Hope for the Future of Our Nervous Systems
Maine’s mid-coast. Photo credit: Abby Brammell.
What’s showing up in the therapy room right now is a whole lot of fear. Fear about the future of the country, the world our children are growing up into, and everything that is threatening our collective sense of safety. Clients are sharing about protesting, about protecting others, and about hiding at home. In the face of the daily gaslighting we’re witnessing, a new nervous system regulation tool for children has been a hopeful reprieve and a welcome shift in my focus.
I had the chance to catch up with a past participant of The Artist’s Way Workshop this week. It reminded me the importance of moving into a flow state through creation of something life-affirming. Especially right now. Here’s some of my conversation with the inspiring Abby Brammell.
Sarah: So what have you been up to since you left Altadena last year and relocated to Maine?
Abby: Mostly, trying to — literally — find a new road home! After we lost our beautiful town, beloved 1924 Spanish rental home of 12 years, and our son’s school to the Eaton Canyon fire, all the old routes, the turns, the landmarks to carry me home … to safety … just disappeared. It’s a simple but heart-breaking moment when you leave your post office to go home and are reminded there is … absolutely. no. way. to. get. there.
S: I know it’s been a completely destabilizing journey, Abby. I admire how you and your family have picked up the pieces and continued moving forward. If it suits you, I’d like to shift us toward how that has flowed into your latest creative project. I've heard you say that your connection to Polyvagal Theory was immediate and transformative. Can you share a little about that?
A: Yes, It was like climbing a streak of lightning in order to find its roots in the sky! It was 2018, a virtual class with Deb Dana, LCSW that Sounds True was hosting. I was in graduate school for counseling psychology and acting at the time. I was listening to the class while waiting to go back on the set, when I heard Dana describing Dr. Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory. She was illuminating how the evolution of our mammalian autonomic nervous system relates to our overall sense of survival, safety, well-being, trauma history, & behaviors. I freaked out! I grabbed the little pieces of paper that my script and lines were on, and started frantically writing down everything she was saying, as fast as I could! That day completely expanded the trajectory of my soul’s purpose.
CONNECTION QUEST, a new game to teach children how to regulate their nervous systems. Photo credit: Abby Brammell.
S: That sounds exhilarating. I find it heartening that you've found a non-traditional path to use your Masters in Counseling, opting not to pursue licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist. Can you share a bit about how you became aware of your special calling to your new game and children's nervous systems?
A: I studied in depth about the power and influence that the nervous system has over our species’ evolution — how it’s autonomic, or automatic. How our thinking mind is not in control of the nervous system. How it operates pre-thought. I became amazed at our innate ability as mammals to use whatever survival strategy our nervous systems must to keep us alive. The role of this protector completely enchanted me, it was like finding a missing key to understanding the human experience.
As an actor I’d played my nervous system like an instrument for years. The artistic was meeting the clinical. There was not a doubt in my mind that this traditionally medical, therapeutic, and complicated neuroscientific information had to reach a bigger audience! But we had to explain it in ways that were easily accessible, down-to-earth, imaginative, and even entertaining! As a mom struggling with a child going through a traumatic transition into kindergarten, it seemed the best place to start was with the children. When Covid-19 hit, and I had to homeschool a then 2nd grader, I didn’t have the bandwidth to continue with therapy clients. Eventually, I gave myself the assignment to make a board game that explained our nervous system’s pathway of survival and regulation to a four-year-old.
S: That all makes so much sense to me. You’ve mentioned that there have been a number of synchronistic interactions that have led to the creation of this board game. Can you share some of those with us?
A: One of the most important, poignant, keystone moments was taking your Artist’s Way Workshop! Never ever in a million years would I have picked up watercolors and said, “Well, I’ll just paint this game board all by myself!” I tried many times to get someone else to make the art for the game, until one morning a quiet voice from deep within my soul said I needed to be the one to create it. Thanks to my work in your Artist’s Way group, I actually had the courage to listen to that voice! Recovering my inner artist was the next lightning bolt of animation in this unfolding series of wild synchronicities. While working on my first version of CONNECTION QUEST! (as it would come to be called) we were in escrow on a house in Maine, and I was trying to obtain the rights to a Maine detective series in the hopes of making it into a TV show. Both of these projects fell through. I did however, have an important win at that time — I was granted 501c3 status for my non-profit, Neuro-Artistry & Education. I continued to work diligently on prototypes and game testing, and was about to hold my first fundraiser to support game production when the wind and fire came in January 2025. It created a perfect storm gifting me with the excruciating experience of destruction and liberation all at once.
S: How did the Eaton Fire impact your process and progress?
Abby’s noble beagle, Lucy. Photo credit: Abby Brammell.
A: Talk about CONNECTION QUEST! Luckily, my family and our noble beagle survived, but the house was a total loss. We went into full survival mode. My own quest for connection began to eerily mirror the journey of the very game board I had painted. We relied on the generous resources from others — stayed with family, stayed with friends. But after two months of couch surfing, I needed a stable home. I turned a hopeful heart and eyes full of tears back toward my dream of living in Maine. I contacted the author I had been in negotiations with, told him our story, and his wife knew someone with a house to rent. Within days another bolt of lightning had harnessed me. I headed east on my way to meet my destiny. It was in Maine, in our beautiful rental by the sea, formerly home to a watercolor artist, that I painted the latest version of CONNECTION QUEST! Which coincidentally, even though it was born in California, ends at a light house. Of course, Maine is famous for its light houses. It’s like the game knew all along, and gave me the map. It gave me the road home my broken heart had been longing for.
S: What's the status of your non-profit and the game at this point?
A: As for Neuro-Artistry & Education, I have not held a fundraiser yet. It will be the next project I turn my attention toward. In the mean time we continue to heal, grow roots, and bask in the glorious nature of mid-coast Maine! May the light of connection always guide the way!!!
S: Thank you, Abby, for sharing your inspirational journey. As you know, nervous system regulation is integral to our practice at Rezak Therapy. We wish you all the best with CONNECTION QUEST!
A: You’re so welcome. Thank you for your support and the platform to share!
Teaching Nervous System Regulation
If you’d like to support Abby’s CONNECTION QUEST boardgame and order a pre-launch copy, you may do so here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/connectionquest/connection-quest. Once the game is funded for the first production, I’ll add a link and information about how to purchase it going forward.
If you’re feeling like your nervous system needs some extra support, we welcome your call at Rezak Therapy in Pasadena, California. We practice holistic approaches for individuals and couples, incorporating both depth psychotherapy and somatic psychotherapy. We also offer various therapy groups and workshops to incorporate community into the healing process.
