Quick summary: Primal Trust is my pick. Use code PUREHEALTH10 to get a special Purehealth 10% discount – yay! Read more for why I chose Primal Trust as my main recommendation and tips how to get the most out of it. Hope that helps x
A huge topic, this, that I touch on a lot in the Healing Plan and the ACE and Trauma Triggered Illness factsheets, so do read those too.
Nowadays, my approach with chronic illness of any kind, especially if it just isn’t resolving with normal interventions is to used a combined approach of functional medicine and nervous system regulation, working on things like limbic system impairment and vagus nerve tone, rewiring the brain and helping the person build a sense of safety in the body and brain. You can read a lot more about this in my Mind Body Medicine section.
Which Is The Best Brain Retraining/Nervous System Re-Regulation Programme?
I am always asked which programme I recommend. I recently (Summer 25), did a review of the different programmes. Some of the best known ones include:
I have done DNRS, Gupta and Primal Trust myself, admittedly older versions of the first two. I’ve not done Re-Origin, but a patient trialled it and reported back that they found it really helpful.
It’s always a good idea to explore the different programmes and pick the one that most resonates with you – that’s important as it’s all about feeling comfortable and safe. But I’ve looked carefully at the contents, process and resources for each main programme so I’ll give you my own thoughts.
Essentially, my recommendation for the best brain retraining/limbic system rewiring programme is Primal Trust. (That’s an affiliate link, by the way, as it helps me cover the research and writing time costs – but see below for discounts, yay!)
Why Primal Trust? It seems the most comprehensive. It does top down (brain retraining) and bottom up (somatics, vagus work etc) so already is better than those programmes that focus only on rewiring the brain. I did that myself years ago. It really helped but it didn’t stick. I always felt I needed to cement it in better and I also found that it gave me a lot of symptoms.
Doing Primal Trust, they positively discourage you from starting with the brain retraining and pace you through the programme specifically so you can’t. You do a lot of gentle preparation work on the vagus nerve first, on setting up a sense of safety and learning methods to avoid or deal with any symptoms or reactions that come up. I actually had to give up the brain retraining because it made me feel a lot worse. I now know I should have continued and why I felt worse, but also that I should have done a lot of gentler, safety work first, which is why I think Primal Trust is a good choice.
Do investigate the other programmes, of course, but here’s my overview on Primal Trust in case it helps – and I’ve got some discounted packages for you below if you decide to use it.
BIG TIP: don’t spend a lot of time over-thinking it – that’s your limbic system trying to keep you safe – it doesn’t like change and will make you fearful of just about anything! In the end, it doesn’t really matter which you choose, any of them is going to help. Just get started. That said, I wish I’d had Primal Trust when I needed it years ago!
Overview of Primal Trust
Short and simple: go here for an overview and introductory video. Do the first programme, called Regulate, it takes 7 weeks, preferably longer. Honestly, it will change your healing trajectory. Don’t think about it anymore if you’re on the fence, just get started.
First, if you’ve no idea what I am talking about, watch this video – it gives you a good flavour of the problem, the way it helps and introduces you to Dr Cat – see if you resonate with her, do you click with her voice etc?
Regulate
The core programme that you start with is called Regulate. This is brain-body neural retraining and is the programme most people do, and that is often all you need.
Brain retraining, body-based somatic practices, vagus nerve toning, polyvagal understanding, and trauma processing into a streamlined approach. With almost daily live support classes and a vibrant community, we simplify your healing journey, addressing bumps along the way and fostering an in-depth understanding of the cell danger response for self-healing.
There are 7 modules and the first couple explain the issue of limbic system impairment, the cell danger response, memory processing etc and how it all keeps us from getting well. I found those fascinating and really well explained, even though I knew most of it already. Remember: listening, reading and learning is part of how you start retraining your brain and nervous system.
The rest of the modules are more practical and give you lots of tools to use to solve the problem, including working on the vagus nerve, brain retraining/neuroplasticity techniques, somatics, movement and it ends with trauma healing, for those who need that.
The reason I like Primal Trust is that is drip feeds the content to you, week by week. This stops the so-called ‘fix-it’ stressy mentality that many of us with chronic illness are stuck in – and what keeps the limbic system in a state of fear rather than safety. The whole point of Regulate is to develop subconscious and conscious safety in the mind and body.
