NeuroFaith® Trauma & Addiction Recovery
Healing the Brain, Body, Heart, Relationships, and Soul
Trauma changes us. It can leave the nervous system trapped in survival, the heart burdened by fear or shame, relationships strained, and the soul wondering whether peace will ever return. Addiction often becomes a desperate attempt to quiet that pain, find relief, or simply make it through another day.
But trauma does not have to write the rest of your story. Addiction does not have to define who you are.
NeuroFaith® is an integrated model of trauma and addiction recovery developed by clinical psychologist Dr. Jeffrey E. Hansen. It brings together neuroscience, compassionate psychological care, relational healing, and Christian spiritual formation to address the whole person: brain, body, heart, relationships, and soul.
This is not rushed, surface-level therapy focused only on controlling symptoms or stopping behaviors. It is careful, deeply relational work that seeks to understand what happened to you, how your mind and body learned to survive, and what you may still be carrying beneath the surface. Rather than treating your struggles as evidence that something is wrong with you, NeuroFaith® helps you understand them within the context of your story, your wounds, and the ways you adapted in order to survive.
Dr. Hansen brings decades of experience walking alongside people affected by trauma, addiction, grief, moral injury, and profound loss. His work has included abused and neglected children, struggling families, military service members, veterans, first responders, and individuals whose lives have been shaped by experiences they never imagined having to endure. His understanding of suffering is also deeply personal. He knows that healing requires more than clinical knowledge. It requires safety, honesty, compassion, faith, and the willingness to remain present with another human being in the places that hurt most.
NeuroFaith® integrates four powerful dimensions of healing: polyvagal-informed therapy, HeartMath® and neurocardiology, Internal Family Systems, and Christian spiritual formation. Together, these approaches help calm the nervous system, heal wounded and protective parts, restore connection, rebuild identity, and create space for hope to return.
You are not a diagnosis. You are not your addiction. You are not the worst thing that happened to you, nor the worst thing you have done while trying to survive it.
You are a whole person with a story that deserves to be understood.
If you are exhausted from merely coping, ashamed of where you have been, or uncertain whether real change is still possible, you do not have to face it alone. Dr. Hansen will meet you with steadiness, respect, clinical wisdom, and hope. For those who desire it, faith can be thoughtfully and authentically woven into the healing journey.
Healing is possible.
Your story is not over.
And the next chapter can begin with one conversation.
The NeuroFaith® Model
At its core, the NeuroFaith® model integrates four foundational pillars of healing, each addressing a distinct yet inseparable dimension of the human person. Together, these pillars form a unified framework that moves beyond symptom management toward deep, embodied, and lasting transformation.
Polyvagal-Informed Therapy
NeuroFaith® begins with an understanding of the nervous system and its role in trauma, safety, and connection. Trauma is not simply remembered cognitively; it is encoded physiologically. Through a polyvagal-informed lens, individuals learn how their nervous system adapted to survive—often at great personal cost. Healing unfolds as the nervous system is gently guided out of chronic defense and back toward regulation, safety, and relational engagement.
HeartMath® / Neurocardiology
Healing is not driven by the brain alone. NeuroFaith® recognizes the central role of the heart in emotional regulation, resilience, and meaning-making. Through HeartMath® and principles of neurocardiology, individuals learn to restore heart–brain coherence. As coherence increases, emotional stability, clarity, and hope begin to emerge, expanding the capacity for presence, compassion, and intentional living.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Trauma fragments the inner world. NeuroFaith® integrates Internal Family Systems to help individuals understand and heal the wounded and protective parts that develop in response to pain. Rather than pathologizing these parts, the model honors their protective intent and guides the system toward integration. Through compassionate Self-leadership, internal conflict gives way to coherence, trust, and internal safety.
Spirituality
Spirituality is not an adjunct to the NeuroFaith® model; it is woven into its very foundation. Christian spiritual formation provides the relational and redemptive context in which healing finds its deepest meaning. Faith speaks to identity, dignity, forgiveness, and purpose, offering a secure anchor beyond the self. In NeuroFaith®, healing is not only about regulation and integration, but about restoration of the soul and reconnection to God, self, and others.
More Than a Method
NeuroFaith® is not a technique layered on top of existing therapy. It is not a program or protocol designed to be mechanically applied. It is a way of understanding the healing journey itself—one that honors the complexity of human suffering while remaining grounded in hope.
This is healing that moves beyond coping.
This is integration rather than fragmentation.
This is transformation at every level of the human person
Clinical Psychological Services Offered
Dr. Jeffrey E. Hansen, PhD
Licensed in Washington and Arizona and credentialed through PSYPACT, which allows me to provide telehealth psychotherapy across 40+ states, making it possible for us to work together wherever you are.
If you are reading this, chances are something in your life feels heavy.
Perhaps trauma never fully healed.
Perhaps anxiety keeps your nervous system on edge.
