The 6 Rs Of Neuropsychotherapy

The 6 Rs of neuropsychotherapy form the foundation of the Post Traumatic Growth Guidebook. This short audio describes the emerging field of neuroplasticity and how this can be applied to trauma recovery.

Transcript

Hi, It's Dr. Ariel Schwartz. I'm here to share with you today a little bit about what I refer to as the six R's of neuropsychotherapy. And this process really, Or this model, Forms the basis of the post-traumatic growth guidebook. So what is neuropsychotherapy, First of all? Neuropsychotherapy is the emerging field that's coming out of the intersection between neuroscience and psychotherapy. And how do we apply the science of change and what allows our brains to develop and our bodies and our physiology to kind of be optimal? And the kind of existing beautiful field of psychotherapy, Which really relies on the safety and connection of an attuned and caring relationship. So we bring these two fields together. And neuropsychotherapy relies upon the emerging science of neuroplasticity. So the neuroplasticity is basically describing how initially we thought that the brain and body were relatively plastic or highly shaped just during early childhood in the attachment phase of development. But now science has emerged to really help us see that we continue to grow and have that capacity for change. And the strengthening of the neural networks in a positive direction, And that occurs throughout our lifespan so that we can continue to develop ourselves and create those positive shifts all the way into adulthood and older adulthood. So that's beautiful, Right? Those are good things. And so the six R's of neuropsychotherapy are the integration of these fields. The first of these R's is relating or relationships. So that we have this ability to be wired by and shaped by positive loving relationships. And ideally we have some access to even just one person with whom we feel safe, We feel understood. That other person can be a co-regulator with us, Can really offer the nourishment of their flexible nervous system and help us turn towards our own vulnerable feelings or experiences of hurt or relational rejection within the context of really just feeling accepted and understood and loved. And so those experiences of relationships that R really helps to shape and change us. The second R is resourcing. So as we progress towards healing from trauma and working with difficult memories or traumatic memories, We want to have some resources in place first. And resourcing refers to the way that we can grow and strengthen positive states in the body and in the mind. And we'll strengthen the neural networks or the basically memory networks as they exist in our physiology and in our brain for those positive states. Now our brains are wired to scan our environment for a threat. That's just a survival factor, Right? We're going to look for the tiger. We're going to know which woods is going to have the wolf in it. And those survival traits have come with us as we walk through the world or see the news or interact with other people. We'll hear someone's voice tone, We'll experience their body language and we either feel safe and like I can just let myself be in the context of this other person or we're keyed up, We react, We go into a defensive state. And those defensive reactions, They can happen without conscious awareness. So we might be reacting to things in our environment without even realizing it. The registering of a threat can happen in a fraction of a second, But it takes about 30 seconds for the nervous system and the body to really register the experience of positivity, Warmth, Safety. So Rick Hansen, For example, Really guides us in his book, Hardwiring Happiness, To slow the process down, To savor positive moments and to allow our nervous systems and bodies to register those positive states. So it may be that you're using a gratitude journal or that you're taking time in nature and you're really savoring a sunset or taking a photo of a sunset, As many of you know, I do. Maybe it's time in an embodiment practice or time in those positive relational connections. But when we slow it down and savor those moments, We're going to build those positive neural networks. The third R is repatterning. And that is where we're kind of tuning into the body to experiences of tension, Of discomfort that may be the result of events from the past. And we're going to pay attention to it. We're going to go toward where maybe we feel on guard or that our digestive system is not functioning optimally, Or maybe it's tension in the chest or in the throat or in the jaw or in this ocular band of headaches. And we get curious about it, We start to explore what are the emotions connected to that feeling in the body? What are the associations that it's related to? Maybe it's a traumatic event in the past that didn't get to sequence or release. When we think about somatic experiencing, For example, The work of Peter Levine, He, You know, Kind of guides us that sometimes the body carries these thwarted instincts, These ways in which we didn't fully release the impact of what happened. So maybe we didn't get to flee a situation that was dangerous, Or we didn't get to protect ourselves and feel empowered. Maybe we didn't get to have our voice and say what we needed to say, Right? Or maybe we didn't get to reach for connection. So we can repattern the body to actually have full access to that range of possibility through movement. And it's a lot of what actually I take with me into teaching yoga, Therapeutic yoga, Is how do we actually reclaim these healing movements through the body. So the fourth R is reprocessing. So as an EMDR therapist, Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, Reprocessing involves reflecting consciously on a traumatic memory, And now allowing ourselves to work through it, Reflecting on the feelings, The body state, The beliefs that we carry about ourselves, And to create change. It's like opening up that file or document on a computer, And allowing ourselves to modify it to make some edits and then store it in a new way. So each time we reflect consciously on a traumatic memory, We're opening up that file, And we can link now the feeling of disturbance, The experience that maybe got kind of cut off or exiled in our awareness, And we can link it to those positive states of our resources. We can link it to those positive experiences of relational connection. And we can link it to that felt sense in the body of greater freedom, So that we now have a new experience of ourselves as more empowered or more free when we think about that disturbing event. The fifth R is reflecting. And again, It's a lot of what I speak about in the Post Traumatic Growth Guidebook of how do we reflect on difficult life experiences? How do we talk about it? What's the meaning making process that we do? What is the how might we kind of adapt or modify those narratives in ways that actually create more of a positive or hopeful state, A sense of possibility, So that if we're really talking about life in a way that's fostering a narrative of hopelessness or despair, Or nothing's going to change, Or what's the point, That we can kind of hone in and fine tune that. And the last, The sixth of these R's is resilience. And many of you know, I call my work resilience-informed therapy. And resilience is both a process of attending to vulnerable emotions and healing the past. And it's something that is occurring through all of these previous five R's. And it's also an outcome. The outcome of resilience is that we feel that sense of greater freedom, We feel more capacity to turn towards our vulnerable emotions and somatic experiences, Without feeling stuck in the feelings or stuck in numbness and disconnected from ourselves. And resilience is also physiological, So that we feel more capacity to handle stress when future difficult events arise. So I really hope that this short explanation kind of lands this material for you in a new way. Of course, You can listen to this again and incorporate that for yourself. And, You know, The biggest piece that I'll invite you to explore is how do you take information into action, So that you can really explore what allows you to take these six R's into your life? How do you cultivate those relationships? How do you build your resources and positive states? How do you move your body in ways that create that felt sense of freedom? When do you have time to consciously reflect on difficult experiences? How do you make meaning about and reflect in that way about your life? And where does resilience show up for you? So thank you for joining me till next time.