Emmaus Institute of Brain Health, Wellness & Research, Inc.
Services
Through Christ-centered and neuroscience-informed Therapy, we provide the support and resources toward self-discovery and transformation, equipping you with the tools needed to thrive both personally and interpersonally.
Services
Christian Counseling & Psychotherapy
Christian counseling is a type of therapy that integrates traditional therapeutic practices and methodologies with Christian beliefs that incorporate biblical principles based on prayer, bible reading, and temperament assessments. Emmaus Institute of Brain Health, Wellness, and Research, Inc. utilizes therapeutic modalities to address spiritual concerns and everyday life struggles. Counselors provide clients with insight concerning a variety of issues to include an exploration and transition of healthy and unhealthy traits; behaviors, desires, and emotions that influence behavior biblically based concerns; and guidance to heighten Christian faith and understanding. Christian counseling helps clients understand their nature and provide effective tools, techniques, and practices to address life problems.
Emmaus Institute of Brain Health, Wellness, & Research, Inc. utilizes a spirit-mind-body approach to mental health by integrating Christian psychology and counseling, neuroscience, somatic therapy, and nutrition to comprehensively impact mental health, healing, and wellness. Since our mental health (cognitive and emotional well-being) is influenced by our temperaments (influence, control, and affection), and our physiological beings (the nervous, digestive, cardiovascular, immune, endocrine, reproductive, musculoskeletal, and respiratory systems), it is critical to address root causes of mental health issues by supporting the individual through holistic and effective tools, techniques, and resources.
Temperament Therapy
Temperament Therapy is a therapeutic discipline that uses a biblical approach to behavioral change. Through responses garnered from a proven temperament assessment profile, Emmaus Institute of Brain Health, Wellness, & Research, Inc. works with clients to learn and understand temperament (i.e., very deep, and personal aspects of self-inborn traits) and how they influence every aspect of a person’s life. Using this type of therapy, counselors help identify your God-given temperaments that remain throughout your life. At Emmaus Institute, we apply knowledge of your temperaments to bring balance to the body, soul, and spirit while influencing the three dominant areas (inclusion, control, affection) of your inner being.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Emmaus Institute of Brain Health, Wellness, & Research, Inc. integrates Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with Christian counseling. Counselors help process irrational and self-defeating thoughts and utilize biblically based concepts to facilitate healthier thinking and actions and forward progress. The client is encouraged to utilize their religious beliefs to transform anxious, depressive, and self-defeating thoughts and feelings. Emmaus Institute’s integrative approach to applying CBT can also help individuals establish or increase their faith, hope, optimism, and purpose through their relationship with the Father (God), the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit.
Meditation
Meditation is an effective strategy taught during counseling that helps clients focus their attention on the loving-kindness, grace, and power of God. Counselors guide clients through Christian meditation which involves relaxing and stilling the body, focusing the mind, pondering the words of Scripture, and considering the character and nature of God, and God’s spiritual design for your life. Emmaus Institute integrates meditation and various therapeutic approaches to develop a closer relationship with God through an enhanced understanding of his Word and will for your life. Inner transformation persists through enhanced biblical perspective, clarity, balance, and an increased understanding client temperament. Counselors guide clients as they learn to use meditation to identify, acknowledge, and then target destructive thinking patterns that may attempt to distract a person and negatively influence their relationship with God and interactions with others.
Prayer
Prayer is a powerful tool and is often used in therapy when both the therapist and client are aligned with using this during the session. Prayer can help the therapist identify targeted and root-cause issues that have not fully been identified by the client. Emmaus Institute of Brain Health, Wellness, & Research, Inc. uses prayer to help clients improve mental health by finding meaning in their lives, refining values, increasing compassion and gratitude, and improving social connections. Prayer also helps clients develop strategies to effectively cope with stress, establish and maintain boundaries, build trust, and express emotions, concerns, and desires more healthily.
Counselors engage in words of prayer before, during, and after counseling sessions. This sacred and powerful practice connects those within the Christian faith to God and helps clients feel God’s presence. Prayer provides counselors and clients with the critical insight needed for successful sessions. When counselors include prayer and meditation in sessions, this is often to provide healing, direction, and guidance, and to influence concerns while impacting treatment planning goals.
