Martha Stark MD – 24 Jun 2022 – Understanding Life Backward but Envisioning Possibilities to Incentivize Action.pptx

UNDERSTANDING LIFE BACKWARD
BUT LIVING IT FORWARD:
Analyzing to Understand
but Envisioning Possibilities
to Incentivize Action
MODEL 5 OF MY PSYCHODYNAMIC SYNERGY PARADIGM
A Special Thanks to Sarah Seeman, Guy Balice,
Bruce Ecker, and Michał Jasiński
MARTHA STARK MD
MarthaStarkMD @ HMS.Harvard.edu
Friday, June 24, 2022
The Psychoanalytic Group at The Chicago School
of Professional Psychology (Los Angeles)
© 2022 Martha Stark MD
1

2
MODELS 1 – 4
Understanding
Life
Backwards
MODEL 5
Living
Life
Forwards

MY PSYCHODYNAMIC SYNERGY PARADIGM
AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TO HEALING
UNMASTERED RELATIONAL TRAUMAS AND EMOTIONAL INJURIES
FEATURES FIVE INTERDEPENDENT
“MODES OF THERAPEUTIC ACTION”
“STRUCTURAL CONFLICT” – CLASSICAL PSYCHOANALYTIC
COGNITIVE – “ENHANCEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE” WITHIN
“STRUCTURAL DEFICIT” – SELF PSYCHOLOGICAL
AFFECTIVE – “PROVISION OF EXPERIENCE” FOR
“RELATIONAL CONFLICT” – CONTEMPORARY RELATIONAL
RELATIONAL – “ENGAGEMENT IN RELATIONSHIP” WITH
“RELATIONAL DEFICIT” – EXISTENTIAL – HUMANISTIC
EXISTENTIAL – “FACILITATION OF SURRENDER” TO
“ANALYSIS PARALYSIS” – QUANTUM – NEUROSCIENTIFIC
DIRECTIVE – “ENVISIONING OF POSSIBILITIES” BEYOND
AND “INCENTIVIZING OF ACTION”
3

WITH AN EYE ALWAYS
TO “INCENTIVIZING”
DEEP AND ENDURING
CHARACTEROLOGICAL CHANGE
ALL FIVE MODALITIES
OPERATE SYNERGISTICALLY
TO CAPITALIZE UPON
THE “THERAPEUTIC PROVISION”
OF “OPTIMAL STRESS”
– JUST THE RIGHT COMBINATION OF “CHALLENGE” AND “SUPPORT” –
– “DOSED STIMULATION” –
THOMAS OGDEN (1993)
TO GENERATE
ONGOING “HEALING CYCLES”
OF “DISRUPTION” AND “REPAIR”
AND, EVENTUALLY,
ADVANCEMENT OF THE PATIENT ...
4

FROM “RIGID DEFENSE”
TO “MORE FLEXIBLE ADAPTATION”
FROM “LESS EVOLVED DEFENSE”
TO “MORE EVOLVED ADAPTATION”
FROM OLD BAD OUTDATED,
DISEMPOWERING,
AND DISTORTED NARRATIVES
TO NEW GOOD UPDATED,
MORE EMPOWERING,
AND MORE REALITY – BASED NARRATIVES
FROM “SAME OLD SAME OLD”
TO “SOMETHING NEW, DIFFERENT, AND BETTER”
THESE NARRATIVES ARE VARIOUSLY DESCRIBED
AS “CORE BELIEFS,” “EMOTIONAL LEARNINGS,
“MENTAL SCHEMAS,” “RELATIONAL EXPECTATIONS,” etc.
5

6
FROM
DEFENSIVE REACTION
TO
ADAPTIVE RESPONSE
LIFE IS
NOT ABOUT
“DEFENSIVELY”
WAITING FOR
THE STORM
TO PASS
BUT
“ADAPTIVELY”
LEARNING
TO DANCE
IN THE RAIN

IN OTHER WORDS
ALL FIVE MODELS
ARE DESIGNED
TO ADVANCE THE PATIENT
FROM “LESS HEALTHY DEFENSE”
– CURSING THE DARKNESS –
TO “MORE HEALTHY ADAPTATION”
– LIGHTING A CANDLE –
IN THE FELICITOUS WORDS OF “ACT”
– ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY –
FROM “PSYCHOLOGICAL RIGIDITY”
– “DEFENSIVE RIGIDITY” –
TO “PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY”
– “ADAPTIVE FLEXIBILITY” –
7

8
NEUROPLASTICITY
FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL RIGIDITY TO PSYCHOLOGICAL
FLEXIBILITY

OVER THE COURSE OF A THERAPY HOUR
THERAPISTS WILL FIND THEMSELVES SHIFTING BACK AND FORTH
FROM ONE MODEL TO THE NEXT
BASED UPON WHAT THEY INTUITIVELY SENSE IS
THE “POINT OF EMOTIONAL URGENCY” FOR THE PATIENT
– THAT IS, WHAT IS MOST “EMOTIONALLY FRAUGHT” IN THE MOMENT –
“RESISTANCE” TO GAINING INSIGHT
INTO WHAT UNDERLIES HER INTERNAL CONFLICTEDNESS
(MODEL 1 – STRUCTURAL CONFLICT)
“RELENTLESS PURSUIT” OF THE UNATTAINABLE
IN A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO FILL IN FOR MISSING PIECES
(MODEL 2 – STRUCTURAL DEFICIT)
“RE – ENACTMENT” OF UNMASTERED EARLY – ON
RELATIONAL TRAUMAS ON THE STAGE OF HER LIFE
(MODEL 3 – RELATIONAL CONFLICT) STEPHEN MITCHELL (1988)
“RETREAT” FROM THE WORLD AND “RELENTLESS DESPAIR”
(MODEL 4 – RELATIONAL DEFICIT)
“REFRACTORY INERTIA,” “RELENTLESS INACTION,”
AND “ROOTEDNESS TO THE SPOT”
(MODEL 5 – “ANALYSIS PARALYSIS”)
9

MY
PSYCHODYNAMIC SYNERGY PARADIGM
IS INDEED
A “SYNERGISTIC” APPROACH
TO TREATMENT
ONE THAT INVOLVES
THE COMPLEX INTERPLAY
OF ALL FIVE INTERDEPENDENT
– MUTUALLY ENHANCING (NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE) –
MODES OF THERAPEUTIC ACTION
EACH GAINING MOMENTUM
BY VIRTUE OF ADVANCEMENT
IN THE OTHER FOUR
NONE MORE IMPORTANT
THAN ANY OF THE OTHERS
10

MY QUANTUM – NEUROSCIENTIFIC MODEL 5
IS ABOUT FACILITATING ADVANCEMENT OF THE PATIENT
FROM “INACTION” AND “THWARTED POTENTIAL”
TO “ACTION” AND “ACTUALIZATION OF POTENTIAL”
MODEL 5 THEREFORE BECOMES RELEVANT
AT THOSE POINTS IN A TREATMENT
WHEN THE PATIENT IS IN
A PARTICULARLY “STUCK” OR “DARK” PLACE
AND THE THERAPIST THEREFORE FINDS HERSELF
WANTING TO BECOME MORE DIRECTIVE
IN ORDER TO GET THE TREATMENT BACK ON TRACK
MORE TARGETED AND FOCUSED
MORE ACTION – ORIENTED,
SOLUTION – BASED,
GOAL – DIRECTED,
AND FUTURE – FOCUSED
AGAIN, FROM “ANALYSIS PARALYSIS” AND “INACTION”
TO “ACTION” AND “ACTUALIZATION OF POTENTIAL”
12

THE MORE I HAVE BEEN USING MODEL 5
AS A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR
UNDERSTANDING THE THERAPEUTIC ACTION
THE MORE COMFORTABLE I HAVE BECOME WITH
BEING A LITTLE MORE “DIRECTIVE” AND “FOCUSED”
FOR EXAMPLE
IT CAN BE “GROWTH – INCENTIVIZING”
TO ASK THE PATIENT
AT THE BEGINNING OF A SESSION
“HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE YOUR SESSION TODAY?”
BY THE SAME TOKEN
AT THE END OF A SESSION
I WILL NOW SOMETIMES ASK THE CORRELATIVE QUESTION
“DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU USED YOUR SESSION TODAY
IN THE WAY THAT YOU WOULD HAVE WANTED TO?”
BOTH QUESTIONS HIGHLIGHT THE PATIENT’S
ACCOUNTABILITY AND PERSONAL AGENCY
13

I HAVE ALSO COME INCREASINGLY TO APPRECIATE
THE IMPORTANCE OF ENCOURAGING THE PATIENT
TO “LEAN INTO THE EDGE
BETWEEN THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE”
AND TO “TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
FOR HER DESTINY GOING FORWARD”
(1) TO ENVISION THE POSSIBILITY OF A FUTURE SELF
THAT WOULD BE “MORE FREED UP”
AND ABLE TO MAKE HEALTHIER CHOICES
(2) TO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF HER NEED THEREFORE
TO CHANGE HOW SHE POSITIONS HERSELF
IN HER LIFE GOING FORWARD, AND
(3) TO COMMIT TO ACTING IN ALIGNMENT
WITH WHAT MOST MATTERS TO HER SO THAT
SHE WILL INDEED BE ABLE ULTIMATELY
TO ACTUALIZE HER POTENTIAL
AND REALIZE HER DREAMS
ENVISION – OWN – COMMIT 14

