A woman who had been a nurse in humid Vietnam during the war experienced a major traumatic event that occurred on damp ground. When she returned to the U.S, she settled in Clemson, South Carolina where it rained a lot. Periodically, the smell of damp earth would re-trigger her trauma. She had significant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
After leaving the service, she became a mental health therapist with the goal of helping herself and others. For 25 years she traveled the U.S., trying every type of trauma therapy and treatment she could find, to no avail. Then she discovered neurofeedback.
She reported that during her tenth session of alpha-theta (a special type of neurofeedback training often used for trauma), she found herself in a profoundly deep state. In that state, she visualized the events that had created her trauma in Vietnam. This time, however, she felt herself floating above those events and watching from afar as an observer. Instead of being fearful and in pain, she was able to distance herself from it.
After that session, she said the trauma never affected her again in the same way, even when the smell of damp dirt wafted through her window. She knew it happened. The memory would never go away, but it no longer triggered her. Her neurofeedback training allowed her to start living normally again.