Comprehensive Brain Assessment
The brain is a complex organ that controls thought, memory, emotion, touch, motor skills, vision, breathing, temperature, hunger, and every process that regulates our body. The billions of brain cells (neurons) in the brain are arranged in patterns to coordinate thought, emotion, behavior, movement, and sensation. When the brain is functioning properly, it sends and receives chemical and electrical signals throughout the body. Our brain interprets the varied signals that control different processes occurring throughout our body. That’s why we may feel tired, feel pain, feel sad, feel irritable, feel hungry, etc. Problems may occur with attention, emotional regulation, interpersonal relationships, memory, pain, sleep, and other issues when the brain is impaired or dysregulated and when other issues are influenced by the brain and relayed through the spine and across the body via billions of neurons (nerve cells).
Emmaus Institute of Brain Health, Wellness, & Research, Inc. uses various modalities to observe imbalances in the brain and help to bring balance to the brain. Through neuroimaging to include raw electroencephalography (EEG), quantitative EEG (QEEG), and standardized weighted low-resolution electromagnetic tomography analysis (swLORETA), we assess what’s functioning well, what’s not functioning so well, and what needs to be improved in the brain.
QEEG-Brain Mapping
Quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) is an advanced method of analyzing electroencephalography (EEG) recordings, where digital EEG signals are captured and processed using complex mathematical algorithms. QEEG introduces innovative approaches to feature extraction from EEG signals, such as analyzing specific frequency bands, signal complexity, and connectivity patterns, as well as conducting network analysis. It has broad clinical applications, including in neuropsychiatric conditions, epilepsy, stroke, dementia, traumatic brain injuries, and mental health disorders. This review examines current evidence regarding QEEG’s practical uses and concludes that while QEEG may not provide an immediate diagnosis, it offers valuable insights when combined with other diagnostic tools, helping refine diagnosis, assess disease severity, and evaluate treatment responses more accurately.
An EEG detects brain electrical patterns (brainwaves) using surface sensors. While imaging tools like MRIs, CAT scans, and X-rays focus on brain structure, an EEG assesses brain activity and functioning, capturing moment-to-moment states. It highlights areas where the brain may be stuck in certain states, which contribute to persistent or recurring discomfort or distractions. These identified areas are targeted during brain training. The process of obtaining an EEG is non-invasive and painless, similar to using a heart monitor that tracks heart rate; the EEG sensors merely record the brain’s electrical activity.
QEEG brain mapping offers crucial data by identifying regions of the brain with excessive or insufficient activity, helping guide treatment and track progress. By pinpointing abnormal activity, QEEG can predict related symptoms. For instance, poor function in brain areas linked to attention may explain difficulty focusing, allowing for targeted training to improve regulation.
A QEEG measures not only brainwave patterns, amplitude, and location but also evaluates coherence (communication quality between brain regions), phase (processing speed), and network integration. These factors play key roles in maintaining optimal mental functioning.
"In the Spirit" Somatic Movement Techniques
Emmaus Institute of Brain Health, Wellness, & Research, Inc. uses a unique Somatic Movement Technique which focuses on Gratitude, Worship, and Praise toward God, The Highest. Through somatic movement techniques grounded in gratitude, worship, and praise you are taught how to apply motion, mindfulness, and outward expressions of gratitude toward God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This conscious awareness of an expression of gratitude is coupled with an intentional focus on our body as God’s Holy Temple. It is this internal experience and expression of movement that resonates as an outward or external expression of praise, worship, and gratitude. Somatic movement allows you to forget about what you look like while you’re moving and encourages you to focus on the God who lives, moves, and breathes in you.
Somatic movement classes are taught by mental health therapists that teach you how to offer praise, worship, and gratitude to God while tuning in to how the various parts of your body are feeling in each movement and position. “In the Spirit” Somatic Movement Technique helps you focus on God and hear His voice while also listening to your body to work through past traumas and release damaging and repressed emotions to gain peace and well-being in the body.
Through a spirit-mind-body connection, a somatic movement therapist teaches techniques to bring awareness to the Spirit, regulate the brain, and explore physiological sensations that are associated with your overall health and wellness. Somatic movement through gratitude, worship, and praise, will help you learn how to release psychological tension, alleviate stress-related thoughts and behaviors, and manage your overall mental health through heightened awareness of the spirit-mind-body connection.