“OPEN, SELF – ORGANIZING, COMPLEX ADAPTIVE
(CHAOTIC) SYSTEMS RESIST PERTURBATION”
CHARLES KREBS (2013)
NO MATTER HOW COMPROMISED
THEY MIGHT BE IN THEIR FUNCTIONALITY
SELF – ORGANIZING SYSTEMS
– FUELED AS THEY ARE BY THEIR HOMEOSTATIC TENDENCY
TO REMAIN CONSTANT OVER TIME –
ARE INHERENTLY RESISTANT TO CHANGE
OUR PATIENTS
– MUCH AS THEY MIGHT PROTEST TO THE CONTRARY –
HAVE AN INNATE INERTIA THAT MUST BE OVERCOME
IF THEY ARE EVER TO BE ENERGETICALLY RELEASED
FROM THE TOXICITY OF THEIR PAST
AND EMPOWERED TO EMBRACE LOVE, WORK, AND PLAY
TO THEIR GREATEST POTENTIAL GOING FORWARD
16

IF DEEP AND SUSTAINED
IS INDEED THE THERAPEUTIC GOAL
THEN THE “WORKING THROUGH PROCESS”
MUST NECESSARILY INVOLVE OVERCOMING
THE PATIENT’S “ADHESIVENESS” TO THE PAST
AND HER INVESTMENT IN MAINTAINING
THE “FAMILIAL AND THERFORE FAMILIAR”
STEPHEN MITCHELL (1988)
BOTH OF WHICH ARE FUELING HER “INERTIA”
PARENTHETICALLY
INERTIA CAN MEAN
EITHER REMAINING AT REST
– UNABLE TO MOVE FORWARD –
OR REMAINING IN MOTION
– UNABLE TO STOP –
17

19
When I let go
of the
SAME OLD
SAME OLD
that I am,
I become the
SOMETHING
NEW
DIFFERENT
AND
BETTER
that I
might be.

PREVIEW
I HAVE COME TRULY TO APPRECIATE THAT
– AT THE END OF THE DAY –
DEEP AND ENDURING
INVOLVES “OPTIMALLY STRESSFUL”
AND REPEATED “CHALLENGING”
OF “WHAT I AM” WITH “WHAT I MIGHT BE”
JUXTAPOSITION OF
“SAME OLD SAME OLD”
WITH
“SOMETHING NEW, DIFFERENT, AND BETTER”
– WHETHER ACTUALLY “EXPERIENCED” OR SIMPLY “ENVISIONED” –
SUCH THAT ULTIMATELY
“RIGID AND DEFENSIVE”
WILL BE “TRANSMUTED”
GUY BALICE (2022)
INTO “MORE FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTIVE”
20

THE IMAGE THAT COMES TO MIND FOR ME
WHEN I THINK ABOUT
THE “THERAPEUTIC IMPACT”
OF “OPTIMALLY STRESSFUL” INTERVENTIONS
DESIGNED TO “INCENTIVIZE”
ADVANCEMENT OF THE PATIENT
FROM AN “UNHEALTHY STATE” TO A “MORE HEALTHY STATE”
IS THE IMAGE OF A HEART
IN THE “DANGEROUS STATE” OF
“VENTRICULAR FIBRILLATION”
THE MOST EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR WHICH
WILL BE THE ADMINISTERING
OF AN “OPTIMALLY STRSSFUL”
ELECTRICAL SHOCK
– DEFIBRILLATION –
SUCH THAT THE HEART
– BY TAPPING INTO ITS UNDERLYING RESILIENCE
AND CAPACITY TO ADAPT TO STRESS –
WILL BE “PROMPTED” TO REVERT
TO ITS NORMAL (HEALTHY) SINUS RHYTHM
21

WHAT ABOUT PATIENTS WHO HAVE COME
TO UNDERSTAND THEIR LIVES BACKWARD
(MODELS 1 – 4)
BUT ARE NOT LIVING THEIR LIVES FORWARD?
ADMITTEDLY, THEY MIGHT NOW BE
MORE “AWARE” OF SOBERING TRUTHS ABOUT THE “SELF”
(MODEL 1)
MORE “ACCEPTING” OF SOBERING TRUTHS
ABOUT THE “OBJECTS OF THEIR DESIRE”
(MODEL 2)
MORE “ACCOUNTABLE” FOR SOBERING TRUTHS ABOUT
THE “SELF – IN – RELATION” (STONE CENTER AT WELLESLEY COLLEGE)
(MODEL 3)
MORE COMFORTABLE “ACKNOWLEDGING AND ARTICULATING”
SOBERING TRUTHS ABOUT THE “PRIVATE SELF”
(MODEL 4)
BUT “ANALYSIS PARALYSIS”
BECAUSE THEY ARE STILL SO ENERGETICALLY ENTANGLED
WITH THE PAST 22

IT WAS THIS MAN’S STORY AND THE SOBERING STORIES
OF COUNTLESS OTHER THERAPY PATIENTS
WHO HAVE FOUND THEMSELVES SIMILARLY PARALYZED
IN THEIR EFFORTS TO MOVE FORWARD IN THEIR LIVES
DESPITE ALL THE “SOBERING TRUTHS”
THEY HAVE COME TO “KNOW” AND “EXPERIENCE”
THAT WAS MAJORLY RESPONSIBLE FOR PROMPTING ME
TO EXPAND MY PSYCHODYNAMIC SYNERGY PARADIGM
TO INCLUDE A FIFTH MODE OF THERAPEUTIC ACTION
ONE THAT WOULD MORE EXPLICITLY PRIVILEGE
NOT JUST THINKING AND FEELING DIFFERENTLY
BUT ACTUALLY DOING DIFFERENTLY
A MODE OF THERAPEUTIC ACTION THAT WOULD
MORE EXPLICITLY ADDRESS THE IMPORTANCE
(1) OF BEING ABLE TO ENVISION THE POSSIBILITY
OF HAVING “SOMETHING NEW, DIFFERENT, AND BETTER,”
(2) OF TAKING OWNERSHIP OF THE NEED THEREFORE TO CHANGE, AND
(3) OF COMMITTING TO ACTION IN ALIGNMENT
WITH THAT VISION GOING FORWARD
23

OVER THE COURSE OF THE PAST 15 TO 20 YEARS
I HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY
TO BROADEN MY THERAPEUTIC HORIZONS
BY IMMERSING MYSELF
IN THE STUDY OF A VARIETY
OF SHORT – TERM, INTENSIVE THERAPIES
ACT, IFS, EMDR, ISTDP, AEDP, CBT,
EMOTIONAL FREEDOM TECHNIQUES (EFT),
EMOTIONALLY FOCUSED THERAPY (ALSO EFT),
SOMATIC EXPERIENCING, SENSORIMOTOR PSYCHOTHERAPY,
PSYCHOMOTOR PSYCHOTHERAPY, AND HYPNOTHERAPY
ALL THESE
TIME – LIMITED, INTENSIVE TREATMENTS
HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE
IMPRESSIVE AND DOCUMENTED SUCCESS
IN THE MOBILIZATION OF PATIENTS
WHO HAVE BEEN STUCK IN THEIR LIVES
AND UNABLE, OR UNWILLING, TO MOVE FORWARD
ECKER (2015); ECKER et al. (2012, 2013, 2020); COUGHLIN (2016, 2018); FEINSTEIN (2019)
24

I CAME TO THE SUDDEN REALIZATION THAT
MOST OF THESE SHORT – TERM, INTENSIVE MODALITIES
– WHATEVER THEIR PARTICULAR FOCUS OR SPECIFIC LEXICON –
OWED THEIR TREMENDOUS EFFECTIVENESS
TO THE ABRUPT, DRAMATIC, AND REPEATED
“CHALLENGING” OF “SAME OLD SAME OLD”
WITH “SOMETHING NEW, DIFFERENT, AND BETTER”
THE SUDDEN, JOLTING, AND ONGOING JUXTAPOSITION
OF OLD BAD LEARNED EXPECTATIONS
WITH NEW GOOD ENVISIONED POSSIBILITIES
SUCH THAT “DISCONFIRMATORY MISMATCH” EXPERIENCES
WOULD BE CREATED FOR THE PATIENT
PROMPTING THE REPLACEMENT OF OUTDATED,
DISEMPOWERING, AND DISTORTED NARRATIVES
WITH UPDATED, EMPOWERING,
AND MORE REALITY – BASED NARRATIVES
THAT WOULD “INCENTIVIZE” ACTION!
THERAPEUTIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION!
25

26
TRAUMA EXPERIENCED
MEMORY OF TRAUMA ENCODED
UNSTABLE UNTIL CONSOLIDATED (AND STORED) IN LONG – TERM MEMORY
MEMORY REACTIVATED AND DECONSOLIDATED
DESTABILIZED MEMORY NOW VULNERABLE TO BEING UPDATED
BY NEW EXPERIENCE
NEW MEMORY LOCKED IN AND RECONSOLIDATED

MODEL 5 “QUANTUM DISENTANGLEMENT STATEMENTS”
“I AM TOO SCARED TO PUT MYSELF ‘OUT THERE’
BECAUSE I AM TERRIFIED OF BEING REJECTED,
BUT IF I REALLY WANT TO GET BETTER,
I KNOW THAT I WILL NEED TO DO
A LOT OF THINGS DIFFERENTLY GOING FORWARD.”
“I HATE HOW MY FATHER, WHEN I WAS GROWING UP,
WOULD ALWAYS WATCH WHAT I WAS EATING
AND HE WOULD MAKE LITTLE COMMENTS
THAT MADE ME FEEL SO HORRIBLE INSIDE
AND SO SELF – CONSCIOUS ABOUT MY FAT BODY,
BUT I KNOW THAT I NEED TO LET ALL THAT GO NOW.
I LOOK AHEAD TO A TIME WHEN I CAN FEEL PROUD
OF MY BODY AND CONFIDENT WHEN I AM AROUND PEOPLE.”
“I FEEL SUCH SHAME ABOUT MY BODY
AND I HATE MY INSATIABLE APPETITE
AND THE RELATIONSHIP THAT I HAVE WITH FOOD,
BUT I AM DETERMINED TO CONFRONT MY FEARS
AND TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT GOING ON A DIET.”
27

