Dr. Frank Corrigan MD, FRC Psych
Throughout a career spanning over 30 years as an NHS Consultant Psychiatrist in Scotland, Frank combined his extensive clinical experience with research on the neurobiology of trauma and its underpinnings in major psychiatric disorders.
His research broadly explored the intersection between affective Neuroscience and the science of healing culminating in the development of Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR)®. This new and novel psychotherapeutic approach emphasises the importance of tracking a distinctive neurophysiological sequence embedded in ‘deep brain’ systems. One of the most unique aspects of DBR as a trauma-focused therapy, is the embodiment of a natural healing process that is consonant with the evolutionary process of the developing brain and nervous system.
Interviews
Interview with Frank Corrigan, June 2026.
Interviewer: Sam Robinson, LCSW, from Austin, Texas.
Karine Kocharyan, Ukrainian Organiser of Educational Projects on Trauma Psychotherapy, talks to Frank about the ongoing clinical trial of DBR and the book he’s writing. They discuss the Ukrainian group’s monthly DBR meetings after the invasion in 2022 and how effective DBR has proven to be in the immediate aftermath of trauma.
The interview was conducted in Ukrainian, with English translation courtesy of Oksana Lyzak, on 6 March 2024.
Publications
‘Deep Brain Reorienting: Understanding the Neuroscience of Trauma, Attachment Wounding, and DBR Psychotherapy’
by Frank M. Corrigan, Hannah Young, Jessica Christie-Sands.
‘Deep Brain Reorienting: Understanding the Neuroscience of Trauma, Attachment Wounding, and DBR Psychotherapy’ has been translated into Italian and is available here.
He is the co-author of
“Neurobiology and Treatment of Traumatic Dissociation”
(Lanius, UF, Paulsen, SL, & Corrigan FM, Springer, New York, 2014)
‘Neurobiology and Treatment of Traumatic Dissociation’ has been translated into Italian and is available here.
and of “The Comprehensive Resource Model”
(Schwarz, L, Corrigan, F, Hull, A, & Raju, R, Routledge, London, 2017).
Papers & Research
THE PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL DOMAINS OF ATTACHMENT TRAUMA: A COMMENTARY
A paper co-authored with Dr Hannah Young in Clinical Neuropsychiatry (2025) 22, 5, 387-391.
A randomized controlled trial of Deep Brain Reorienting: a neuroscientifically guided treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Published online 15 August by European Journal of Psychotraumatology. Volume 14, 2023 – Issue 2
An innate brainstem self-other system involving orienting, affective responding, and polyvalent relational seeking: Some clinical implications for a “Deep Brain Reorienting” trauma psychotherapy approach.
The hypotheses underlying DBR were set out in a paper co-authored with Jessica Christie-Sands in Medical Hypotheses (2020, 136, 109502).
More DBR publications
Ukrainian colleagues are pleased to share a paper on DBR by Dr Tetiana Aslanian
Evidence-based trauma psychotherapy: limitations of approaches and prospects for the application of Deep Brain Reorienting in Institute of Social and Political Psychology, NAES of Ukraine