Tag: wellness

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Article: Science and the Many Paths to Healing

I love good science. I particularly love science when it gives me language and a good theoretical framework to support understanding of observable phenomena–and offers new paths to understanding. I’m so pleased I live in an age where brain/mind science and nervous system functioning are being so thoughtfully studied. It’s starting to provide some empirical evidence for stuff that, in other decades, might have seemed witchy or intuitive or wacky. Science tends to take a while to catch up to certain kinds of pre-existing wisdom, and then takes the credit for inventing concepts that  were known within wisdoms outside of mainstream medicine/science. One quick example off the top of my head–Cognitive Behavior Therapy is just a fancy name for certain kinds of ancient Greek philosophy and Buddhist mindfulness practices.

All this to say that I’m increasingly trusting the heart, the soul and the body, as well as each person’s creativity, to assist in the mind’s healing process. And also, that while we like to call it psychotherapy and talk about the mind and the unconscious, maybe the mind and the unconscious are fancy constructs (or other types of symbolic language) for heart, soul and body striving together towards unity and self understanding.

Or as my partner would put it, based on a recent Radiolab, if we knew enough about individual biology, we would be able to anticipate 100% of what a person would do (and there is no free will). I see free will working daily in therapy: I think the process of making changes away from your baseline–which is the whole project of psychotherapy–is free will at work. In sciency words: the system trying to re-regulate.

I actually think the biology argument is a silly way of thinking because 1) it’s a tautology–of course everything is a biochemical process at a certain level and yes, the right number of identifiable variables would yield predictive modeling of all human behavior (thank you Asimov for calling that one ahead of time). 2) That’s just one language for describing phenomena. The same way that I prefer to think and speak of traumatized nervous systems that are highly reactive instead of labeling language like a possible diagnosis of “Borderline Personality Disorder.” Both describe similar observable behavioral and physical activation phenomena. However, I much prefer the nervous system science version because it starts to de-stigmatize the experience of those that struggle with their lived experience.

I know I’ve wandered a bit off the map, but I wanted to share what has been on my mind.  Here’s my point, or points.

There’s very strong evidence of a powerful placebo effect for therapies people believe in–regardless of the therapy–with patients being able to assess a reportable decrease in physical symptoms (with more complicated questions about the biochemical basis of these reported experiences of healing. Here’s a fun article about a researcher on placebos at Harvard). This means that for some people a Chakra healer, or a crystal energy healer, or a tribal healer will transform their lives.

This belief in a healing system also helps predict whether psychotherapy will be of assistance to our clients. On a certain level psychotherapists are asking clients, “do you want to believe that I can help you?” The answer should be “yes” and that will help shape what psychologists call “the therapeutic alliance” according to the American Psychological Association‘s Education Directorate (fun name, right?).

If you think Chakra work is going to be integral to your healing process, you better work with a therapist that agrees with you. <<[Also, here’s a book that you would like.] Also, I am a therapist that agrees with you.

I’m writing this in support of those who wish to find healing in other domains, or in addition to the experience of psychotherapy.  Humans are complex, and the healing experiences we will need to move beyond or integrate damaging life experiences will vary as our own understanding of how we function expands or alters. In my case, my belief system was challenged in a wonderful way by deep healing through craniosacral therapy and I wrote about it here. (Here’s an article about the benefits of the therapy while you receive the therapy.)

I’m becoming a nervous system/brain structure nerd.

Other fun texts:

  • Think religion should be in the mix? Here’s a fun article about “spiritual intelligence” helping Iranian teens deal with depression and anxiety.
  • Reiki? (Article from PsychCentral)
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The lack of (English) language for existential unease

I was reflecting today with a client on the general lack of language in our culture for discussing the deep discomfort of depression, and its many shades of anguish. There’s not a lot of room, culturally speaking, for recognizing and caregiving for negative self states in either ourselves or our friends. American culture, to make a broad generalization, is all about “can-do” optimism, “pull-yourself up by the bootstraps”, “where there’s life there’s hope” and any number of other pithy sayings that don’t do much for reflecting the nuances of our life experience as humans.

