Several years ago, I had the privilege of learning from Dr. Tina Payne Bryson and have used her and Dr. Siegel’s research in my practice.
I’ll often share with clients that we all have early blueprints shaped by our early experiences, what was modeled to us (directly and indirectly) which informed the way we see the world, relationships and ourselves.
Research shows that the brain (how we think, feel, act) is shaped by genes and experience. This means that we hold tremendous power to create new experiences for the brain! Dr. Bryson calls parents, educators, clinicians, etc. “brain architects” (what a privilege and honor that we should approach humbly). As children’s brains are forming, these brain architects impact how the brain becomes built and can impact how it shifts over time.
HOW DOES THE BRAIN CHANGE? THE 5 LAWS OF NEURAL PLASTICITY
-Mass practice: doing something over and over, events that are longer in duration and more frequent in time; if we don’t use it, we lose it (for example, 2 hrs of tennis 1x/week for 6 months vs 3 hrs of teens 2x/week for 3 months) This is often why I often encourage weekly sessions for the consistency and constancy it provides to relearn and unlearn.
-Novelty: this is why trauma is so significant in its impact even if it is a single incident. The brain is not familiar therefore it pays attention evaluating whether it is safe or not.
-Focal Attention: “Where attention goes, neurons fire, and where neurons fire, they wire.”-Dan Siegel; this is an effective way in changing the brain. This is a crucial contribution of therapy in helping change the brain. Repeated experiences of attention through empathy over time changes the brain.
-Unlearning old way: the brain takes the past of least resistance which means it will choose neuronal networks that are familiar even they are not helpful. Bringing awareness and insight into these old ways/familiar patterns offers a chance to choose a different way that is more beneficial.
-Sleep, exercise: cannot be minimized how important these are to brain health!
When the brain’s two hemispheres (left: logic, literal and right: whole picture-context, senses emotion and body info) works together, it allows differences to be honored while also promoting connection. If not, we are totally disconnected from ourselves (body and emotion) or overly flooded.
Integration is important because without it we are disintegrated and experience the world with chaos or rigidity. When we are integrated, we are Flexible, Adaptive, Coherent, Energized, Stable (FACES) which is a good definitely of mental health. These are things that I seek to help build for my clients in their daily lives.
The wonderful thing about learning about how our brains work is that we can identify things we can improve upon and know it is possible! Nothing is sealed in stone.