Perhaps depression has dimmed your sense of meaning.
Perhaps addiction, shame, or relational wounds have left you feeling fragmented and alone
You do not have to navigate that alone.
In my private practice, I provide deeply relational, neuroscience-informed psychological care through the NeuroFaith® model of integrated healing. This is not rushed therapy. This is not surface-level coping. This is careful, compassionate, integrative work that honors your whole story—brain, body, heart, relationships, and soul.
Together, we work at the level where healing actually happens. For those who desire it, faith and spiritual formation can be thoughtfully integrated into the healing process.
Areas of Focus:
• Complex and developmental trauma
• PTSD and combat-related trauma
• First responder fatigue and moral injury
• Anxiety, panic, and chronic nervous system dysregulation
• Major depression, despair, and loss of meaning
• Attachment wounds and relational trauma
• Addiction and compulsive behaviors
• Dissociation and internal fragmentation
• Grief and complicated loss
• Faith-based trauma and spiritual injury
I work primarily with adults and older adolescents. Select pediatric and family consultations are considered when clinically appropriate.
My approach is grounded in decades of clinical experience, military service, trauma specialization, and lived understanding of grief. I believe healing requires safety, honesty, and the courage to sit with what hurts without shame. I will meet you there—with steadiness, clarity, and hope.
If you are ready to move beyond coping and toward genuine integration, I would be honored to walk that journey with you.
Healing is possible.
And it begins with one conversation.
If something here resonates with you, I invite you to reach out through the contact page of this website or by email at jeffreyhansen@neurofaith.net. I respond personally and will help you determine appropriate next steps.
Consultation, Teaching, and Writing
In addition to clinical care, I provide consultation, training, and speaking for organizations, treatment programs, churches, first responder agencies, and clinical teams seeking deeper integration of trauma-informed and faith-sensitive practice.
I teach and write on trauma, nervous system regulation, moral injury, addiction, and identity repair, equipping individuals and communities with a coherent framework for lasting transformation.
For consultation, training, or speaking inquiries, please email jeffreyhansen@neurofaith.net and include a brief description of your organization or event.
Disclaimer
NO MEDICAL ADVICE IS GIVEN OR PROVIDED ON THIS WEBSITE. SUCH INFORMATION, WHICH MAY BE MEDICAL IN NATURE, IS INFORMATION ONLY FOR THE USE OF LICENSED AND EXPERIENCED MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS. A READER INTERESTED IN MEDICAL ADVICE OR MEDICAL TREATMENT SHOULD CONSULT A MEDICAL PRACTIONER WITH AN APPROPRIATE SPECIALTY WHO IS PROPERLY LICENSED IN THE READER’S JURISDICTION.
Our BIOs and Backstories
Everybody has a backstory. It’s where we begin to understand the truth of a person—not just by what they’ve accomplished, but by the fires they’ve walked through and the ways they’ve chosen to heal. Our stories are not defined by titles or timelines, but by the quiet turning points that shape who we become.
Here are ours:
Dr. Jeff
From the beginning of my life and career, I have been drawn to the quiet places where people hurt and to the sacred work of helping them find their way back to hope. I have always felt called to sit with those who feel unseen, broken, or overwhelmed, offering not only clinical skill but kindness, presence, and the belief that healing is possible. That passion carried me from my studies in psychology at the University of California Berkeley to earning my MA and PhD at the University of Arkansas, followed by an APA approved internship at Silas B. Hayes Army Community Hospital and a postdoctoral fellowship at Madigan Army Medical Center. I became licensed in both Washington and Arizona and stepped fully into a vocation that has always felt more like a purpose than a profession.
My professional life began in a profound way through the honor of serving ten years on active duty in the United States Army, eventually attaining the rank of Major. My deployment to Somalia exposed me to the staggering human cost of conflict, the suffering of innocent civilians, and the invisible wounds carried by soldiers long after the battle ends. Those experiences shaped the way I understand trauma and deepened my commitment to walk with those whose pain is often hidden.
After my military service, I built a private practice in Olympia Washington for over twenty five years and later returned to Madigan as a senior staff psychologist and Graduate Medical Education faculty member. Training young clinicians became one of the greatest privileges of my career, allowing me to shape their competence, character, and compassion.
In 2018 I founded The Center for Connected Living, and recently proudly served as Clinical Director at Holdfast Recovery and AnchorPoint in Arizona, the latter position that I recently retired from. Across all these roles, one conviction grew steadily within me: true healing cannot rely on technique alone. It requires connection, honesty, safety, and the courage to sit with another human being without judgment. This conviction became the foundation for NeuroFaith®, a model I founded in 2024 that integrates neuroscience and Christian spirituality in a way that honors the whole human person. Drawing on polyvagal-informed therapy, HeartMath®/neurocardiology, Internal Family Systems, and spiritual formation, NeuroFaith® offers a path that reaches deeper than coping and points toward genuine transformation. This work led to the book NeuroFaith®: The Intersection of Faith and Science in the Healing of Trauma and Addiction, which I co-authored with Pastor Earl Heverly and Tim Hayden.
