What is Fight or Flight Therapy

What is Fight or Flight Therapy?

Stress and Trauma

It has long been understood that our minds and bodies respond to stress and trauma in precise physiological ways, often referred to as the fight-or- flight response. Our nervous system instinctively activates innate mechanisms designed to protect us, helping to ensure our survival.


Getting 'stuck' 

Typically, we rebound back to normal after the stressful incident or challenge has passed. For many of us, however, either the stress occurs over a long enough period of time, or the trauma is severe enough that our nervous system actually gets stuck in a constant state of 'survival.' 

This is a form of post-traumatic stress. 

It can now be clinically measured that due to the stresses and traumas of our lives, nearly everyone is stuck  in a constant state of survival, called fight-or-flight. And, once stuck, we are no longer able to function to our fullest potential.


Being 'stuck' 

Once stuck in this protected posture, we are no longer able to function at our best. This becomes our new 'normal,' with new stresses and challenges only aggravating the problem. Everyone adapts differently, but some of the more common symptoms include:

  •  difficulty handling stress
  •  reduced concentration and/or mental performance
  •  feeling anxious, depressed or overwhelmed
  •  feeling frustrated, angry, irritable or stuck 
  •  difficulty with everyday tasks, especially when stressed or multi-tasking
  •  being more reactive, sensitive or defensive
  •  being less receptive to, or capable of, change
  •  having a limited perspective, and difficulty seeing the 'big picture'
  •  sleep problems
  •  having limited success with other therapies (emotional, bodywork, etc.)
  •  …and more

 
Fight or Flight Therapy

Many people have found help with a remarkably innovative new light therapy called Fight or Flight Therapy. Specific wavelengths of light are viewed comfortably for 20 minutes, once or twice daily for several months. The light travels directly into the nervous system, gently shifting aspects of fight-or-flight back toward normal.

Within weeks, most people feel more relaxed, less stressed and are functioning more effectively. What's remarkable is that once the nervous system has been completely re-set, the results tend to be permanent!


The fight or flight diagnostic

Using simple specialized testing we can measure certain aspects of fight-or-flight through the eyes. 

Each client gets to see a graphical measure of how much his or her nervous system is skewed into a constant state of survival. For many, this testing alone can be very enlightening. Not only do they get an objective measure of the severity of their problem, but also an explanation for many of their frustrating symptoms and behaviors. Quite often, the test results will also explain why previous therapies or techniques may have failed or plateaued with limited success.

The same testing is used throughout the therapy to monitor progress. This provides an objective measure of change (unavailable in most other therapies), which can be very validating to clients. Not only do they subjectively see their life changing, but the objective measures validate those changes and demonstrate why they've changed.


Treatment

Fight or Flight Therapy is designed to be done in the comfort of your own home. Clients sit quietly for 20 minutes in an otherwise darkened room, gazing comfortably into their therapy light.  It's that simple. Sessions are typically performed once or twice daily over the course of 2-4 months. 

A complete program of Fight or Flight Therapy typically includes 3-5 stages, each stage using different wavelengths of light. Most people complete each stage in about 3 weeks. A progress evaluation is scheduled after each stage, with the client reporting subjective changes, and the diagnostic testing measuring objective changes.

Programs are designed specifically for each person's individualized needs. Most people see results in the very first days or weeks (see testimonials though-out this website).


How does Fight or Flight Therapy work?

In Fight or Flight Therapy very gentle light energy travels through the eyes and optic nerve, using non-visual nervous system pathways, into the brain. The exact neurophysiology has yet to be clearly defined, but due to the obvious effects on stress reduction and mood, it is certain that the autonomic nervous system, the HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) 'stress circuit' pathway, and limbic system are involved.

Fight or Flight Therapy is a natural evolution and refinement of over a century of research by Dinshah, Spitler, and many others before and after them, into the effects of light on health. 

We instinctively know that light and color affect our health, mood and physiology. This is so deeply ingrained in our culture that it is embedded in our language. We associate red with heat, anger and stimulation, while blue is cool, calming and even depressing (having the 'blues'). 

There also is a whole field of science called chronobiology which studies circadian rhythms. These rhythms regulate our body chemistry, temperature, hormones, moods and sleep patterns among other things. Light, in particular sunlight, is a major regulator of these rhythms. 

And, the recent discovery of nerve cells in the retina of the eye that transmit light into the brain for non-visual functions, has triggered new interest into the biological and physiological effects of light.


Long distance clients 

Due to the success of Fight or Flight Therapy where so many other interventions have proven less effective, more and more clients are coming from out of state or foreign countries. 

The initial visit is necessary to determine exactly what we are treating and which light wavelengths to be prescribing. Rather than returning after each stage of therapy, at the first visit we very often give long distance clients half of their program to complete. We schedule phone consults between stages, and clients return for their first progress evaluation mid-way through their program. They leave with the second half of their program to complete on their own.

Though we would ideally like to evaluate all clients after completion of their program (to see if there is any fine tuning to be done), many long distance clients are so happy with their results that they may not return for a final visit. Hence, many long distance clients complete their programs quite successfully with just two visits to our office.
 
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