Nowadays, with the advances in science and technology, the mystery of the brain has begun to be solved. Naturally, psychology and psychotherapy are also affected. In this article, I would like to tell you about a brand new approach that I have been working on for a while and that is suitable for our biological codes.
This approach is called Neuropsychotherapy. Neuropsychotherapy, in short, is a holistic psychotherapy approach based on neuroscience, that is, the working principles of the brain. Based on the fact that the brain can change, this method aims to open new and healthy pathways in your brain, activate positive emotions and reduce negative emotions. By integrating the right and left brain lobes, it helps to increase your functionality at the last level. Sigmund Freud, Donald Hebb and Eric Kandel are contributors to neuropsychotherapy with their work.
Neuropsychotherapy is a method that changes the brain. As an adult, you may think your personality is fixed and unchangeable now, but that is not the case at all. The brain continues to change in adulthood. Things that can be shaped and preserve this form are described as "plastic". The brain is one of them, it changes even in adulthood. This feature of the brain is called "neuroplasticity". Experience changes the brain, and that change is preserved.
With the change of the brain, another very interesting change is happening. Memories also change. You remember any event you have experienced in the past in different ways at different times in your life. This information shows that memories can change form. So memory is misleading. Your past is not actually a faithful record, but a product of restructuring. Neuroscience tells you to be cautious that when you refer to the memories of your life, not all details may be quite right.
Some of the reasons for remembering memories differently are due to what people tell you about yourself, while others are due to your brain filling in the gaps reasonably (reconstructive memory). Therefore, if your answer to the question of who you are is based solely on your memories, this also imprisons your identity in a continuous and changing story.
When you start to think about who you are, you realize an aspect that cannot be ignored: the fact that you are a living being that is conscious of your senses, that you can experience your existence, that you are here now, with which eye you look at the world, and watch and perceive the colorful movie you are in from the center of the scene. This is called consciousness. Who you are at any given moment depends on the elaborate rhythms your neurons exhibit in their firing pattern. Neuron is the name given to the cells that make up your brain. And neurons are constantly communicating with each other. This is called a neural network.
During the day, a conscious "you" emerges from this integrated neural complex, and at night (asleep) when the interactions between your neurons change very little, this "you" disappears. When morning falls and your neurons return to their complex rhythms, you become conscious again. So what determines who you are is actually just the things your neurons turn over at all times. Your perception also determines how you make sense of the events. The problem of meaning has not been solved yet, but we can say this much: The meaning of something to you is all about the network of cerebral relationships established by the memory and memory formed by your life experiences and your personal expectations.
Here, neuropsychotherapy helps you with the basic concepts such as brain, neuron, neural network, memory, neuroplasticity, reconstructive memory, consciousness and perception, in terms of how you want to be. There are four essential categories of neuropsychotherapy that include specific techniques:
1. Techniques related to the brain
This category is based on current neuroscience studies, and neurons (brain cells), neurotransmitters (chemicals that enable communication between neurons), mirror neurons (the term used for neurons that fire when we do any movement and observe someone doing the same movement), memory, right- It includes the concepts of left brain lobes, neuroplasticity (the brain's ability to change), brain and mind. Understanding the biological structures and scientific findings of the human brain and mind is very important in psychotherapy. In the therapy process, the main goals are to establish new and healthy neural connections in the brain, to improve neurotransmitter levels and to connect the brain with the mind.
2. Techniques related to the therapeutic relationship
During the therapy process, the relationship is generally based on the existential-humanist approach.
3. Techniques associated with integrating the right and left lobes of the brain
The third category of neuropsychotherapy includes techniques that I have adopted as a psychological counselor for the holistic approach of the body, mind and brain. Techniques such as Brainspotting, Coherence Therapy, Emotional Awareness Wheel, Somatic Experiencing, and Mindfulness fall into this category.
4. Techniques related to the emotional state of the client
The fourth category is based on strengths-based approaches around emotional balance, hope, and self-efficacy development. Techniques such as Solution Focused Brief Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which is basically a Cognitive Behavioral therapy, are used. These help the client restore balance and increase the sense of hope. Focusing on strengths decreases resistance and increases motivation and desire for change.
As a psychological counselor / therapist, I have adopted a neuropsychotherapy approach that focuses on body-mind-brain integrity. I have been working on neuropsychotherapy for a long time and I use the following techniques in the four main categories that are inseparable from each other, which I have mentioned above: I provide my clients with a basic psychoeducation as brain-related techniques, which is the first category. The second category, the existential-humanist approach to establishing therapeutic relationships, Coherence Therapy, Mindfulness, emotional awareness and self-developed Call-Back Therapy to help integrate the right and left lobes of the brain in the third category, and the fourth and final category, techniques related to the emotional state of the client. I use the Cognitive Behavioral approach, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, strengths and values, reconstructive memory and rumination work, and Carl Jung's shadow work.
Interesting