Brain Storm Episode 3: Working Through the Trauma of Brain Injury

Listen to the Brain Storm Series on the Feisty Women's Performance Podcast

A head injury like concussion can fundamentally change you–especially if you have prolonged post-concussive symptoms, which can upend your life and sense of self for months, and sometimes years. Head injuries are also traumatic and they can leave you vulnerable to reliving other past traumas that may have been long buried. That’s where therapy comes in. Therapy can help you deal with your past and current trauma and importantly, put some new coping tools in your toolbox. As she struggled to cope with her lingering injury and depression, Rebecca pursued talk therapy and then later psychedelic-assisted therapy, both of which she credits with being pivotal turning points in her recovery. This episode takes a deep dive into her therapy experience, including insights from two of the therapists who helped guide her recovery. We also discuss the current state of psychedelic-assisted therapy, the FDA’s recent non-approval decision, and what it means going forward.

Rebecca Rusch is an adventure athlete, 7x World Champion, and 2x Hall of Fame inductee for mountain biking and gravel cycling. She is also a keynote speaker, the bestselling author of Rusch to Glory, and an Emmy Award winner for the documentary Blood Road about her journey to find the spot where her father, a US Air Force pilot, was shot down during the Vietnam War. She is also the founder of the Be Good™ Foundation, which is dedicated to transforming individuals and communities by using the bicycle as a catalyst for healing, empowerment, and evolution. You can learn more about her and her work at rebeccarusch.com.

This episode also features interviews with Rebecca’s talk therapist Courtney Loving, LPC, who has certifications in Trauma, Military, Trauma Resiliency Model and Havening Techniques, and works as a Mental Health Partner at Higher Ground, serving Military Veterans, their families and supporters. You can learn more about her and her work at courtneyloving.com. Also featured is Sarah* who facilitated some of Rebecca’s psychedelic-assisted therapy sessions. Sarah is a chemist and is a Psychedelics Today Vital trained plant medicine facilitator and integration coach.

* We are using Sarah’s first name only with respect to the sensitivity surrounding the subject matter.

Research and Resource links: 

Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain, Nature, 2024

MDMA-assisted therapy for moderate to severe PTSD: a randomized, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial, Nature Medicine, 2023

Psychedelic and nutraceutical interventions as therapeutic strategies for military-related mild traumatic brain injuries, Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health, 2022. 

F.D.A. Declines to Approve MDMA Therapy, Seeking More Study, New York Times, August 9, 2024

How Counseling Can Help After a Concussion

This Is Literally Your Brain on Drugs, New York Times, July 23, 2024

What Does Good Psychedelic Therapy Look Like? New York Times, June 5, 2023

How psilocybin, the psychedelic in mushrooms, may rewire the brain to ease depression, anxiety and more, CNN, May 10, 2023

Psychedelic research and resources:  https://psychedelics.berkeley.edu/

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies: https://maps.org/ 

 Understanding the Research around Supplementation and TBI symptom Mitigation from Momentous

Havening Techniques 

Tapping Techniques 

Havening and tapping free videos 

The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time

Additional Resources: 

Love Your Brain: free resources, training, education, community and support for people affected by brain injury. 

Rev6: exercises and movement program to support fascia and nervous system.

Rebecca’s recommended Meditation apps: Headspace, Calm and Waking Up 

Built to Move Book by Kelly and Juliet Starrett.  Simple ways to get moving and feel better. 10 tests + 10 physical practices = 10 ways to make your body work better.

Breath by James Nestor.  Breathing exercises, the science behind them, and practical usage. 

Oura Ring for personal health tracking