Counselling and the Brian Brain

1. Counselling and the Brian Brain The interface between counselling and neuroscience Brian Sullivan PhD (in transition)

2. There has been some history here • Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis, started his career as a scientist studying basic brain biology. A new exhibit of his scientific drawings shows his progression from brain to mind. • He went from doodling neurons on book pages to giving the world ideas such as "talk therapy," the "Oedipal complex," and the id, ego, and superego. Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

3. Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

4. Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

5. Complexity plus! • With its hundred billion nerve cells, with their hundred trillion interconnections, the human brain is the most complex phenomenon in the known universe - always, of course, excepting the interaction of some six billion such brains and their owners within the socio-technological culture of our planetary ecosystem!“ Steven Rose (from The Future of the Brain. The Promise and Perils of Tomorrow's Neuroscience, 2005) Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

6. What is all the fuss about? • Between 1300-1400 grams with • 100 billion neurons or nerves cells • For 2009, a PubMed search using the term "brain" shows that 58,459 papers were published. Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

7. Some worrying questions • Will this 21st Century focus on Neuroscience and brain functioning, be the death knell of counselling? • After all isn’t this all really an invincible argument for and validation of the “Medical Model” and a focus on our clients’ brain pathology? Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

8. Not so fast! • The conventional theory of the brain as the organ of the psyche or mind offers us the comforting illusion that we already understand the big picture. C.H. Vanderwolf (from The Evolving Brain. The Mind and the Neural Control of Behavior, 2007) Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

9. “An authentic science of persons” • What is a human person? • What is your underlying philosophy? Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

10. A Human Person • A bio-psycho-social-spiritual being, born from and in relational connection with other bio-psycho-social-spiritual beings • “in the beginning is the relationship” Martin Buber…. • Be not reductive or simplistic! While brain biochemical processes are the basis of psychological and relational processes, just as just as eggs and flour are the basis of a cake, the latter cannot be reduced to the former. Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

11. A Human Person • Human suffering and emotional pain cannot just be explained by biochemical misfiring and malfunctioning in the brain • While all mental processes derive from the operations of the brain, individual human experience and the social environment considerably shape and influence neural performance • The mind emerges from the activity of the brain and develops throughout life as people interact with each other (Siegal, 1999): the neurobiology of interpersonal experience. Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

12. Counselling and Neuroscience • “Experiences, thoughts, actions and emotions actually change the structure of our brains….” John Ratey, 2008 Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

13. Mind-Body Dualism Is DEAD! Unfortunately so now is (Michael Mahoney, 1996) Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

14. The evidence is in! • If adverse experiences alter the developing brain and result in negative functional effects, can therapeutic experience change the brain in ways that allow healing, recovery, and restoration of well-being and health? • Short answer – YES! Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

15. The evidence is in! • The research in neuroscience is highly supportive of counselling’s emphasis on deep listening, empathic understanding, strength building, and wellness. Ivey, Ivey, Zalaquett & Quirk, 2009 WE ARE ON TARGET! Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

16. The boundaries are porous • ENVIRONMENT, CULTURE, & RELATIONSHIPS shape the individual, and therefore shape the individual’s brain. • We are neurobiologically connected to each other • Neuroscientists are environmentalists… Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

17. This means ….. • With out a meaningful and effective environment and relationships, we cannot grow and change • In Counselling, that means, our focus first and foremost needs to be the therapeutic relationship • As Counsellors, this is what we do. Always respect and honour that focus. • Carl Rogers knew this before the neuroscientists ‘proved’ it! Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

18. 5 basic concepts • Neuroplasticity • Neurogenesis • Importance of attention and focus • Understanding emotion • Focus on strengths and positives Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

19. Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

20. Hierarchy of brain function • The human brain is organized from the most simple (fewest cells- brainstem) to the most complex(most cells and synapses-frontal cortex. • The more a certain neural system is activated, the more it will ‘build in’ this neural state – creating an internal representation of the experience corresponding to this neural activation. • All incoming sensory input first enters the lower part of the brain. • Therefore, alarm activation can occur even before complete processing and interpretation of information! Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

21. Trauma and the brain • Chaos, fragmentation, trauma, threat, degradation, terror over affect significantly brain development, and brain function. • How can we possibly expect 50 minutes a week for a few sessions to heal or help in recovery when the trauma impact has been so great? • Trauma related symptoms originate in the lower parts of the brain. Therefore therapeutic interventions must influence the brainstem – if these systems are poorly regulated they will disrupt the higher parts of the brain • Therapeutic services for children need to be consistent, predictable, patterned, and frequent Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