They encourage co-regulation with live and recorded classes, plus community forums and groups – the ‘mirroring’ technique – if you see others doing it, it is much more powerful for the brain learning than doing it on your own. That said, there is no pressure to join anything live or have a mic or camera on – I didn’t most of the time – but seeing those people who feel comfortable with that did make a difference. I felt less alone with it for a start. They put live classes on most days – albeit at pacific US time, which at 8 hours behind us means some are in the middle of the night. – but there are enough at decent times, plus a whole library of recorded classes and extra workshops.
They offer 1:1 mentorship at extra cost, but many of those mentors are on the forums and do the free extra classes so you don’t have to pay for their help unless you want more specific 1:1. There if you need it, and not too expensive, I thought.
You end up with a sort of pick and mix of tools that you choose to use – everyone finds things that resonate with them rather than having stuff forced on you – not safe! They teach you how to find what nervous state you are in – freeze, fight, fright, collapse, safe etc – and which tools will help you in those stages day to day. I found voo breathing, shaking, somatics and functional neurology exercises worked best for me. You might – and probably will be – different. It all depends where you are starting from, what stage of healing on chronicity you are at.
There’s no need to make it all complicated, though, so don’t worry if this feels overwhelming already. This will start you off – aim for 15 mins a day spread throughout the day. Even 1 minute a day, even if you are bed-bound, is going to help you. If it helps, I mostly do Qi Gong or shaking for No.1, lots of No. 2 especially cuddling my cat, watching funny things, staring at the sea, walking in Nature and for No. 3, I voo breath like mad (see here for more on vooing).
If you do one or more of those – preferably one from each section – consistently for weeks, trust me, your nervous system and limbic/vagus systems will thank you for it – and your healing potential will increase, your symptoms start to reduce.
Integrate
Most people do the Regulate and that’s it. However, Primal Trust also do Level 2: Integrate, which is the bit I missed out on, I think last time, when these sort of programmes only really included brain rewiring.
This level “allows you to move past your emotional resistance, your inner protective responses and live a life you love. This unlocks even deeper self-healing using a combination of inquiry, neuroplasticity and somatic practices.”
I would say it is all about the whys of chronic illness and identity transformation, true self-healing. They use parts work, emotional processing, identity journaling, inner child repair and more. I said at the end of the Healing Plan that the final piece was finding your identity after getting well. This turned out to be the hardest part and I’ve still not done that, I don’t think, so I’m going to do this course and I’ll report back, obvs.
Liberate
They now also have a third course called Liberate. This takes the transformation and identity stuff much further.
Ongoing transformation. Emerging back into the world with heart-led purpose. Re-engaging fully with your life again, inspiring others.
They describe it as: deep Self-integration, values-based living, service and leadership. It’s essentially about how we take our new – well! – identity, cement it and use it to bring goodness and light to others. I fancy doing this one too, deffo.
How To Join Primal Trust
OK, that should give you a good flavour of things, I hope. I know it’s a decision – most people by this stage have been everywhere and tried everything. Is this going to be another waste of time and money. I truly don’t think so. But, you must be consistent with it.
I have – of course – negotiated a 10% discount for Purehealth peeps. Just use PUREHEALTH10 to get 10% off when you order.
Your options:
Try it for a month or pay as you go.
However, the minimum I think the Regulate course should take is about 3-5 months if you’re doing it really well and want it to work. You can do it quicker than that, but that’s fix-it, stressy mentality as I said above, so I don’t recommend it. So, you can choose a 5 month or a 12 month package when you feel ready. If you need a shorter version, you can get a 3 month option here, but I can’t get an extra discount on that one.
Note that whichever option you choose, you get access to everything, starting with Regulate – it’s the time you pay for, they don’t hold stuff back. The only other stuff you could pay for is 1:1 help, which is fair enough.
Obviously, prices are subject to change – US dollars. They are affiliate links – which all helps me with the research and writing, but you also get a discount so win-win 🙂
Let me know how you get on, and any questions I’m happy to help. We WILL get well. We are SAFE. Repeat after me. We WILL get well. We are SAFE. Y’see: you’ve already begun retraining your brain 🙂