Understanding the Six Types of Shock in Deep Brain Reorienting

When we think about trauma, we often think about fear, sadness, anger, or other emotions. But trauma can also leave something deeper behind: shock.

Deep Brain Reorienting™ was developed by Dr. Frank Corrigan, a psychiatrist whose research and clinical work in trauma and the neurobiology of healing led to the development of DBR (deepbrainreorienting.com).

In the therapy called, DBR, shock refers to a brain-based response that can arise following an overwhelming, sudden, or disorienting experience. It is not simply the feeling of being surprised or startled.

Within the DBR model developed by Dr. Corrigan, six forms of shock have been described. They can feel very different from one another. Some people may experience more than one type of shock during processing, and different types may emerge at different points in the same session.

Impact Shock

Impact shock is often the type of shock people recognize most easily. It can feel like a sudden jolt or charge moving through the body.

You might notice shivers, chills, shudders, heaviness, jolts or tingling sensations in the body.  Some people experience sensations of sinking, dropping sensation or hollowing. There may also be sensations in the eyes, in the head, or in the chest or body.

During the DBR process, Impact shock may be very brief, or it may continue to unfold as you stay with the experience.

Implosive Shock

Implosive shock is experienced differently. Rather than feeling like an outward impact, it can feel as though the pressure is building inward.

The experience is generally concentrated primarily in the head. You may notice sensations of pressure in the head or temples, pressure behind the eyes, a stabbing sensation in the head or other unusual sensations around the head.

Implosive shock can also feel more persistent than impact shock. Some people experience a deep sense of cold during this type of processing. Implosive shock may be particularly relevant when working with developmental trauma and early attachment injuries.

Vestibular Shock

Vestibular shock involves a disruption in your sense of balance, movement, or orientation in space.

You might feel as though you are tumbling, tilting, falling, spinning, or being knocked off balance, even though your body has not physically moved.

You may also have the sense that your body is positioned differently from where you know it actually is, or that your world has suddenly been turned upside down.

Vestibular shock may be associated with experiences that were particularly disorienting or destabilizing. These experiences aren’t necessarily related to a fall or physical injury but more related to a emotional injury or unprocessed shock in the brainstem area.

Horror Shock

Horror shock has a distinctly physical quality. It can involve a sudden, intense feeling of sickness or a “yuck” sensation throughout the body.

You may notice a powerful visceral reaction that is difficult to describe or put into words.

Horror shock is not simply the emotion of feeling horrified or frightened. It can be a physical experience that arises very quickly.

Somatizing Shock

With somatizing shock, the activation becomes concentrated in a particular area of the body.

You may notice that one area of your body seems to consistently hold activation—for example, a shoulder, eye, stomach, or another specific area. For some people, this may be associated with an ongoing physical complaint that does not have an obvious medical explanation.

Within the DBR model, somatizing shock is distinguished from pro-inflammatory shock because it does not involve the same type of inflammatory response.

Physical symptoms can have many causes, so persistent or concerning symptoms should always be appropriately evaluated medically. DBR does not assume that a physical symptom is caused by trauma.

Pro-Inflammatory Shock

Pro-inflammatory shock is also associated with activation becoming concentrated in a particular area of the body. In this case, the activation may be accompanied by an inflammatory response.

This may be experienced as an ongoing physical problem or complaint in a particular area of the body.

As with somatizing shock, it is important not to assume that a physical symptom is caused by trauma. Medical evaluation is important whenever you have new, persistent, or concerning physical symptoms.

Why Does Understanding Shock Matter?

You may recognize yourself in one or more of these descriptions—or you may not. You may also experience more than one type of shock during a DBR session.

As Dr. Corrigan continues to develop our understanding of shock as it relates to DBR, the purpose of recognizing these patterns is not to give you another diagnosis or something you need to figure out on your own. Instead, it can help us become more aware of what your body may be experiencing during the DBR process.

DBR slows down the process and pays attention to what is happening in the body rather than immediately moving into the story of what happened. The DBR approach focuses on the sequence of orienting tension, shock, core pain, and emotional responses that can occur following a traumatic experience.

As these different types of shock processes, something new may begin to emerge. You may experience a shift in your perspective or awareness of yourself, a greater sense of connection with yourself, more compassion, or an ability to turn toward something somatically or emotionally that previously felt impossible to approach.

For some people, this can bring a greater sense of peace.

You do not have to know what type of shock you are experiencing. You do not have to understand it or explain it perfectly. Your therapist can help you notice what is happening and support you as the process unfolds.

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