Where trauma, the nervous system,
and the immune system meet.
TRAUMA · PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY · SUSTAINABILITY
Understanding complexity.
Supporting sustainable change.
Integrative approaches for clinicians, parents, and individuals navigating complex trauma, nervous system dysregulation, and neuroimmune conditions.
Through research-informed frameworks, professional education, psychotherapy, and consultation, Dr. Odelya Gertel Kraybill connects psychological, neurological, physiological, and relational perspectives to support individualized care.
Looking for individual psychotherapy or consultation? Explore clinical services ↗
NBCC Approved
CE Provider, ACEP No. 7955
20+ years
trauma research and practice
4 continents
clinical and field work
1.25 Million
reads on Psychology Today
A BROADER CLINICAL LENS
Looking beyond Symptoms
Emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physical symptoms are shaped by interacting psychological, developmental, relational, and physiological processes. In some circumstances, immune activation and other medical conditions may also influence how a person thinks, feels, and functions.
Understanding complex presentations requires more than choosing between psychological and biological explanations. It begins by considering the full context, identifying possible contributing factors, and adapting support to the person's changing capacities.
Areas of relevance include developmental trauma, PTSD, CPTSD, chronic stress, PANS/PANDAS, autoimmune encephalitis (AE), Long COVID, ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and other neuroimmune presentations. These conditions are not assumed to share a single cause or mechanism.
Integration begins with understanding the whole picture.
THE FOUNDATIONAL FRAMEWORK
Expressive Trauma Integration™
Expressive Trauma Integration™ (ETI) is an integrative trauma therapy approach developed through more than two decades of clinical experience, research, and international work. Informed by emerging research on trauma, nervous system dysregulation, and neuroimmune conditions, ETI addresses the interconnected psychological, physiological, emotional, relational, and behavioral dimensions of health.
The approach draws on advances in neuroscience, attachment and developmental psychology, expressive and body-oriented therapies, cognitive reframing, behavioral interventions, mindfulness, nutritional psychology, and psychoneuroimmunology.
ETI brings together four interconnected components: experiential psychoeducation, secure attunement, experiential self-regulation (including strategies for biohacking dysregulation), and individualized and family sustainability plans. Within experiential psychoeducation, the Six Stage ETI Roadmap provides a visual framework for understanding patterns of trauma response and integration, supporting individualized and sustainable change.
01
Experiential Psychoeducation
Learning, through felt experience, how trauma affects every aspect of health.
02
Secure Attunement
Being met, again and again, until safety lives inside you.
03
Experiential Self Regulation
Settling the nervous system through felt, repeated experience rather than insight.
04
Sustainability Plans
A personalized plan sustaining progress between sessions and after therapy.
CONTINUE THE CLINICAL CONVERSATION
Neuroimmune Attuned Approaches
NRA, NAP, and NAT extend this integrative perspective to physiological and neuroimmune
contributions to symptoms, fluctuating functional capacity, parenting, and clinical care.
Neuroimmune Reactive Avoidance (NRA)
A descriptive framework that draws on psychoneuroimmunology, trauma, and attachment research. NRA considers how immune activation shapes a child’s avoidance, treating withdrawal as protective while guiding families toward attuned, flexible support.R
Neuroimmune Attuned Parenting (NAP)
A responsive approach grounded in attachment, regulation, and psychoneuroimmunology. NAP considers changes in a child's functional capacity while supporting co-regulation, family relationships, and caregiver sustainability.
Neuroimmune Attuned
Therapy (NAT)
An integrative therapeutic perspective that considers psychological, developmental, relational, neurological, and immune factors in treatment planning, with flexible pacing and medical collaboration when appropriate.
INDIVIDUALIZED SUPPORT
Psychotherapy & Consultations
Different kinds of support for different needs. Psychotherapy provides ongoing clinical treatment; consultation is a focused process of understanding, planning, and professional collaboration.
CLINICAL TREATMENT
Integrative Psychotherapy
The ETI Clinic offers individualized psychotherapy for people navigating developmental and complex trauma, PTSD, chronic stress, and the psychological challenges of chronic illness and neuroimmune conditions.