22. Brain healing • Remember: healing following childhood trauma starts from the bottom up. • Safety and security first. • Arousal levels manageable! • The lower parts of the brain are less plastic: so require repetition, repetition, repetition etc. • Medication alone does not have an enduring positive impact on traumatised children Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

23. 1.Neuroplasticity • The brain can change! • Throughout the lifespan, new neural connections and networks are developed. • External environmental events stimulate this development • So effective counselling not only changes minds, it changes brains too, including our brains as the helpers. • NB – Remember: degree of brain plasticity is related to the stage of development, and the brain system. • Not all brain parts are as plastic as others! Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

24. 2.Neurogenesis • Counselling can lead to the development of new neurons! Through the learning process, this even happens in older adults • So exercise, physical and mental, relaxation exercises, meditation can release the neurotransmitter serotonin Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

25. 3.Importance of attention & focus • When client and counsellor attend to the story, the brain of both participants are engaged • The microskills of attending behaviours are central to this process • If you attend with genuine interest, energy, and empathy and this is communicated effectively, expect your client to see you as a positive resource and lead to arousal of the client’s brain, activating neurons throughout many areas Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

26. 4.Understanding Emotion • Different emotions fire different parts of the brain; the amygdala is the major seat of the negative emotions: sad, mad, fear; but it is also an energiser for learning and absorbing new input and memories • The positive emotions are heavily influenced by executive cognitive functions (prefrontal cortex and hippocampus) Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

27. 5. Focus on strengths and positives • An over focus on negativity and problematic stories, builds a self-reinforcing circularity between the amygdala and the frontal cortex – result: negative thinking, negative feeling, typically depressive. • Pessimism feeds on itself. • There is evidence that effective executive frontal cortex focusing on positives and strengths can overcome negativity. • Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

28. Empathy and Mirror Neurons • Empathy is identifiable and measureable in the brain • ‘mirror’ neurons are those that fire when we behave, think, or feel and they also fire when we see others behave, think, or feel. Mirror neurons enable you to sense and understand what your client is saying and feeling. • These neurons fire and even your internal bodily responses when you are truly empathically experiencing the world of the client. Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

29. Exercise and the brain • Exercise will: • Increase immune function, strengthen bones, lower cholesterol, and blood flow to the brain • Reduce sick days 25% -50% • Reduce Alzheimer’s risk 40% • Reduce high blood pressure 50% • Reduce cancer risk 30% (recurrence reduced 50%) • Reduce colon cancer 60% • Reduce stroke 27% • As effective as medications and therapy for depression Read John Ratey’s SPARK 2008 MAYBE EXERCISE SHOULD BE STANDARD Planning for all our clients Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

30. The brain and exercise • Exercise increases levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. With stress, trauma, depression levels of these drop dramatically. Exercise unleashes a cascade of neurochemicals and growth factors that can reverse this process, physically bolstering the brain’s infrastructure – (John Ratey, 2008) Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

31. Nurturing therapeutic lifestyles • Attending to interpersonal relationships • Attending to personal physical health • Attending to personal spiritual needs • Attending to your place in nature • Attending to your needs for creativity and recreation Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

32. For Counsellors • EMPATHY, EMPATHY, EMPATHY • Connect with your client’s pain • Micro-skills of attending and focusing • Positive reframing • Focus on new client learning • Especially with traumatised clients, safety first; build from the bottom of the brain up. • Hopefulness and wellness approach Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

33. Some final sobering thoughts • It is the human person who thinks, not the brain (Erwin Straus, 1956) • Remembering is not something brains do. It is something people do using their brains (Rom Harre, 1999) • It seems extraordinary that … an authentic science of human persons has hardly got started by reason of the inveterate tendency to depersonalise or reify persons (R. D. Laing, 1966) • Humour is by far the most significant activity of the human brain. Edward De Bono (from Daily Mail, 1990) Brian Sullivan PhD in transition

34. And last of all • The surgeon knows all the parts of the brain but he does not know his patient's dreams. Richard Selzer (from Mortal Lessons, 1981) • If the human brain were so simpleThat we could understand it, We would be so simpleThat we couldn't. Emerson M. Pugh (as quoted by George E. Pugh, Emerson's son in G.E. Pugh, The Biological Origin of Human Values, 1977, p. 154) Brian Sullivan PhD in transition