OVER TIME
I HAVE COME TO BELIEVE
THAT THE BRAIN – BASED
AND UPLIFTING CONSTRUCT
OF “THERAPEUTIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION”
– THE “LOCKING IN” OF NEW GOOD IN THE PLACE OF OLD BAD –
IS INDEED THE “UNIFYING CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK”
FOR UNDERSTANDING
THE “THERAPEUTIC ACTION”
IN THESE SHORT – TERM, INTENSIVE TREATMENTS
AND I HAVE CHECKED IN
WITH EXPERIENCED PRACTITIONERS
IN THE DIFFERENT MODALITIES
THAT I HAVE BEEN STUDYING
AND HAVE HAD THIS CONFIRMED
28

MORE GENERALLY
AS A RESULT OF MY DEEP – DIVE IMMERSION
IN THE VARIOUS SHORT – TERM, INTENSIVE MODALITIES
I HAVE COME TO APPRECIATE THAT
– AT THE END OF THE DAY –
THIS “LOCKING IN” OF NEW GOOD
IN THE PLACE OF OLD BAD
IS PROBABLY AT THE HEART
OF THE “THERAPEUTIC ACTION”
IN ALL PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC MODALITIES
EXCEPT THAT THE LONG – TERM, IN – DEPTH MODELS 1 – 4
– CLASSICAL PSYCHOANALYTIC, SELF PSYCHOLOGICAL,
CONTEMPORARY RELATIONAL, AND EXISTENTIAL – HUMANISTIC –
TEND TO FEATURE “INCREMENTAL” CHANGE
– AND ARE PERHAPS MORE “BROAD – RANGING” –
WHEREAS THE SHORT – TERM, INTENSIVE APPROACH
– WHICH I HAVE TRIED TO INCORPORATE INTO MY MODEL 5 –
FEATURES “TRANSFORMATIONAL” CHANGE
– AND IS PERHAPS MORE “TARGETED” –
29

AND SO IT CAME TO PASS THAT
I RECOGNIZED THE NEED TO SUPPLEMENT
THE FIRST FOUR “UNDERSTANDING – LIFE – BACKWARD” MODELS
IN MY PSYCHODYNAMIC SYNERGY PARADIGM
WITH A FIFTH MODEL
ONE THAT WOULD FOCUS MORE SPECIFICALLY
UPON “LIVING LIFE FORWARD”
AND WOULD RELY
– FOR ITS EFFECTIVENESS –
UPON MUCH OF WHAT I WAS LEARNING
FROM STUDYING THE VARIOUS
TIME – LIMITED, INTENSIVE PSYCHODYNAMIC MODALITIES
MODEL 5
– USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH MODELS 1 – 4 –
IS THEREFORE A TARGETED, “INCENTIVIZING,”
ACTION – BASED, SOLUTION – FOCUSED,
GOAL – DIRECTED, FUTURE – ORIENTED MODEL
THAT INVOLVES DIRECTLY, UNEXPECTEDLY, AND REPEATEDLY
“CHALLENGING” THE PATIENT’S “PARALYSIS ANALYSIS”
AND SEEMINGLY INTRACTABLE INERTIA
30

31
MODEL 5
A QUANTUM –
NEUROSCIENTIFIC
APPROACH
TO HEALING
THAT
RELIES UPON
THE
BRAIN – BASED
STRATEGY
OF
THERAPEUTIC
MEMORY
RECONSOLIDATIO
N
TO
REWIRE
– STRUCTURALLY –
THE BRAIN
AND
REPROGRAM
– FUNCTIONALLY –
THE MIND

MODELS 1 – 4
LONG – TERM, IN – DEPTH,
PSYCHOANALYTICALLY INFORMED
APPROACHES
vs.
MODEL 5
DIRECTIVE, TARGETED, INTENSIVE,
CONSTRUCTIVIST, BRAIN – BASED
APPROACH
COMPARE AND CONTRAST
33

WHEREAS THE LONG – TERM, IN – DEPTH MODELS 1 – 4
FOCUS ON THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT
THE DIRECTIVE, INTENSIVE MODEL 5
FOCUSES ON THE RELATIONSTHIP
BETWEEN THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE
WHEREAS MODELS 1 – 4
REQUIRE THAT THE PATIENT
TAKE OWNERSHIP OF HER PAST,
MODEL 5
REQUIRES THAT SHE
TAKE OWNERSHIP OF HER FUTURE
34

WHEREAS MODELS 1 – 4 ARE IN THE TRADITION
OF UNDERSTANDING OUR HISTORY AS OUR DESTINY
WHICH WE ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT
UNLESS WE CAN REMEMBER IT
MODEL 5 FOCUSES ON OUR DESTINY AS OUR CHOICE
WHICH IS OURS TO CREATE IF
– IN THE PRESENT –
WE CAN BUT TAKE EMBODIED OWNERSHIP
OF OUR NEED TO EXTRICATE OURSELVES
FROM THE ENERGETIC TIES AND OUTDATED NARRATIVES
THAT BIND US TO OUR PAST
SUCH THAT WE WILL THEN BE ABLE TO CONSTRUCT
NEW NARRATIVES FOR OURSELVES GOING FORWARD
35

OUR HISTORY AS OUR DESTINY
MODELS 1 – 4
OUR DESTINY AS OUR CHOICE
MODEL 5 36

MODELS 1 – 4 EMPHASIZE
INSIGHT INTO THE EARLY – ON
RELATIONAL TRAUMAS
AND EMOTIONAL INJURIES
THAT HAVE SHAPED
THE PATIENT’S MISPERCEPTIONS
OF SELF, OTHERS, AND THE WORLD
AS PART OF THE “WORKING THROUGH PROCESS”
– REMINISCENT OF FREUD’S (1914)
“REMEMBERING, REPEATING, AND WORKING THROUGH” –
THESE DEFENSIVE MISCONSTRUALS OF REALITY
ARE THEN GRADUALLY
TAMED, MODIFIED, AND INTEGRATED
AS THE PATIENT SLOWLY EVOLVES
– THROUGH “ITERATIVE HEALING CYCLES” OF “DISRUPTION” AND “REPAIR” –
FROM “DEFENSIVE RIGIDITY”
TO “ADAPTIVE FLEXIBILITY”
37

FROM GROWTH – IMPEDING DEFENSE
– NEEDED TO “SURVIVE” –
TO GROWTH – PROMOTING ADAPTATION
– NEEDED TO “THRIVE” –
FROM RESISTANCE
TO AWARENESS
MODEL 1 – CLASSICAL PSYCHOANALYTIC
FROM RELENTLESS HOPE
TO ACCEPTANCE
MODEL 2 – SELF PSYCHOLOGICAL
FROM RE – ENACTMENT
TO ACCOUNTABILITY
MODEL 3 – CONTEMPORARY RELATIONAL
FROM RELATIONAL ABSENCE
TO AUTHENTIC PRESENCE
MODEL 4 – EXISTENTIAL – HUMANISTIC
38

BUT MODEL 5 CONCEIVES OF THE NARRATIVES
THAT THE PATIENT HAD CONSTRUCTED
AS A YOUNG CHILD
IN A DESPERATE ATTEMPT
TO MAKE SENSE OF HER WORLD
AS POTENTIALLY ABLE TO BE
REWRITTEN, REFRAMED, AND RECONTEXTUALIZED
THESE NARRATIVES
– WHICH UNDERLIE THE PATIENT’S
PSYCHIC INERTIA AND THWARTED POTENTIAL –
ARE THOUGHT
NOT TO SEAL HER FATE
BUT
– IF RESCRIPTED –
TO HOLD THE POTENTIAL
FOR RECONFIGURING HER FUTURE
AND FOR ADVANCING HER
FROM REFRACTORY INERTIA
TO ACTION
AND ACTUALIZATION OF HER DREAMS
39

WHEREAS MODELS 1 – 4 ARE ABOUT
“LOOKING BACK AND REMEMBERING”
SO THAT OLD BAD WILL NOT BE “RE – CREATED”
IN THE PRESENT
MODEL 5 IS ABOUT
”LOOKING AHEAD AND ENVISIONING”
SO THAT NEW GOOD CAN BE “CREATED”
FOR THE FUTURE
“ONLY FLOSS THE TEETH YOU WANT TO KEEP.”
“ONLY TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR DESTINY
IF YOU WANT TO GET SOMEWHERE IN YOUR LIFE.
IF YOU DON’T, IT’S LIKE GETTING
INTO YOUR CAR AND JUST DRIVING,
WITH NO PARTICULAR DESTINATION IN MIND.”
LONG – TERM, IN – DEPTH TREATMENTS
MIGHT WELL ADVANCE THE PATIENT TOWARDS
GREATER AWARENESS, ACCEPTANCE, ACCOUNTABILITY,
AND AUTHENTICITY – BUT NOT SPECIFICALLY ACTION
40

IT IS THEREFORE
ONLY WHEN THE THERAPIST
DONS HER MODEL 5 HAT
AND PUTS HERSELF
IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT
THAT SHE WILL BE ABLE
TO “CHALLENGE” THE PATIENT
BY DIRECTING HER
(1) TO ENVISION A BETTER FUTURE FOR HERSELF,
(2) TO OWN HER NEED THEREFORE TO CHANGE, AND
(3) TO COMMIT TO ACTUALIZING THAT VISION
ESPECIALLY IMPACTFUL
AT THOSE POINTS IN THE TREATMENT
WHEN THE PATIENT
IS CAUGHT UP IN
REMEMBERING AND RE – ENACTING
“SAME OLD SAME OLD”
41

