Limbic LOVE
Neurolosophy is on a mission to close the gap between Speech-Language Pathology, Neuroscience, & Mental Health, for the children AND the families served.
Families & Children Benefitting from Limbic LOVE Have Been Affected by:
- Adoption
- Trauma/Bullying
- ADHD/ADD/ASD
- Genetic Disorders
- Neurological Disorders
- Executive Dysfunction
- Trauma in Preg/Birth
- Anxiety/Depression
- Challenging Behavior
- Learning Disorders
- Life Transitions
- Chronic Stress
The
Limbic Lifeline Of Vital Emphasis (LOVE):
In children, targeting speech, language, and learning skills without identifying and addressing executive function weaknesses is like building a house with no foundation. Targeting executive function without addressing a dysfunctional limbic system is like the foundation being made from sand. And in families, raising a child with special needs with a chronically hijacked limbic system is like driving to a foreign land with no GPS system. Hence, the development of Limbic Love, for the children we serve AND their families.
How Can Limbic Dysfunction Present Itself (leading to Executive Dysfunction)?
- Emotional Dysregulation
- Emotional Immaturity
- Aggression/Anger
- Anxiety
- Poor Sleep
- Depression
- Memory Challenges
- Learning Challenges
- Sound Hypersensitivity
- Irrational Fear
- Fight/Flight/Freeze
- Irritability
- Impulsivity
- Hyper/hypoarousal
- Poor Self-Awareness
- Easily Overwhelmed
- Poor Decision Making
- Touch Hypersensitivity
Speech-Language Pathology & The Limbic System
The Limbic Love approach began when we acquired an ever-evolving specialization in identifying and supporting executive dysfunction, with a particular focus on ADHD, learning differences, and trauma-informed care. Our executive function system is the maestro to the cognitive orchestra and is positioned above the limbic system (the emotional/behavioral brain). It's the system that enables us to perceive our environment, sustain attention, inhibit our responses, use our verbal and nonverbal working memory, monitor and correct our actions, shift our thinking, stop or transition an activity, plan and pace ourselves, and a whole host of other critical cognitive skills.
As Brandy Storck came to understand her own childhood trauma and the effect it had on her learning and social/emotional experiences throughout academia, as well as the false beliefs it created that were carried over into adulthood, she realized that the work she did in helping children establish new pathways in the prefrontal cortex was only as effective as her functional understanding of the health of the limbic system operating below it.
She also realized that the information, education, and understanding supporting this connection across fields, and amongst the general public, was painfully limited, to the detriment of optimal, wholistic child development. She is on a mission to close the gap between Speech-Language Pathology, Neuroscience, and Mental Health, and not just for the children served. In adding a functional and ever-evolving understanding of the limbic system to her treatment planning, she came to realize that the limbic system cannot be overlooked when developing best practice for her clients AND their families. In fact, when warranted, it should be embraced and healed in delivering best practice for cognitive habilitation.
What is Limbic Love?
Created by Brandy N. Storck, MS CCC-SLP/L, LSLS Cert. AVT, Limbic Love is, both, a wholistic treatment plan in supporting Listening, Language, and Learning as well as a collaborative of carefully selected professionals and services supporting the full scope of presenting needs in the family. A merger of Speech-Language Pathology, Neuroscience, & Mental Health. The mental health needs of children AND families of children with special needs have been chronically unsupported or, at best, sparingly supported. We seek to include that piece, with creative and wholistic strategies and resources, in developing best practice for the families and children we serve and beyond.
How Did Limbic Love Get Its Name?
When we hear "cardiac" we know its referencing our heart. When we hear "pulmonary" we know its referencing our lungs. We hear "limbic" and most find ourselves Googling the word, despite the fact that it's the system largely responsible for our emotional, behavioral, and mental quality of life. A system whose health governs the optimal functioning of the higher-level brain functions of language, learning, memory, reasoning, decision-making, and intelligence. In children, targeting speech, language, and learning skills without identifying and addressing executive function weaknesses is like building a house with no foundation. Targeting executive function without addressing a dysfunctional limbic system is like the foundation being made from sand. And in families, raising a child with special needs with a chronically hijacked limbic system is like driving to a foreign land with no GPS system. Hence, the development of Limbic Love, for the children we serve AND their families.
Limbic Loving the Child
The prefrontal cortex (where executive functions reside and govern all learning and development) is incredibly malleable to effective therapy strategies, yet also highly vulnerable to going "offline" in the presence of limbic system dysfunction (essentially chronic/toxic stress and/or trauma). Chronic/toxic stress and trauma in a child isn't always what you might consider.
- Poor communication skills, limited social skills, and learning difficulties can all become chronic stressors.
- Social/emotional/physical bullying and/or rejection/exclusion can all become toxic stress and even trauma.
- Poor attention and inhibition can lead to increased disciplinary measures from misinformed educators or caregivers resulting in chronic stress.
- Adoption, even at birth, into the most loving and secure family environments is still processed in the brain as trauma.
- Trauma a mother experienced during, and even after, her pregnancy can be stored in a child's limbic system as trauma.
- Medical trauma an infant experienced during or immediately after birth can be stored in the limbic system as trauma.
- Medical interventions and surgeries can be stored in a child's limbic system as trauma.
Unresolved toxic/chronic stress and trauma have the potential to change your child's brain chemistry, brain anatomy, and even gene expression, which can lead to lifelong problems in learning, behavior, physical, and mental health. Effective cognitive habilitation is highly dependent on the emotional health and healing of the child.
Limbic Loving the Family
In addition to the limbic system challenges a child may be facing, raising and nurturing a child with special needs can present significant emotional and physical stress for the family as well. In fact, learning a child presents with a special need can be a trauma in and of itself; one that frequently goes unaddressed as the caregivers tend to the ongoing needs of the child. When the emotional needs of the caregivers go unsupported as they navigate their child's journey, it can have a negative impact on the efficacy of the therapies and educational supports provided to the child as well as on their own mental and physical health.
Additionally, when children present with various learning differences and special needs, emotional regulation is frequently affected as well. This can lead to the caregivers experiencing their own emotional dysregulation in caring for them. And because of the power of mirror neurons and the brain chemistry of attachment dynamics, this, in turn, causes their child to further dysregulate, thus entering a cyclical reciprocity of limbic dysfunction in the child AND the caregivers. Neurolosophy aims to end that cycle by creating Limbic Love: A Whole Brain, Whole Child, Whole Family Approach.
A Glimpse at the Science Behind Limbic Love
- The Limbic System: A Little-Known System That Can Cause Huge Dysfunction
- The Neurobiology of The Meltdown & Thinking Skills
- The Role of the Limbic System in Human Communication
- Children Internalizing Mental Health Symptoms and Cortico-Limbic Circuitry
- Executive Function and Mental Health
- Executive Function Skills and Language
Limbic Love: Umbrella of Services
Each of the services below offers collaborative, evidence-based practices in supporting the development of the whole child and/or family. Brandy will discuss the role each plays in supporting your child's unique needs during your sessions and help you decide when the addition of a service would be beneficial in meeting the goals of your family and child.
Music City Family Therapy - Dr. Stacy Jagger, LMFT
Bespoke Pediatric Therapy - Julie Williams. OTR/L
Addasu Family Chiropractic - Dr. Kevin Powell, DC
Franklin Family Taekwondo - Karla Zuercher, Chief Instructor, Trauma-Informed
What People Say About Limbic LOVE
