Nehemiah's Ranch for Youth, an Oregon facility for kids, uses psychomotor training to "rewire" brains and recreate missed developmental stages, according to this article from the Statesman Journal. Kathleen Ellyn writes,
The ranch offered a new rehabilitation option originally designed for children with Reactive Attachment Disorder: "brain retraining." It was proving to be effective in treating all sorts of other disorders and behaviors, including self-harming.
The brains of infants who experience a lack of nurturing or bonding with primary caregivers don't receive the "behavioral patterning" necessary for healthy mental and emotional development, according to the theory.
The brain-retraining program is thought to reach these children and change the way they react by revisiting the missed developmental stages. It triggers reflexes in the central nervous system; reflexes such as an appropriate response to pain.
The program at Nehemiah's Ranch is modeled in part on one used by the Northwest Neurodevelopmental Training Center.