IN THE TRADITION OF OTHER ACTION – BASED, SOLUTION – FOCUSED,
GOAL – DIRECTED, FUTURE – ORIENTED MODELS
MODEL 5 FOCUSES ON
ENVISIONED POSSIBILITIES
TAKING OWNERSHIP OF THE NEED TO CHANGE
SETTING COHERENT, PURPOSEFUL, AND EMBODIED INTENTION
COMMITTING TO ACTION
SELF – EMPOWERMENT
PERSONAL AGENCY
FREEDOM / CHOICE
CREATING ONE’S DESTINY
REALIZING ONE’S DREAMS
ACTUALIZING ONE’S POTENTIAL
MODEL 5 IS NOT DETERMINISTIC –
IT IS A CONSTRUCTIVIST MODEL
– EMPOWERING AND INSPIRING OF HOPE –
THE THERAPIST LEADS AND THE PATIENT FOLLOWS
AND, TOGETHER, THEY CO – CREATE THE PATIENT’S FUTURE
AND IT TAKES BOTH INSPIRATION AND PERSPIRATION
42

CONSIDER THE CASE OF A PATIENT
WHO RESISTS VENTURING INTO NEW SOCIAL SITUATIONS
FOR FEAR OF BEING SHAMED
THE PSYCHOANALYTICALLY INFORMED APPROACHES
– MODELS 1 – 4 –
WOULD FOCUS
ON FIRST EXPLORING THE “HISTORICAL ROOTS”
OF THE PATIENT’S IRRATIONAL FEAR
AND ON THEN GRADUALLY “WORKING THROUGH”
– QUITE POSSIBLY WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE TRANSFERENCE –
WHATEVER PARENTAL ERRORS OF OMISSION
– IN THE FORM OF DEPRIVATION AND NEGLECT –
AND PARENTAL ERRORS OF COMMISSION
– IN THE FORM OF TRAUMA AND ABUSE –
MIGHT HAVE GIVEN RISE TO IT
GRIEVING WOULD PROBABLY PLAY A PIVOTAL ROLE
IN LIBERATING THE PATIENT FROM
HER IRRATIONAL FEAR
AND HER INFANTILE ATTACHMENTS
43

MODEL 5, HOWEVER, WOULD HIGHLIGHT
THE PATIENT’S FEAR OF BEING SHAMED
AS OUTDATED AND MALADAPTIVE
AND WOULD THEN REPEATEDLY AND DECISIVELY CHALLENGE
THIS CONDITIONED RELATIONAL EXPECTATION OF BEING SHAMED
BY HIGHLIGHTING THE POSSIBILITY OF EXPERIENCING
SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND COMPELLINGLY BETTER
FOR THE FUTURE
THE JOLTING VIOLATION OF EXPECTATION
RESULTING FROM THIS REPEATED AND DECISIVE
JUXTAPOSITION OF ENVISIONED NEW GOOD
WITH REACTIVATED OLD BAD
WOULD ULTIMATELY GENERATE ENOUGH
COGNITIVE – EXPERIENTIAL – SOMATIC DISSONANCE
THAT A NEW, MORE REALITY – BASED NARRATIVE
WOULD BE LOCKED IN, OR RECONSOLIDATED,
IN THE PLACE OF THE OLD, NOW – DISCONFIRMED NARRATIVE
SUCH THAT, GOING FORWARD,
THE EXPECTATION WOULD BE NOT OF BEING SHAMED
BUT OF BEING, SAY, ACCEPTED
44

IN ESSENCE
IN MODEL 5 THE ADAPTIVE UPDATING OF NARRATIVES
RESULTS FROM ONGOING, DRAMATIC, AND EMBODIED
CHALLENGING OF PRECONCEIVED, ILL – FOUNDED ASSUMPTIONS
WITH NEW, MORE RELEVANT EXPERIENCES
– WHETHER REAL OR SIMPLY ENVISIONED –
THAT VIOLATE THOSE EXPECTATIONS
SUCH THAT THE OUTDATED, CONDITIONED REACTIONS
WILL BE DISCONFIRMED AND OVERRIDDEN
BY FRESH, MORE REALITY – BASED, SOLUTION – FOCUSED,
AND FUTURE – ORIENTED PERSPECTIVES
AS A THERAPIST,
I FOLLOW THE TRAIL OF TEARS TO HEALING
< MODELS 1 – 4 >
AS A COACH,
I FOLLOW THE TRAIL OF DREAMS TO ACTUALIZATION
< MODEL 5 >
CAROL KAUFFMAN (2006) – PSYCHOLOGIST AND COACH
45

“LIFE CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD BACKWARDS
< MODELS 1 – 4 >
BUT IT MUST BE LIVED FORWARDS”
< MODEL 5 >
SOREN KIERKEGAARD (1996)
THE RECENT ADDITION OF MODEL 5
TO MY PSYCHODYNAMIC SYNERGY PARADIGM
– ALMOST 30 YEARS AFTER THE FIRST MODELS WERE CONCEIVED –
IS INDEED IN THE TRADITION OF
FREUD’S EVENTUAL (1919) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
THAT IN ORDER TO BROADEN
ITS RANGE OF APPLICABILITY
THE “PURE GOLD OF ANALYSIS”
MIGHT WELL NEED TO BE “ALLOYED”
WITH THE “COPPER OF DIRECT
SUGGESTION … AND HYPNOTIC INFLUENCE”
46

NEUROSCIENTISTS HAD LONG BELIEVED
THAT ONCE A NEW EXPERIENCE
– ESPECIALLY A TRAUMATIC ONE –
HAD BEEN STORED IN LONG – TERM MEMORY,
IT WOULD BE PERMANENTLY INSTALLED
PERHAPS IT COULD THEN BE MODIFIED
BY SUBSEQUENT EXPERIENCES,
BUT ITS ESSENCE WOULD NONETHELESS REMAIN INTACT
LURKING JUST BENEATH THE SURFACE
AS A SOMATIC MEMORY EVER VULNERABLE
TO BEING REACTIVATED AND RE – EXPERIENCED
– THEREBY REINFORCING ITS INTENSITY –
BEFORE ONCE AGAIN RETURNING TO BODY CONSCIOUSNESS
“NEURONS THAT FIRE TOGETHER, WIRE TOGETHER”
DONALD HEBB (1949)
REACTIVATED AND RE – EXPERIENCED MEMORIES
ARE REINFORCED THROUGH REPETITION – NOT RESOLVED
48

BUT IF WE ARE EVER BUSY “RESONATING EMPATHICALLY”
WITH THE PATIENT AS SHE
REMEMBERS AND RELIVES TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES,
THEN DO WE NOT RUN THE RISK OF
INADVERTENTLY REINFORCING THOSE EXPERIENCES
WITHOUT ACTUALLY RESOLVING THEM?
IN OTHER WORDS
IF ALL WE DO IS TO “SUPPORT” THE PATIENT AS SHE
REMEMBERS AND RELIVES HER EARLY – ON TRAUMAS,
THEN ARE WE NOT POTENTIALLY CREATING A SITUATION
– OVER THE LONG TERM –
OF “ANALYSIS PARALYSIS”
WHEREBY THE PATIENT WILL FEEL WONDERFULLY “VALIDATED”
BUT WILL BECOME EVER – MORE ENTRENCHED IN HER TRAUMAS
AND THE MALADAPTIVE, DISEMPOWERING NARRATIVES
TO WHICH THOSE TRAUMAS HAD GIVEN RISE
BECAUSE THERE WILL BE NO “CHALLENGE” TO
THOSE OLD BAD NARRATIVES AND NO NEW GOOD ANTIDOTES
OFFERED AS POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES
49

HISTORICALLY
“MEMORY CONSOLIDATION”
– A TERM PROPOSED MORE THAN 100 YEARS AGO –
REFERRED TO THE PROCESS
WHEREBY A MEMORY
– LABILE AFTER ITS INITIAL ACQUISITION
AND THEREFORE SENSITIVE TO BEING MODIFIED –
WOULD BECOME INCREASINGLY STABILIZED
OVER THE LONG TERM
AND RESISTANT TO INTERFERENCE
FROM COMPETING OR DISRUPTING FACTORS
IN OTHER WORDS
ONCE A SHORT – TERM MEMORY
HAD BECOME “FIXED,” OR “CONSOLIDATED,”
IN LONG – TERM MEMORY
– THAT IS, ONCE THE MEMORY HAD UNDERGONE
LONG – TERM POTENTIATION –
THE MEMORY WOULD BE PERMANENTLY
INSTALLED IN THE BRAIN
DEWAR et al. (2007)
50

BUT THE IDEA THAT
THESE DEEPLY ENTRENCHED MEMORIES
COULD ACTUALLY BE ERASED
– IF CERTAIN CONDITIONS WERE MET –
WAS INTRODUCED IN THE 1960s
BY THE BEHAVIOR THERAPIST
RICHARD RUBIN AND HIS TEAM OF INVESTIGATORS
RUBIN et al. (1969)
THE VERY CLEVER EXPERIMENT THEY DESIGNED
IS NOW BEING WIDELY QUOTED
BY PROPONENTS OF MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION
BUT, AT THE TIME, IT WAS NOT
APPRECIATED FOR THE SIGNIFICANCE
IT WAS LATER TO ASSUME
RUBIN AND HIS GROUP CAME UP
WITH THE INGENIOUS IDEA
OF CAPITALIZING UPON
THE WELL – KNOWN “RETROGRADE AMNESIA”
PRODUCED BY ECT
51

