about it.
Yeah. I use photobiomodulation, infrared light. I’ve used it for people with TBI. Again, my commitment was to my fellow veterans. Those coming back from Iraq and Iran had what’s referred to as signature wounds. They had both PTSD and TBI from blast effects or something else. I recommend starting off with clearing the toxic material from PTSD.
I think those are the effects of PTSD that linger on even after the so-called treatments lift some of the symptoms. Dementia among those with PTSD is at a higher level than veterans with non-PTSD. Think you’ve got to get it out of the brain circuitry at any rate back to light. I lent an intra-nasal infrared light to one of the participants in my pilot study, a combat veteran. He used it for three months and he transitioned from being carried for by his wife to being able to fully function on his own. This was after we cleared up a severe case of PTSD.
Did you clear up the PTSD with the BAUD work?
Yes. He had road rage. He had five young kids. He would hide guns in his house with those little kids running around. It was scary.
When you loaned him the photobiomodulation device, would he use those numerous times during the day or twice a day?
Two times. It runs for about twenty minutes. He did it faithfully. In fact, after three months, he ended up buying his own unit. He became in charge of the county veterans group. He no longer needed to be carried by his wife. He was able to secure a teaching-type position in telecommunications. He became functional.
This is offering promise with Alzheimer’s as well. Those of you that want to explore simply look up Infrared Light for Alzheimer’s on YouTube. You’ll see some amazing changes. I don’t claim to be an expert in that as I do with binaural sound but I certainly have found it could be effective in selective cases. Sound and light are my vehicles.
Are you using the intra-nasal? Are you using the headset as well?
I use the headset for myself. I want to keep my brain intact. I think that will ward off any early dementia and let me continue my work as I choose to do. When I do it right and properly, I’ll use it every other day for about a twenty-minute setting. With my kidney stone, I haven’t been faithful lately.
The body does have its ways of getting our attention. What else would you want to put in here as a cap, a recap or a highlight to this show?
I think the concept of openness is critical to be able to test those new ways of doing things. The notion of resilience that I threw out to you in effect on defining it as an intact neuronal network is something that certainly deserves to be explored. I’ve observed resilience coming back instantly too many times for it to be a minor aspect. That’s a big word, resilience. You can define it pretty much any way you want to.
Do you want to define it as an intact neural network?
Yes. I think that makes sense.
In my mind, I’m thinking things like well-functioning, flowing, connected rather than disrupted or impaired.
RESET Therapy: The effects of PTSD linger on even after so-called treatments lift some of the symptoms.
We have to think about a couple of populations here. If you want to look at the effects of the ACEs infant territory, Adverse Childhood Experiences, those people that never had a normative upbringing are going to be different from those combat vets that came from a normal background and can inherently switch back to it. We’re going to need two kinds of building platforms to establish that resilience to be effective. That’s my thinking at this point.
I’m basing this on what I’ve observed in a number of clinical trials within a pilot study. That’s insufficient. It needs to be formally assessed and determined. It makes inherent sense to me. We have a definition that we can test. If I had some money, I’d be looking at fMRI and things of that sort where we could check that neuronal network for its intactness.
Everything I’ve done has been self-funded. I don’t have those monies for the fMRI. I’ve relied on a colleague to provide qBEGs. The problem with this, by and large, is that you can’t lump them together. Each one stands in its own light. Maybe someday they’ll be a way to get a conglomerate of those cues to show a before and after treatment effect. Those are the things I kick around and in my thought processes.
I’m glad you’re doing it. Thank you for the input on the BAUD and the different ways to use that. It’s wonderful to know that you’re training people. If somebody wants to access your wisdom or get training on the BAUD whether they’ve got one sitting in a drawer or they want to order their own and learn how to use it effectively in therapy, they can find you at DrLindenfeldRESETTherapy.com.
I’ll give you my email address. It’s GLindy123@gmail.com.
Thank you so much for your time. I greatly appreciate your being willing to overcome the physical stresses and join us for this. I look forward to hearing more about your work as it develops.
Thank you. It’s been a pleasure.
Thanks.
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George Lindenfeld, PhD is a Clinical Psychologist and Founder of the Medical Psychology Center in Asheville, North Carolina, which specializes in the evaluation and treatment of traumatic life experiences. He is the creator of RESET Therapy which stands for Reconsolidation Enhancement Stimulation of Emotional Triggers for the resolution of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This process includes the use of the Bio Acoustical Utilization Device, BAUD for short.
He served in the Navy Seabees prior to attaining his Doctorate in Child and Developmental Psychology at Utah State University in 1971. He completed his Residency in Medical Psychology at the University of Oregon Medical School in 1971 and holds a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology awarded by ABPP in 1980.
He has been certified in EEG Biofeedback by BCIA and the Academy of Certified Neurotherapists. George has served as Director of the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit at the Geisinger Medical Center, in Danville Pennsylvania, Executive Director at the CMHC Center for Human Development in Grand Forks, North Dakota and Seminole County Mental Health Center in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
As part of his practice working with veterans, he has monitored ongoing memory research and pursued the application of the non-invasive potential of neuro-acoustical intervention. This has led to the development of RESET Therapy, which has demonstrated rapid and enduring remission of the emotional aspects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Important Links:
- Medical Psychology Center
- RESET Therapy
- Bio Acoustical Utilization Device
- Infrared Light for Alzheimer’s – YouTube
About George Lindenfeld, Ph.D.
George Lindenfeld, Ph.D. is a Clinical Psychologist and founder of the Medical Psychology Center in Asheville, NC, which specializes in the evaluation and treatment of traumatic life experiences. He is the creator of RESET therapy (Reconsolidation Enhancement Stimulation of Emotional Triggers) for the resolution of PTSD. This process includes the use of the Bio Acoustical Utilization Device (BAUD) for short.
He served in the Navy Seabees prior to attaining his doctorate in Child and Developmental Psychology at Utah State University in 1971. He completed his Residency in Medical Psychology at the University of Oregon Medical School in 1971 and holds a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology awarded by A.B.P.P., in 1980. He has been certified in EEG Biofeedback by BCIA and the Academy of Certified Neurotherapists. George has served as Director of the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit at the Geisinger Medical Center, in Danville PA, Executive Director at the CMHC Center for Human Development in Grand Forks, ND, and Seminole County Mental Health Center in Altamonte Springs, FL.
As part of his practice working with veterans, he has monitored ongoing memory research and pursued the application of the non-invasive potential of neuro-acoustical intervention. This has led to the development of RESET Therapy, which has demonstrated rapid and enduring remission of the emotional aspects of PTSD.
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