My professional story cannot be separated from my personal one. I was born in 1954 in Fort Collins Colorado, an identical twin shaped by both love and hardship. My father carried wounds from his own childhood, and some of that pain filtered into our home. Gregg and I learned early to survive through determination and achievement. During my teenage years I encountered Christian faith in a way that steadied me and became a compass for my life and work. In October 2023 Gregg’s life came to an end after a long struggle with depression. Losing him, my twin, broke something deep within me. Yet in that grief a renewed calling emerged. His passing clarified why I sit with suffering people, why I listen to their stories with reverence, and why I believe in the possibility of healing. I work in his memory now.
Through all of this, I have been blessed beyond measure in my personal life. I am married to an amazing woman, Leah who challenges me, encourages me, and loves me through my weaknesses. Together we have two wonderful children, Ashley and Greg, and a beautiful granddaughter, Hallie, who is the apple of my eye and a daily reminder of hope, innocence, and joy.
Alongside trauma and addiction treatment, I feel a responsibility to protect children from cultural pressures that risk harming their development, including premature gender affirmation and exposure to pornography. This is not political. It is grounded in decades of clinical work and the belief that children deserve safety, discernment, and wise guidance.
What matters most to me is not the titles behind my name but the heart behind the work. I have seen how pain isolates and shame silences. And I have witnessed how connection, compassion, and grounded faith can bring profound healing. My calling is to meet people in the difficult places, honor their courage, and walk with them until they rediscover their strength and beauty. Every person I serve reminds me that healing is real, that compassion matters, and that when truth and love meet a wounded life, something extraordinary becomes possible.
Pastor Earl
I grew up in Wheaton, Illinois and attended Wheaton Central High School, where I competed in gymnastics and tennis and served as a student court judge. I completed my BA at the University of Illinois in 1970 and began an MBA program, which I set aside when the opportunity arose to enter a partnership in a retail music business. In 1973, my wife, Nancy, and I recommitted our lives to Christ. We began attending Urbana Assembly of God, where we experienced the power and presence of God and were deeply influenced by university Bible teachers and missionaries from around the world. During that season, I also served as Vice President for Full Gospel Businessmen and on the church Deacon Board. In 1978, I responded to God’s call into ministry and began my pastoral studies through Berean School of the Bible.
That same year, Nancy and I, along with our three young daughters, moved to Dublin, California, where I served as an associate pastor at Valley Christian Center. I was initially responsible for adult discipleship and evangelism, but I was soon entrusted with pastoral counseling and also launched an adult singles ministry that Nancy and I hosted in our home. In 1979 I became a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God, and in 1981 I was ordained.
As Valley Christian Center grew, so did my responsibilities. I oversaw Men’s Ministries, missions, and a valley-wide fellowship ministry called Racham. I produced and filmed a weekly TV series called The Pastor’s Study, which eventually expanded into VCC’s own Christian cable TV channel, CCTV 29. I was also a founding member of the Valley Crisis Pregnancy Center and served on the Hope Hospice Board of Directors.
In addition, I represented VCC in the Dublin Minister’s Association, serving as its chairman for eight years. I frequently spoke at school chapels, coached my daughters’ junior and senior high sports teams, and partnered in various Christian school fundraisers. I also led multiple mission trips to Mexico.
In 1993, I accepted the call to serve as Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Sacramento, a role I held until my retirement in January 2024. During those years, I also served the Northern California Nevada District of the Assemblies of God as a Presbyter for 14 years, chaired the Northern California Nevada Teen Challenge Executive Committee, chaired the Arden Arcade Pastors Association, and co-chaired both the Luis Palau Festival in Sacramento in 2012 and the Convoy of Hope in 2014. I also taught Bible and pastoral ministry classes at Bethany University, Epic University, and Capital Bible College.
For 14 years I served as a convener over the Arden Arcade region, working with the City Pastors’ Network to connect, serve, and pray with local senior pastors across Sacramento. Nancy and I also had the privilege of leading two trips to Israel together.
Since retiring, Nancy and I have enjoyed traveling to Europe, Alaska, and across the United States. I have also co-authored five books with Dr. Jeffrey Hansen, Ph.D., addressing the epidemics of addiction, trauma, depression, and pornography from a Christian and scientific perspective through the NeuroFaith® model. I continue to serve on an Assemblies of God leadership team.
My passion has always been, and continues to be, to see the Gospel preached to every tribe and nation and to see God’s people become everything He has created them to be.
Contact Information for Dr. Hansen
Phone: 360.870.3801
Email: Jeffreyhansen@NeuroFaith.net
Dr. Jeff Pastor Earl