ORDINARILY ECT IS ADMINISTERED WHEN PATIENTS
ARE ANESTHETIZED AND THEREFORE “UNCONSCIOUS”
BUT RUBIN DECIDED TO STUDY WHAT WOULD HAPPEN
WHEN PATIENTS WERE TOLD TO DIRECT THEIR ATTENTION
TO THEIR MOST DISTURBING FEELINGS AND IMAGERY
JUST PRIOR TO RECEIVING THE ECT TREATMENT –
AND WERE THEN NOT ANESTHETIZED
THEY SPECIFICALLY SELECTED SUBJECTS WHO WERE SUFFERING
FROM OBSESSIONS, DELUSIONS, AND HALLUCINATIONS
THEN, IN ORDER TO REACTIVATE THE NEURAL MECHANISMS
ENCODING THE “PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL IMAGERY”
UNDERLYING THESE DISTORTED PERCEPTIONS OF REALITY,
THE SUBJECTS WERE INSTRUCTED
TO FOCUS THEIR ATTENTION ON THEIR SYMPTOMS
RUBIN REASONED THAT HAVING THEM FOCUS THEIR ATTENTION
IN THIS WAY WOULD RETURN THE NEURAL NETWORKS
FUELING THE SYMPTOMS TO A MALLEABLE STATE, WHICH WOULD
RENDER THOSE CIRCUITS VULNERABLE TO BEING DISRUPTED
ECT WAS THEN ADMINISTERED WITH THE SUBJECTS
BEING KEPT AWAKE THROUGHOUT THE PROCEDURE
52

ALTHOUGH THE SAMPLE SIZE WAS NOT LARGE
RUBIN DISCOVERED
THAT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE SUBJECTS
– SOME OF WHOM HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY TREATED,
UNSUCCESSFULLY, WITH ECT –
HAD A REMISSION IN THEIR SYMPTOMS
– A REMISSION THAT LASTED
FOR AT LEAST THREE YEARS (THE LENGTH OF THE STUDY) –
RUBIN AND HIS TEAM ASTUTELY CONCLUDED
THAT THEIR STUDY WAS PROOF
– AT LEAST IN PRINCIPLE –
THAT THE MENTAL SCHEMAS FUELING THE SYMPTOMS
MUST HAVE BEEN ENTIRELY OBLITERATED
BECAUSE TREATMENT WITH ECT
PROMPTED COMPLETE REMISSION OF SYMPTOMS
ONLY WHEN THOSE MENTAL SCHEMAS WERE REACTIVATED
IN SUBJECTS WHO WERE CONSCIOUS
AND NOT IN SUBJECTS WHO WERE UNCONSCIOUS
53

PARENTHETICALLY
ALTHOUGH RUBIN’S BRILLIANTLY CONCEIVED STUDY
APPEARED TO DEMONSTRATE
THE ERADICATION OF OLD BAD,
IT DID NOT SPECIFICALLY ADDRESS
THE INTRODUCTION OF NEW GOOD
IN OTHER WORDS
ALTHOUGH THE SUBJECTS
APPEARED TO BE RELEASED
FROM THE TYRANNY OF THEIR
OBSESSIONS, DELUSIONS, AND HALLUCINATIONS
IT WAS NOT CLEAR WHAT
– IF ANYTHING –
GOT “LOCKED IN”
– OR “RECONSOLIDATED” –
IN THE PLACE OF
THOSE PATHOLOGICAL PERCEPTIONS
OF REALITY
54

OVER THE COURSE OF THE PAST 20 YEARS
A DEDICATED GROUP OF TRAILBLAZING
COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENTISTS
– DISSATISFIED WITH THE DETERMINISTIC IDEA
THAT MEMORIES ARE FOREVER –
HAVE BEEN USING ADVANCED NEUROIMAGING TECHNIQUES
– INCLUDING FUNCTIONAL MRIs, SCANNING MICROSCOPY,
AND AN AMAZING NEW TECHNOLOGY CALLED OPTOGENETICS –
TO MAP OUT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BRAIN
WHEN A THOUGHT IS BEING THOUGHT, A FEELING FELT,
OR A MEMORY REMEMBERED
THEIR FOCUS HAS BEEN ON HOW OLD MEMORIES
CONSOLIDATED IN LONG – TERM MEMORY AND DISTRIBUTED
IN NETWORKS THROUGHOUT THE CORTEX AND THE LIMBIC SYSTEM
INCLUDING THE DORSOLATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX,
HIPPOCAMPUS, AND AMYGDALA
CAN BE UPDATED AND RECONSOLIDATED
55

INDEED
THESE RESEARCHERS ARE DISCOVERING THAT THE BRAIN
– IN RESPONSE TO ONGOING NEW EXPERIENCE
AND IN ORDER TO STAY CURRENT AND RELEVANT –
IS CONTINUOUSLY ADAPTING
BY MODIFYING ITSELF
AT THE LEVEL
OF THE NEURAL SYNAPSE
THIS LEARNING PROCESS
– INVOLVING BOTH THE DESTRUCTION OF OLD NEURAL NETWORKS
AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW ONES –
SPEAKS TO THE ADAPTIVE CAPACITY OF THE BRAIN
AND THE DYNAMIC NATURE OF MEMORY
IN ESSENCE
THE BRAIN’S REMARKABLE NEUROPLASTICITY
… APTLY DESCRIBED BY NORMAN DOIDGE (2007) AS
“THE BRAIN THAT CHANGES ITSELF”
BOTH STRUCTURALLY (AT THE LEVEL OF THE SYNAPSE)
AND FUNCTIONALLY (AT THE LEVEL OF THE MEMORY) 56

MORE SPECIFICALLY
NEUROSCIENTISTS HAVE RECENTLY MADE
THE GROUNDBREAKING DISCOVERY
THAT WHEN MEMORIES ARE
REACTIVATED AND RE – EXPERIENCED,
THE NETWORK OF SYNAPSES
ENCODING THESE MEMORIES
WILL BECOME “UNLOCKED”
FOR A TIME – LIMITED PERIOD
THIS “UNLOCKING” – OR “DECONSOLIDATION” – SIGNALS
THE OPENING UP OF A “RECONSOLIDATION WINDOW”
A BRIEF “WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY”
WHEN EVEN LONG – TERM MEMORIES
BECOME TRANSIENTLY FRAGILE
AND SENSITIVE TO MODIFICATION
BY ENVIRONMENTAL INPUT
57

58
THE TRANSMISSION
OF A NERVE IMPULSE
THE “PRE – SYNAPTIC”
– TRANSMITTING –
NERVE CELL
RELEASES
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
INTO THE
“SYNAPTIC SPACE”
MANY OF WHICH
WILL FIND THEIR WAY
TO RECEPTOR SITES
ON THE
POST – SYNAPTIC
– RECEIVING –
NERVE CELL

BOTH THE DEDICATED GROUP
OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENTISTS
WHO STUDY MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION
IN THEIR LABORATORIES
AND THE SIMILARLY IMPASSIONED GROUP
– SPEARHEADED BY BRUCE ECKER (2015) AND DAVID FEINSTEIN (2019) –
OF NEUROSCIENTIFICALLY INCLINED CLINICIANS
WHO STUDY IT IN THEIR OFFICES
AGREE THAT 4 – 6 HOURS IS THE CRITICAL TIME FRAME
FOR THE DESTABILIZED SYNAPSES
ENCODING TRAUMATIC MEMORIES
TO REMAIN MALLEABLE
AND THEREFORE OPEN TO BEING UPDATED BY
EITHER THE ACTUAL EXPERIENCE OF SOMETHING NEW
OR SIMPLY THE ENVISIONING OF IT
SUCH THAT
– WHEN CERTAIN CONDITIONS ARE MET –
THOSE SYNAPSES CAN BE REWIRED
AND THE TRAUMATIC MEMORIES THEY ENCODE REPROGRAMMED
59

INDEED
NEUROIMAGING STUDIES DEMONSTRATE
THAT OPENING THE TRANSIENT
4 – 6 HOUR “RECONSOLIDATION WINDOW”
IS INITIATED BY THE ACTION
OF SEVERAL TYPES OF GLIAL CELLS
RESIDING IN THE BRAIN’S EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX
THESE NEUROIMMUNE CELLS
– PRIMARILY ASTROCYTES AND MICROGLIA –
ARE NOW KNOWN TO PLAY
THE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT ROLE
OF REGULATING SYNAPTIC CONNECTIVITY
THEY DO THIS BY WAY OF
ALTERNATELY CONTRACTING AND EXPANDING
THEIR CONTRACTION
“UNLOCKING” THE SYNAPSE
AND THEIR EXPANSION
“LOCKING IN” THE SYNAPSE
VERKHRATSKY & BUTT (2007)
60

61
GLIAL CELLS
ESPECIALLY ASTROCYTES
REGULATE
SYNAPTIC
CONNECTIVITY
BY WAY OF
THEIR
CONTRACTION
WHICH “UNLOCKS”
THE SYNAPSE
AND
BY WAY OF
THEIR EXPANSION
WHICH “LOCKS IN”
THE SYNAPSE

SO, WHEN A MEMORY IS REACTIVATED,
THE GLIAL CELLS
SURROUNDING THE SYNAPTIC JUNCTION
WILL SHRINK
AND THE COMPLEX WEB OF SYNAPSES
ENCODING THE REACTIVATED MEMORY
WILL BECOME
TEMPORARILY “DECONSOLIDATED”
– OR “UNLOCKED” –
SUCH THAT SOMETHING NEW
CAN BE INTRODUCED
62

