Sonya Crittenden, Director of Cereset Client Services explains how Cereset works and helps people.
Interview conducted by Ivanhoe Broadcast News in August 2018.
Tell us a little bit about what Cereset is for the person who has no idea.
Crittenden: Cereset is a wellness company and we have a proprietary technology that helps the brain relax so that people can recover from the detrimental effects of stress, such as sleeplessness, low mood and low energy.
How does it work?
Crittenden: Cereset works by reflecting the brain’s activity back to itself through musical tones. We capture the brain’s activity and we correlate that activity with a corresponding musical tone. Then we send it back to the client via ear buds in real time. When their brain is able to perceive its own activity, it then uses that information to balance itself.
Why does it work?
Crittenden: I describe it like if you were to play a piano and hit a wrong note, you would instinctually know you’ve hit a wrong note because it doesn’t sound “right” to you. The brain is basically doing the same thing- it’s listening to its own activity and then when it hears a “wrong note”, the brain readjusts itself or recalibrates its activity.
Excellent explanation. So who is this for?
Crittenden: Cereset is for everyone. I really can’t imagine there being someone that couldn’t benefit from this to some degree. It is helpful for anyone that has any sort of stress in their life, which is most of us.
And you are focusing I know some military people with some kind of trauma.
Crittenden: Yes, we have worked with lots of military personnel, but we really work with the whole spectrum. We work with military personnel, stressed out moms, high-powered CEOs, actresses and even football players. It’s really for everyone.
And then how often can they use it? Is there maintenance, how does that work?
Crittenden: Most of our clients end up doing four initial in-office sessions and then they use their B2v2 headband at home for three weeks following. Then after that three-week period of using the home headband, they come back for a final Integration Session where we assess the client’s progress and make a long-term plan, including a schedule ongoing B2v2 usage. Most of our clients do really well with that program, but it really depends on the person and their unique situation and their external stressors.
So they could say, six months down the road something happens, terrible trauma, they could either come in or start using the headband at home.
Crittenden: Exactly. I would say first try the B2v2 [home headband]first and if it’s not doing it for you come back in and do another tune-up session.
The cost, initial costs, treatment costs headband costs.
Crittenden: The whole package (called the Wellness Package) which includes the four in-house sessions, the Integration Session and the B2v2 headband usually starts around a couple thousand dollars. Prices will vary per location. The B2v2 headband is $1295.
Twelve hundred ninety five?
Crittenden: Yes.
If somebody first saw this and saw the electrodes on Jody’s head they might be kind of freaked out. What do you tell them?
Crittenden: The sensors we place on the scalp are read-only sensors. That means all they’re doing is reading the electrical information from the brain. The sensors are not putting anything into the brain, they’re not sending messages to the brain- they don’t even work that way. There is no stimulation or activating happening at all.
Does it ever not work with somebody?
Crittenden: There are some things that can restrict the brain’s ability to respond to this process and to recalibrate. One of the major ones being medications that tend to influence the way the brain performs. So mood enhancing medications or medications that are intended to affect the way you process information. These types of medications can restrict the brain’s ability to reset.
But there are kids in here too so any age?
Crittenden: Yes, we work with clients of all ages. The youngest I’ve ever worked with is three. In the past we have even had infants come in and do sessions during naptime.
What kind of response have you been getting from clients?
Crittenden: Our clients are really happy with the results that they get. A lot of them feel like it’s another lease on life, they get a second chance. You get so stuck in what you know and what you’re used to. And they’ve usually exhausted every other option or potential solution by the time they get to us and so a lot of them have essentially lost hope. This is just like a second lease on life. They get to try again.
Does it happen immediately in the first session, they feel better?
Crittenden: Sometimes that can be the case, but most of the time it’s more of a delayed response because it takes the brain about twenty-one days or three weeks to fully create and form a new neural pathway. So most of our clients start to experience the bigger and more noticeable changes about three weeks after their last session.
So right now this is the only center?
Crittenden: Yes.
But starting soon you’re going to franchise out.
Crittenden: Yes, in the next few months we opening several new franchise locations to be announced via our website.
Cereset.com?
Crittenden: Yes, Cereset.com.
What haven’t I asked you that you think is important to include in this story?
Crittenden: Cereset was created by Lee Gerdes, he’s our CEO and founder. Before creating Cereset, he was attacked and assaulted with a baseball bat. From that experience, he went through about eight years of sleeplessness and experienced almost a complete 180 of his personality-everything was suddenly different. So Lee went on an eight year long journey to try to find a solution for the symptoms stemming from this attack. He tried everything from biofeedback, neurofeedback, to talk therapy, and while he found some slight relief from some of these modalities and treatments nothing was really getting through, or offering long-term resolution. After a while of seeking help, Lee got sick of people telling him, “It’s just in your head, this is all in your head”. So Lee, being an engineer, was like, “Well, I’m going to take a look in there and see what’s going on”. So he started monitoring his own brain activity. And he noticed when he was upset or stressed the two hemispheres of the brain were out of balance. So he correlated the patterns he found and developed Cereset to help the brain re-balance itself.
That’s amazing.
Crittenden: Yes it is. And now his mission is to bring this technology into the world and to help people that have gone through similar experiences or struggling with stress.
And how long has this center been operating? How long have you had clients being treated with this?
Crittenden: We’ve been using Cereset here for the last six months.
Explain what Cereset is, why the name?
Crittenden: Cereset stands for cerebrum, which is the brain and reset, so basically rebalancing. We are rebalancing the brain.
END OF INTERVIEW
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