I shared with my client that one of my favorite French expressions is having “le cafard” — which very literally means to have “the cockroach.” It’s used to express struggling with a depressed moment, so I translate it as “having the cockroach of the soul.” [If you refer to online dictionaries, they simplify the meaning and just say it translates to “I’m feeling down” which kind of misses some of the beauty.] It’s totally socially acceptable, in France, when someone you know asks you how you’re doing casually, for you to answer honestly: I have the cockroach.

And people will welcome you sharing the cockroach state of affairs in your soul. They’ll usually answer in kind, something along the lines of “I recently had the cockroach when X happened. It took a while for me to get over it.

In France, no one thinks any less of someone dealing with the cockroach of the soul.  It’s understood as a passing state of affairs, that challenges your wellbeing, but with proper care, hot tea or coffee, and long conversations with loved ones, can be overcome in the course of time.

[I’ll concede that the cockroach state generally doesn’t correspond with crippling clinical depression or the inability to leave the bed or shower. However, I think the space for having open conversations about the struggle of life leaves more room for seeking support from your community when the downward slide starts to happen.]

I wish this somewhat pragmatic, somewhat more welcoming approach to the ups and downs of life were more commonplace in our U.S. culture, and that the requirement that we be sunny could abate somewhat. I think we would all be healthier for it.  Certainly expecting acceptance when we shared our vulnerable moments with our friends might be a game changer for some.

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Treating the Whole Person In Psychotherapy

I’ve been really happy with some of the work I’ve been doing with clients lately and the frameworks I’m using in psychotherapy. I’m realizing that I have a really nice toolbox to work with a variety of different aspects of the human experience. As someone who only feels comfortable when I feel I’ve reached a level of mastery, and someone interested in continuous learning and growth, I’m feeling very lucky about having become a psychotherapist at this particular time in the field.

We’re able to do a lot of really interesting connecting the dots between psychotherapy, the human experience and brain (and other) science–for example Siegel’s notion of interpersonal neurobiology (which makes intuitive and professional sense to me)  For example, we already knew that people who have experienced trauma have challenges relating to regulating their nervous systems, and the nervous system’s impacts on their experiences of their brains and bodies. But, more and more, we know why, and we also know ways of providing significant healing experiences at a client’s pace. I’m thinking primarily here of both Brainspotting and Somatic Experiencing, each of which offer approaches that don’t rely on a patient’s ability to communicate using words.

This is a relief for me as a therapist, because I believe that knowledge/feelings/memories are sometimes stored in the brain and body in ways we can’t access with language and conscious thought. We can now do work directly with the nervous system via the body, and with memories via the visual field and the brain/mind. I deeply believe (based on my own life experience, and my experience as a clinician of observing my clients’ bodies during therapy) that as we work to integrate all knowledge about self-regulation and reworking negative experiences, therapists will increasingly treat the whole person. Bringing the unconscious into light and discussing drives, motives and past experiences is necessary and important work, but only part of the puzzle.

I’m really happy to say that I feel increasingly comfortable working with the following different aspects of people’s human experience to help clients. In my case this includes using some of the following approaches/strategies to inform my work:

  • For concrete assistance with improving client behavioral strategies and negative thinking: CBT.
  • For reducing overall distress/anxiety: Deep breathing, relaxation methods like progressive muscle relaxation and mindfulness exercises.
  • For insight: Object relations theory, narrative therapy, relational therapy.
  • For traumatic memories: Brainspotting.
  • For difficult body sensations: Sensorimotor Experiencing.
  • For understanding motivation for changing challenging behaviors/managing ambivalence: Motivational Interviewing.

I’m also a feminist therapist, and I use critical race theory to understand the more damaging aspects of how power works and replicates itself in our society’s functioning. These are also tools for considering the language we use to discuss the “isms” that permeate our lives.

There’s more, but this is a good start. In short, I believe in treating the whole person and helping people develop better coping strategies, experience more positivity in their lives, gain greater peace with their thoughts and bodies, and (of course) gain insights around patterns in their lives and how those patterns were inspired by history and personality.