IF THAT SOMETHING NEW IS A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE
THAT DISCONFIRMS THE CONDITIONED EXPECTATION
OF SOMETHING NEGATIVE
AND IF THAT MISMATCH IS PRESENTED REPEATEDLY ENOUGH,
ABRUPTLY ENOUGH, AND FORCEFULLY ENOUGH
WITHIN THE TIME – LIMITED PERIOD OF 4 – 6 HOURS,
THEN THE NEW EXPERIENCE
– AND THE FRESH PERSPECTIVES TO WHICH IT GIVES RISE –
WILL ULTIMATELY OVERRIDE
THE TEMPORARILY DESTABILIZED SYNAPSES
AND PROMPT, IN THEIR PLACE,
THE “LOCKING IN” – OR “RECONSOLIDATION” – OF
NEW SYNAPSES ENCODING UPDATED NARRATIVES
AS THE GLIAL CELLS EXPAND
– THEREBY RETURNING TO THEIR ORIGINAL (SWOLLEN) STATE –
THESE GLIAL CELLS APPROPRIATELY NAMED BECAUSE
“GLIA” DERIVES FROM THE GREEK WORD FOR “GLUE”
63

BUT FOR THIS “LOCKING IN” – OR “RECONSOLIDATION” – TO OCCUR
THERE MUST BE REPEATED AND DRAMATIC JUXTAPOSITION
OF OLD BAD LEARNED EXPECTATIONS
WITH NEW GOOD ENVISIONED POSSIBILITIES,
SUCH THAT THERE WILL BE JOLTING
– AND “TRANSFORMATIONAL” –
“VIOLATIONS OF EXPECTATION”
IN THE NEUROSCIENTIFIC LITERATURE
“VIOLATIONS OF EXPECTATION” ARE REFERRED TO AS
“PREDICTION ERRORS” OR “NOVELTY DETECTION”
IN THE CLINICAL LITERATURE
THEY ARE REFERRED TO AS “JUXTAPOSITION EXPERIENCES”
OR “DISCONFIRMATORY MISMATCHES”
THE IDEA THAT ABRUPTLY, RAPIDLY, UNEXPECTEDLY, AND DECISIVELY
INTRODUCING AN ELEMENT OF SURPRISE IN ORDER TO PROVOKE CHANGE
CERTAINLY MAKES INTUITIVE SENSE, AS DOES THE IDEA THAT WHEN NEW
INFORMATION DIRECTLY CONTRADICTING A PREVIOUS LEARNING IS
REPEATEDLY JUXTAPOSED WITH WHAT HAD COME TO BE EXPECTED, THE
OLD MEMORY WILL EVENTUALLY BE FORCED ADAPTIVELY TO UPDATE ITSELF
64

IN ESSENCE
THERAPEUTIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION
WILL BE TAKING PLACE
ONCE THE GLIAL CELLS
RETURN TO THEIR SWOLLEN STATE
AND “LOCK IN,” OR “RECONSOLIDATE,”
A MORE RELEVANT NARRATIVE
THAT REFLECTS A FRESH, MORE ADAPATIVE,
MORE REALITY – BASED PERSPECTIVE
A NARRATIVE THAT WILL THEN BECOME INCORPORATED
INTO THE INTRINSIC FABRIC OF THE PATIENT’S LIFE
AND, GOING FORWARD, BECOME THE NEW FILTER
THROUGH WHICH THE PATIENT
WILL EXPERIENCES SELF, OTHERS, AND THE WORLD
BUT THIS NEW DOOR CAN OPEN
ONLY ONCE AN OLD ONE CLOSES
“TO LEARN WE MUST FIRST FORGET”
IRYNA ETHELL (2018)
65

PARENTHETICALLY
WHEN A NEW EXPERIENCE IS INTRODUCED
OF COURSE IT CAN BE “NOT POSITIVE” BUT “NEGATIVE”
AND
– IF OFFERED DURING THE RECONSOLIDATION WINDOW –
HERE, TOO, NEURONS THAT FIRE TOGETHER
WILL EVENTUALLY WIRE TOGETHER
MORE SPECIFICALLY
IF WHAT GETS INTRODUCED IS NEGATIVE
AND REPEATEDLY ENOUGH PRESENTED
DURING THE CRITICAL PERIOD
OF 4 – 6 HOURS,
THEN THE NARRATIVE THAT REPLACES
THE ORIGINAL NARRATIVE
WILL BE CALLED, AS WE KNOW,
A “FALSE MEMORY”
IN ESSENCE
A FALSE (NEGATIVE) MEMORY
LOFTUS & KETCHAM (1996)
66

DECADES AGO
THE PSYCHOLOGIST AND MEMORY EXPERT
SAUL KASSIN (1996) INVESTIGATED
THE REACTIONS OF SUBJECTS FALSELY ACCUSED
OF HAVING DAMAGED A COMPUTER
BY PRESSING THE WRONG KEY
THE PARTICIPANTS
– ALL OF WHOM WERE INDEED INNOCENT –
INITIALLY DENIED THE CHARGE
BUT WHEN THE EXPERIMENTER’S ACCOMPLICE
ALLEGED THAT SHE HAD WITNESSED
THEIR PRESSING OF THE WRONG KEY,
MANY OF THE HAPLESS PARTICIPANTS
SIGNED A WRITTEN CONFESSION
AND PROCEEDED TO CONFABULATE DETAILS
CORROBORATING THEIR “INTERNALIZED GUILT”
67

APPARENTLY, MORE GENERALLY,
FALSE CONFESSIONS ARE NOT ALL THAT RARE
KASSIN CONTENDS THAT
THE CONSTRUCTION
OF FALSE (NEGATIVE) MEMORIES RESULTS
FROM CONFLATING ACTUAL MEMORIES
WITH THE CONTENT OF SUGGESTIONS
RECEIVED FROM OTHERS
SO, TOO, UNDER THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES
REPEATED SUGGESTIONS
FROM A (TRUSTED) SOURCE
ARE GENERALLY RELEVANT
FOR THE CONSTRUCTION
OF FALSE (POSITIVE) MEMORIES AS WELL
HARKENING BACK
TO FREUD’S “DIRECT SUGGESTION”
AND “HYNOTIC INFLUENCE”
AS SUPPLEMENTS
FOR ONGOING PSYCHOANALYTIC WORK
68

SOMEWHAT SURPRISINGLY (AND IMPORTANTLY)
THE BRAIN CAN CHANGE ITSELF IN RESPONSE
NOT ONLY TO “EXPERIENCING” SOMETHING NEW
BUT ALSO TO “IMAGINING” SOMETHING NEW
IN FACT
A GROWING BODY OF EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THE FINDING
THAT SIMPLY VISUALIZING (OR ENVISIONING) SOMETHING
– EVEN THOUGH IT OCCURS ENTIRELY IN THE MIND –
IS SOMETIMES ALMOST AS EFFECTIVE AS ACTUALLY DOING IT
ACCORDING TO RESEARCH BEING DONE AT THE CLEVELAND CLINIC
RANGANATHAN et al. (2004)
PARTICIPANTS WERE ABLE TO STRENGTHEN MUSCLES
JUST BY VISUALIZING PHYSICAL MOVEMENT
THIS IMPACT SIMPLY REQUIRED CONCENTRATED “MENTAL PRACTICE”
– THE COGNITIVE REHEARSAL OF A PHYSICAL ACTIVITY WITHOUT MOVEMENT –
ONE STUDY DEMONSTRATED THAT IF SUBJECTS WANTING TO MASTER
A PARTICULAR SKILL WERE ABLE TO VISUALIZE MASTERY OF IT
THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO DECREASE BY 50%
THE NUMBER OF ACTUAL PRACTICE HOURS REQUIRED
MILLER (2018)
69

IMPORTANTLY
NEUROSCIENTISTS HAVE MADE THE SIGNIFICANT DISCOVERY
THAT THE “CONSOLIDATION”
– AND “RECONSOLIDATION” –
OF MEMORIES REQUIRES THE SYNTHESIS
OF NEW PROTEINS IN THE CORTICOLIMBIC SYSTEM
AND THAT INHIBITING PROTEIN SYNTHESIS
WILL INTERFERE WITH “LONG – TERM POTENTIATION”
NAMELY, THE TRANSFER OF MEMORIES
FROM SHORT – TERM STORAGE IN THE HIPPOCAMPUS
TO LONG – TERM STORAGE IN DISTRIBUTED NETWORKS IN THE NEOCORTEX
SOME PROMISING RESEARCH IS NOW BEING CONDUCTED
WITH THE SYNTHETIC DRUG PROPRANOLOL
A “BETA – BLOCKER” THAT DAMPENS
THE STRESS RESPONSE (PERIPHERALLY)
AND INHIBITS PROTEIN SYNTHESIS (CENTRALLY)
IN FACT, EXCITING NEUROIMAGING STUDIES HAVE REVEALED
ALTERED ACTIVITY IN THE AMYGDALA AND THE HIPPOCAMPUS
IN ASSOCIATION WITH PROPRANOLOL – INDUCED WEAKENING
OF “NEGATIVELY VALENCED MEMORIES” IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS
LONERGAN et al. (2013)
70

WHEN THERAPEUTIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION
UPDATES A TRAUMATIC MEMORY,
WHAT IS IT THAT CHANGES?
AND WHAT IS IT THAT REMAINS THE SAME?
IMPORTANTLY
THE FACT OF THE EVENT UNDERLYING
THE TRAUMATIC MEMORY WILL NOT CHANGE
THAT IS
THE EPISODIC MEMORY ITSELF WILL REMAIN INTACT
WHAT WILL CHANGE, HOWEVER, WILL BE
THE BODY’S MEMORY OF THE TRAUMA,
ITS EMOTIONAL CHARGE, AND THE NARRATIVES
TO WHICH THE TRAUMA HAD GIVEN RISE
IN OTHER WORDS
HOW THE PATIENT POSITIONS HERSELF
IN RELATION TO THE TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE,
– HOW SHE CONTEXTUALIZES IT –
WILL CHANGE
71

