Atrium Health Behavioral Health Digital Therapy

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental health condition that can impact a person’s daily life, relationships and overall well-being. Common causes of PTSD include sexual violence, combat/military exposure, physical assault, serious accidents, natural or human-caused disasters, childhood abuse or neglect and witnessing death or injury.

Atrium Health offers PRISM for PTSD, an FDA-cleared, computer-guided biofeedback therapy designed to help patients self-regulate and manage their PTSD symptoms. This noninvasive therapy uses information from an EEG headset, brain regulation techniques and noninvasive digital tools to teach you mental strategies to manage your PTSD symptoms.

What is digital therapy for PTSD?

The goal of digital trauma therapy is to teach you to self-regulate your brain patterns using biofeedback. By learning to do this, you can reduce your PTSD symptoms and improve emotional resilience.

The PRISM for PTSD therapy consists of 8 interactive sessions, with additional refresher or booster sessions prescribed as needed. Each session includes five cycles, and you will have time to relax between cycles. The entire session lasts approximately 30-45 minutes, including time to discuss your progress with your provider.

The PRISM therapy is FDA-approved and cleared for use as a prescribed part of your overall treatment plan. It must be administered under the supervision of a health care professional.

How does digital PTSD therapy work?

You will not have to take medication or talk about your traumatic experience during your sessions. 

After you arrive, you will be taken to a quiet room and have a soft EEG headset put on. A technician will apply noninvasive electrodes (to measure brain activity), and you will watch a computer simulation with animated characters during each of the five cycles. You will have a short break between cycles.

Patients try different mental regulation strategies during the cycles, and PRISM reads the signals from sensors on the EEG cap to change what’s happening in the simulation. The simulation characters respond to your brain activity in real time, acting like a mirror to display your progress. 

After the last cycle of the session, the technician will remove the electrodes and EEG headset. There is no downtime needed before continuing your day. 

Since there is no single mental strategy that works for everyone, you will discover what works specifically for you. You will develop your mental strategy during clinic sessions and then continue to practice it in daily life.

Potential side effects of digital trauma therapy

The most common side effects are mild and include:

• Headache
• Dizziness
• Fatigue

Side effects usually go away at the end of the session without any medical intervention needed.