Grounded in Expressive Trauma Integration™ (ETI), the therapeutic process integrates attachment-based psychotherapy, secure attunement, experiential and body-oriented approaches, nervous system regulation, and psychoneuroimmunology.
FOR INDIVIDUALS & FAMILIES
Individual & Family Consultation
The ETI Clinic offers individualized psychotherapy for people navigating developmental and complex trauma, PTSD, chronic stress, and the psychological challenges of chronic illness and neuroimmune conditions.
Grounded in Expressive Trauma Integration™ (ETI), the therapeutic process integrates attachment-based psychotherapy, secure attunement, experiential and body-oriented approaches, nervous system regulation, and psychoneuroimmunology.
FOR CLINICIANS
Professional Consultation
The ETI Clinic offers individualized psychotherapy for people navigating developmental and complex trauma, PTSD, chronic stress, and the psychological challenges of chronic illness and neuroimmune conditions.
Grounded in Expressive Trauma Integration™ (ETI), the therapeutic process integrates attachment-based psychotherapy, secure attunement, experiential and body-oriented approaches, nervous system regulation, and psychoneuroimmunology.
ABOUT
Meet Dr. Odelya Gertel Kraybill
I am a trauma researcher, psychotherapist, and educator specializing in psychoneuroimmunology, psychotrauma, and neuroimmune and neurodivergent parenting. My work explores the complex intersections between psychological trauma, nervous system functioning, immunity, and mental health, including conditions such as PANS/PANDAS, autoimmune encephalitis, Long COVID, ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and other neuroimmune conditions.
My journey into trauma therapy began as a student and trauma survivor, long before I became a clinician, researcher, and educator. Over more than two decades of clinical practice, research, and teaching across four continents, I have come to recognize that understanding symptoms often requires looking beyond diagnoses to the complex interactions between our emotional, cognitive, physiological, relational, and social experiences.
Working with individuals and families navigating complex trauma, chronic illness, and persistent symptoms has taught me to approach clinical challenges with the curiosity of an investigator, searching for underlying and contributing factors, particularly when conventional treatments have provided only temporary relief.
This perspective shaped my development of Expressive Trauma Integration™ (ETI), an integrative framework bringing together neuroscience, attachment, experiential approaches, and individualized sustainability planning. It has also led me deeper into psychoneuroimmunology, exploring the relationships between emotional states, nervous system functioning, and immune processes, and translating complex research into accessible frameworks and practical interventions.
At the heart of my work is the understanding that sustainable change rarely emerges from a single intervention. It requires an individualized approach that considers the whole person, recognizes the complexity of their circumstances, and supports meaningful progress over time.
DR. KRAYBILL RESEARCH AND WRITING
Ideas That Deepen the Conversation
Clinical perspectives, emerging research, and reflections on trauma integration, nervous system regulation, psychoneuroimmunity, and neuroimmune parenting.
NEUROIMMUNE REACTIVE AVOIDANCE
Viewing Demand Avoidance Through a Neuroimmune Lens
Why do ordinary requests become overwhelming or even impossible for some children? This article explores the differences between pathological demand avoidance (PDA) and the emerging concept of Neuroimmune Reactive Avoidance (NRA), examining how neuroimmune processes may contribute to sudden, fluctuating avoidance. It offers a different perspective on behaviors often interpreted as defiance and the importance of understanding their underlying causes.
TRAUMA INTEGRATION
What Is Developmental Trauma?
Developmental trauma can affect the foundations of attachment, emotional regulation, and a person's sense of safety. This article explores the role of attunement, misattunement, and reattunement in trauma integration, introducing the ETI Secure Attunement Framework and its emphasis on experiential regulation, relational safety, and individualized sustainability.
PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY
Rethinking Trauma Therapy: The Key Role of the Immune System
Trauma therapy has traditionally focused on psychological processes and nervous system regulation, often overlooking the role of the immune system. This article explores how psychoneuroimmunology can expand our understanding of complex trauma and neuropsychiatric symptoms, proposing an integrative approach that addresses immune dysregulation, secure attunement, experiential self-regulation, and long-term sustainability.
QUESTIONS
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