CLINICAL EXAMPLE – FROM TRAUMA VICTIM TO TRAUMA SURVIVOR
WHEN MARIA WAS A YOUNG GIRL
SHE HAD EXPERIENCED FREQUENT EMOTIONAL ABUSE
AT THE HANDS OF HER RAGEFUL, ALCHOLIC FATHER
AND
– IN A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO MAKE SENSE OF THAT ABUSE –
SHE HAD DECIDED THAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN
SHE WHO WAS THE BAD ONE, SHE WHO WAS AT FAULT
BUT MARIA WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE ABLE
TO WORK WITH A THERAPIST
WHO UNDERSTOOD THE “TRANSFORMATIONAL” POWER
OF THERAPEUTIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION
AND WHO THEREFORE OFFERED HER A RAPID – FIRE SERIES
OF “EMPOWERING” AND “DISCONFIRMATORY” EXPERIENCES
– ALBEIT “IMAGINARY” –
THAT REPEATEDLY AND FORCEFULLY CHALLENGED
MARIA’S CONDITIONED EXPECTATION
OF BEING ALWAYS A VICTIM
72

THESE JUXTAPOSITION EXPERIENCES TOOK PLACE IN CONJUNCTION
WITH REACTIVATED MEMORIES OF HER FATHER’S ABUSE
SUCH THAT MARIA WAS EVENTUALLY ABLE
TO UPDATE HER SELF – NEGATING NARRATIVE
NO LONGER DID SHE EXPERIENCE HERSELF
AS EVER AT RISK OF BEING ABUSED
INSTEAD, MARIA CAME TO REALIZE THAT IT WAS HER ALCOHOLIC FATHER
WHO HAD BEEN THE VICTIMIZER AND SHE WHO WAS INNOCENT
IMPORTANTLY, DESPITE NOW HAVING AN UPDATED NARRATIVE
THAT OFFERED A FRESH, MORE REALITY – BASED PERSPECTIVE
MARIA STILL REMEMBERED THE FACT OF HER FATHER’S ABUSIVE RAGES
BUT SHE WAS NO LONGER CONVINCED THAT SHE HAD DESERVED
THE ABUSE AND THAT THE WORLD WAS A DANGEROUS, UNSAFE PLACE
IN ESSENCE, SHE WAS ABLE TO RE – INTERPRET THE ENTIRE SCENARIO
AS A STORY NOT ABOUT HERSELF AS EVER VULNERABLE
TO BEING ABUSED BY OUTSIDE, MALEVOLENT FORCES
BUT ABOUT HER FATHER AS AN OFTEN OUT – OF – CONTROL ALCOHOLIC
WHO WOULD PERIODICALLY FLY INTO IRRATIONAL AND UNJUSTIFIED RAGES
73

74
MUSICAL CONTRASTS
TO FINE – TUNE THE BRAIN

SHARP, JOLTING MUSICAL CONTRASTS
ARE USED IN THE TOMATIS METHOD
A BRAIN – BASED STRATEGY DEVELOPED BY ALFRED TOMATIS (1992)
AN INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED OTOLARYNGOLOGIST
WHO HYPOTHESIZED THAT ERRANT HEARING
WAS THE ROOT CAUSE OF A VARIETY
OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL AILMENTS
DON CAMPBELL (1997)
ALONG THE SAME LINES
AS THERAPEUTIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION,
THE TOMATIS METHOD INVOLVES
THE WEARING OF HEADPHONES
THAT CREATE MUSICAL CONTRASTS
– DONE IN ORDER REPEATEDLY TO SURPRISE
AND THEREBY RETRAIN THE BRAIN –
THESE CONTRASTS ARE CAUSED
BY CONTINUOUS, SUDDEN, AND UNPREDICTABLE
CHANGES IN THE TIMBRE AND INTENSITY
OF THE MUSIC BEING PLAYED
75

THIS ELEMENT OF SURPRISE
– AN “OPTIMAL STRESSOR” THAT CREATES
A JOLTING MISMATCH EXPERIENCE FOR THE LISTENER –
FORCES THE BRAIN
TO DEVELOP NEW NETWORKS
BY TRIGGERING AND REINFORCING
ITS ATTENTIONAL MECHANISMS
IN ESSENCE
THE TOMATIS METHOD
IS A GYMNASTIC EXERCISE FOR THE BRAIN
– ULTIMATELY SERVING TO PROMOTE STRONGER FOCUS AND ATTENTION
AND IMPROVED PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELL – BEING –
DAWSON CHURCH (2014)
I HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE TOMATIS METHOD
OWES ITS EFFECTIVENESS TO RESYNCHRONIZATION
OF DISTURBED NEURAL PATTERNS OF ACTIVITY
– AN ADAPTIVE RESPONSE TO BEING “SHOCKED” –
76

WE HAVE SEEN HOW MODEL 5
– FROM A NEUROSCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE –
CONCEIVES OF MEMORY
AS DYNAMIC
AND AS CONTINUOUSLY UPDATING ITSELF
ON THE BASIS OF NEW EXPERIENCE
– THE “TRANSFORMATIONAL” POWER
OF “THERAPEUTIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION” –
BUT MODEL 5
IS ALSO A QUANTUM MODEL
BECAUSE IT IS ALL ABOUT
“LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES,”
THE “OBSERVER EFFECT,” “INTENTIONALITY,”
“MYSTICAL ENTANGLEMENTS,”
AND THE IDEA THAT
“REALITY IS MERELY AN ILLUSION,
ALTHOUGH A VERY PERSISTENT ONE”
78

79
Gregg Braden (2008) THE DIVINE MATRIX:
BRIDGING TIME, SPACE, MIRACLES, AND BELIEF

THE WAVE – PARTICLE DUALITY
QUANTUM THEORY POSITS
THE EXISTENCE OF WAVES OF ENERGY
THAT HOLD A BOUNDLESS ARRAY
OF UNREALIZED POSSIBILITIES
ANY ONE OF WHICH CAN BE “REALIZED”
ONCE THE OBSERVER SETS THE “INTENITON”
TO “ACTUALIZE” IT
AT WHICH POINT
THE INVISIBLE WAVE OF INFINITE POTENTIAL
WILL COLLAPSE INTO A VISIBLE PARTICLE
THAT “MANIFESTS” IN THE REAL WORLD,
POTENTIAL WILL BECOME ACTUAL,
AND ENVISIONED WILL BECOME REALITY
THE “OBSERVER EFFECT”
– OBSERVING SOMETHING NECESSARILY CHANGES IT –
80

82
EVERYTHING IN THE QUANTUM UNIVERSE CAN BE
DESCRIBED AS BOTH “WAVE” AND “PARTICLE”
THE MOBIUS STRIP IS A CONTINUOUS, ONE – SIDED SURFACE FORMED
BY TWISTING ONE END OF A RECTANGULAR STRIP 180 DEGREES
ALONG ITS LONGITUDINAL AXIS AND THEN ATTACHING THE TWO ENDS
IT IS AN ELEGANT VISUAL METAPHOR FOR
THE “DUAL” (TWO – SIDED) NATURE OF EVERY QUANTIC ENTITY
WERE AN ANT TO CRAWL ALONG THE SURFACE OF THE MOBIUS STRIP
IT WOULD ENCOUNTER FIRST ONE WORD AND THEN THE OTHER WORD
AND THEN BACK TO THE FIRST WORD WITHOUT HAVING GOTTEN OFF
THE CONTINUITY OF THE MOBIUS STRIP’S ONE – SIDED SURFACE
IS A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE EQUIVALENCE
OF “WAVES” / “PARTICLES” AND “MIND” / “BRAIN”

83
“I’M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF IT’S A WAVE OR A PARTICLE?”

ALONG THESE SAME LINES
BRUCE LIPTON (2015) WRITES
“THE UNIVERSE IS CREATED BY OUR OBSERVATIONS”
HE IS HERE REINFORCING THE UPLIFTING AND LIBERATING IDEA
THAT THE QUANTUM REALM CONTAINS
UNBOUNDED POSSIBILITIES
AND THAT EVRY PRECIOUS MOMENT IN TIME
HOLDS INFINITE POTENTIAL
WHICH HIGHLIGHTS THE FACT
THAT ALMOST ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE FOR OUR PATIENTS
IF THEY CAN BUT GET CLEAR ON
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY WANT FOR THEMSELVES,
CAN DISENTANGLE THEMSELVES ENERGETICALLY
FROM THE DYSFUNCTION OF THE PAST,
AND CAN DIRECT POSITIVE INTENTION AND EMPOWERING ENERGY
IN A NEW DIRECTION AND TO A PREFERRED FUTURE
SUCH THAT THEY WILL BE ABLE
TO CREATE THEMSELVES ANEW
84

85
A DECEPTIVELY
SIMPLE APHORISM
THAT SPEAKS
DIRECTLY
TO THE
PROFOUND IMPACT
OF OUR
INTENTIONALITY UPON
WHAT
IS SUBSEQUENTLY
ACTUALIZED
AND A
POIGNANT REMINDER
OF OUR POWER
TO CREATE
OUR OWN DESTINY –
A PRIMARY FOCUS
IN MODEL 5

ANOTHER QUANTUM CONCEPT
EMBRACED BY MODEL 5
IS THE MYSTICAL CONCEPT
OF ”QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT”
THE “ADHESIVENESS OF THE ID”
– FUELED AS IT IS BY BOTH LIBIDINAL AND AGGRESSIVE ENERGIES –
WAS ONE OF THE CONSTRUCTS USED BY FREUD
TO EXPLAIN THE TENACITY
WITH WHICH PATIENTS UNWITTINGLY CLING
– EVEN THOUGH AMBIVALENTLY –
TO THEIR INFANTILE ATTACHMENTS,
RELENTLESS PURSUITS,
AND COMPULSIVE RE – ENACTMENTS
UNFORTUNATE BUT INEVITABLE BYPRODUCTS
OF UNMASTERED EARLY – ON
RELATIONAL TRAUMAS AND EMOTIONAL INJURIES
86