Other Somatic Movement techniques:
- Body awareness – helps people recognize tension spots in the body as well as conjure calming thoughts
- Pendulation- guides people from a relaxed state to emotions similar to their traumatic experiences and then back to a relaxed state
- Titration – guides people through a traumatic memory while noting any accompanying physical sensations and addressing them in real-time
- Resourcing- helps people recall resources in their lives that promote feelings of calm and safety, such as special people and places.
Neurostimulation
Neurostimulation, also referred to as neuromodulation, involves using low electrical currents applied to the scalp to stimulate brain activity. This technique typically produces faster results compared to other neurological and psychological treatments, offering quicker symptom relief. Many individuals report noticeable improvements after just one session.
Different forms of neurostimulation have been shown to boost neuroplasticity and enhance blood flow to the brain. When combined with neurofeedback, neurostimulation leads to more effective results than using neurofeedback alone, as it helps the brain learn and adapt more efficiently. By accelerating the brain’s ability to change, it also speeds up the healing process for clients.
Key benefits of neurostimulation include:
- Increased blood flow and oxygen to the brain
- Adjusted neurotransmitter levels (such as GABA)
- Enhanced neuroplasticity
- Improved cognitive efficiency
- Reduced pain
- Elevated mood
- Better attention and focus
- Quicker motor and language learning
- Improved sleep quality
Types of Neurostimulation offered:
PHOTOBIOMODULATION / INFRARED THERAPY
Photobiomodulation or infrared or low-level light therapy involves the use of light to stimulate cellular healing and regeneration. It increases the production of energy in cells, enhancing the natural healing processes of the body and the brain.
Photobiomodulation (PBM) using infrared light has been used successfully for many years to aid in wound healing, skin rejuvenation, blood disorders, and more. Now there’s a growing volume of research evidence showing its effectiveness in the management of central nervous system disorders. Studies show dramatic improvements in cerebral metabolic activity and blood flow, as well as inflammatory and neuroprotective properties.
PULSED ELECTROMAGNETIC FREQUENCY (PEMF) THERAPY
PEMF therapy involves the use of mild electromagnetic waves to stimulate healing processes in the body and the brain. pEMF Therapy has been used to treat a variety of conditions for decades. pEMF devices are FDA-approved and have a history of being used to treat pain, injury, and other health issues. pEMF is used to influence energy within a cell that is damaged by directing repeating electromagnetic pulses toward those damaged cells, stimulating healthier cellular communication and activity. The pEMF device sends this low-frequency magnetic pulse to the cells within the body to help the cells work better, communicate more efficiently, and become re-energized. Research reports that this process works when the pEMF magnetic fields are directed toward cells that aren’t working properly so that the pEMF can correct cellular communication resulting in healthy communication. Reported results include physical and mental relaxation.
pEMF is effective in treating depression, anxiety, chronic pain, cognitive decline, and traumatic brain injury, among other conditions.
Nutritional and Lifestyle Coaching
Provides coaching services to support individuals in enhancing their overall health and well-being. Emmaus Institute of Brain Health, Wellness, and Research utilizes nutritional coaching to help clients develop personalized plans that align with their health and dietary goals. We assess individual needs and preferences, creating strategies considering the client’s current health, nutritional or dietary habits, and specific requirements. Lifestyle coaches assist clients in improving various aspects of their life, focusing on overall well-being. This includes areas such as health, relationships, and stress management.
Nutritional and Lifestyle Coaching
Provides coaching services to support individuals in enhancing their overall health and well-being. Emmaus Institute of Brain Health, Wellness, and Research utilizes nutritional coaching to help clients develop personalized plans that align with their health and dietary goals. We assess individual needs and preferences, creating strategies considering the client’s current health, nutritional or dietary habits, and specific requirements. Lifestyle coaches assist clients in improving various aspects of their life, focusing on overall well-being. This includes areas such as health, relationships, and stress management.
Founder
Dr. Tira Harney Clay, Ph.D. works in the field of behavioral medicine as a professional counselor and a clinical postdoctoral psychology fellow for a multidisciplinary clinic in Atlanta. She is also the founder and President of Human Interaction Experience, LLC., a private consulting and training company specializing in curriculum and instructional design for health equity, mental health, integrative health, and leadership training.
Dr. Tira is the President/Founder of Emmaus Institute of Brain Health, Wellness, and Research, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to whole-person health initiatives to manage stress, mood-related diseases, brain health, and other chronic and mental health conditions. Read Full Bio