MODEL 5 ATTEMPTS TO FIND
A MORE CONTEMPORARY WAY TO EXPLAIN
WHY A PATIENT’S PRESENT
– THOUGH DECADES LATER –
MIGHT BE STILL INFILTRATED
BY THE TOXICITY OF HER BYGONE PAST
THE CONCEPT OF QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT FITS THE BILL
ALBERT EINSTEIN (2010)
– AFTER STRUGGLING FOR YEARS TO UNDERSTAND
THE LAWS GOVERNING THE MYSTERIOUS NONLOCAL FORCES
THAT CHARACTERIZE QUANTUM INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ENTITIES
THAT ARE SEPARATED IN TIME AND SPACE –
FAMOUSLY DERIDED THIS STRANGE PHENOMENON
BY DUBBING IT “SPOOKY ACTION AT A DISTANCE”
SHORTHAND FOR CAPTURING THE ESSENCE
OF THESE ENIGMATIC INTERACTIONS
THAT DEFY THE LAWS OF NEWTONIAN PHYSICS
87

IF, INDEED,
WE IMPLICATE
QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT
IN THE “ADHESIVENESS”
OF THE PATIENT
TO OUTDATED, DISEMPOWERING NARRATIVES,
THEN IT FOLLOWS THAT
AN IMPORTANT PIECE
OF THE THERAPEUTIC ACTION
IN MODEL 5
WILL INVOLVE
“QUANTUM DISENTANGLEMENT”
OF THE PATIENT
FROM THE INERTIA – PERPETUATING NARRATIVES
WITH WHICH SHE HAS BEEN
ENERGETICALLY COUPLED
SINCE CHILDHOOD
90

“COGNITIVE DEFUSION”
HAYES et al. (2016)
NOTICING THOUGHTS RATHER THAN GETTING CAUGHT UP IN THEM
CENTRAL TO THE THERAPEUTIC ACTION
IN ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY (ACT)
AND AKIN TO QUANTUM DISENTANGLEMENT
COGNITIVE DEFUSION IS A TECHNIQUE THAT INVOLVES
NOT ONLY THE PATIENT’S DISTANCING OF HERSELF
FROM THE MALADAPTIVE PATTERNS OF THINKING
THAT HAVE BECOME PART OF HER IDENTITY
BUT ALSO HER ACCEPTANCE OF THE POSSIBILITY
THAT THERE ARE ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES
AND MORE ADAPTIVE WAYS OF ACTING, REACTING, AND INTERACTING
IN ESSENCE
ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY
EMBRACES THE IDEA THAT THOUGHTS ARE JUST THOUGHTS
AND NEED NOT DEFINE WHO WE ARE OR HOW WE BEHAVE
THOUGHTS ARE NO MORE POWERFUL THAN
WHAT WE ALLOW THEM TO BE
91

EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION
AND REPROCESSING (EMDR) THERAPY
IN ORDER TO RECONTEXTUALIZE,
DETOXIFY, AND “COMPLETE”
TRAUMATIC MEMORIES
EMDR CAPITALIZES UPON THE USE OF
“BILATERAL ALTERNATING STIMULATION”
TO ENGAGE BOTH SIDES OF THE BRAIN
THEREBY BRINGING TO BEAR
THE “ANALYTIC WISDOM”
OF THE PRESENT – FOCUSED LEFT BRAIN
ON THE “EMOTIONAL KNOWLEDGE”
HARBORED IN THE PAST – FOCUSED RIGHT BRAIN
FRANCINE SHAPIRO (2017)
93

95
YOUR RIGHT BRAIN TRIES
TO SAY THE COLOR,
BUT YOUR LEFT BRAIN INSISTS
UPON READING THE WORD
WHICH WAY IS MORE NATURAL FOR YOU?

EMDR
– WHICH INVOLVES “ALTERNATELY STIMULATING”
THE TWO SIDES OF THE BRAIN –
APPEARS TO ACCOMPLISH BY DAY
SOME VERSION OF WHAT REM
– RAPID EYE MOVEMENT –
SLEEP ACCOMPLISHES BY NIGHT
SHIFTING THE EYES BACK AND FORTH
– WHETHER BY DAY OR BY NIGHT –
STIMULATES THE RETRIEVAL
OF UNMASTERED EMOTIONAL MEMORIES
AND CREATES OPPORTUNITY FOR THEIR
BELATED PROCESSING, DESENSITIZATION,
AND “COMPLETION”
96

IN ANY EVENT
THE EMDR PATIENT IS INSTRUCTED
TO FOCUS HER “MIND’S EYE”
ON A DISTRESSING AND UNMASTERED
TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE, MEMORY, OR IMAGE
AND TO LET HERSELF RE – EXPERIENCE
WHATEVER THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, AND SENSATIONS
ARE EVOKED AS SHE DARES TO REMEMBER
WHAT HER BODY CANNOT FORGET
ALTERNATELY, REPEATEDLY, AND RHYTHMICALLY,
THE THERAPIST THEN STIMULATES
BOTH SIDES OF THE PATIENT’S BRAIN
– WHETHER VISUALLY, AUDITORILY, OR KINESTHETICALLY –
RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT
PAST, PRESENT, PAST, PRESENT
THEN, NOW, THEN, NOW
THEREBY TAPPING INTO THE WISDOM
OF THE TWO LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
– BODY CONSCIOUSNESS AND BRAIN CONSCIOUSNESS – 97

AS THE PATIENT IS REVISITING
– VISUALLY, COGNITIVELY, EMOTIONALLY, AND SOMATICALLY –
THE UNPROCESSED TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE,
SHE IS BEING CONTINUOUSLY REMINDED
THAT SHE IS ALSO IN THE PRESENT
THAT WAS THEN – THIS IS NOW
PROMPTING THE PATIENT TO FOCUS HER ATTENTION ON
BOTH THE PAST
AS THE TRAUMATIC MEMORY STORED IN HER RIGHT BRAIN
– OR BODY CONSCIOUSNESS –
IS BEING REACTIVATED
AND THE PRESENT
AS THE ANALYTIC WISDOM OF HER LEFT BRAIN
– OR BRAIN CONSCIOUSNESS –
IS BEING BROUGHT TO BEAR
IS DESIGNED TO CAPITALIZE UPON
THE PATIENT’S CAPACITY FOR “DUAL AWARENESS”
98

IN OTHER WORDS
DUAL AWARENESS IS BEING FOSTERED
WHEN THE PATIENT IS BEING ASKED
TO DIRECT HER ATTENTION
TO WHAT SHE IS EXPERIENCING IN THE MOMENT
AT THE SAME TIME THAT SHE IS BEING ENCOURAGED
TO STEP BACK FROM THAT EXPERIENCE IN ORDER
TO DETACH HERSELF FROM THE TRAUMATIC MEMORY,
GAIN DISTANCE, AND RECOVER PERSPECTIVE
IN THE PSYCHOANALYTIC LITERATURE
THIS DISTINCTION
BETWEEN “EXPERIENCING” SOMETHING AND “OBSERVING” IT
IS DESCRIBED AS A “SPLIT IN THE EGO” OR “THE SELF”
BETWEEN THE EXPERIENCING
– OR PARTICIPATING –
EGO
AND THE OBSERVING
– OR REFLECTING –
EGO
RICHARD STERBA (1968); LESTON HAVENS (1976)
99

100
DUAL AWARENESS
THE OLD AND THE NEW
THE PAST AND THE PRESENT
BODY CONSCIOUSNESS AND BRAIN CONSCIOUSNESS
THE WISDOM OF THE BODY AND THE WISDOM OF THE BRAIN

AS THE “BILATERAL ALTERNATING STIMULATION” CONTINUES
THE PATIENT IS BEING ENCOURAGED TO ASSUME
A STANCE OF DETACHED COMPASSION
MEANWHILE THE THERAPIST IS REPEATEDLY OFFERING THE PATIENT
SUCH STATEMENTS AS –
IMAGINE YOURSELF WATCHING IT ALL ON A MOVIE SCREEN OR A TV
BUT IT’S IN THE PAST – IT’S OLD STUFF
JUST NOTICE IT AND LET IT GO
IMAGINE YOURSELF RIDING ON A TRAIN
AND THE IMAGES, THOUGHTS, AND FEELINGS THAT YOU ARE HAVING
ARE JUST SCENERY PASSING YOU BY
BUT IT’S OVER NOW AND YOU’RE SAFE
IT’S HISTORY – JUST WATCH IT GO BY
IMAGINE YOURSELF DRIVING IN A TUNNEL –
BUT KEEP YOUR FOOT ON THE PEDAL AND KEEP MOVING FORWARD
THAT’S RIGHT – THAT’S GOOD
THE THERAPEUTIC ACTION IN EMDR (AS IN MODEL 5)
INVOLVES HELPING THE PATIENT MAINTAIN
THIS “DUAL AWARENESS” SO THAT THE TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE
CAN BE RECONTEXTUALIZED / RESCRIPTED / REFRAMED
AND THE PATIENT CAN MOVE TOWARDS
“ADAPTIVE RESOLUTION” OF THE TRAUMA 101

FROM VICTIM TO EMPOWERED SURVIVOR
IN ONE SESSION OF EMDR
LAKISHA
– BY TAPPING INTO THE ANALYTIC WISDOM
OF HER BRAIN CONSCIOUSNESS –
WAS ABLE TO GET ENOUGH DISTANCE FROM THE TRAUMA
– THE INTERNAL RECORD OF WHICH
HAD BEEN STORED IN HER BODY CONSCIOUSNESS –
THAT SHE WAS THEN ABLE
TO REPROCESS, DETOXIFY, AND “COMPLETE” THE EXPERIENCE
IN ESSENCE
LAKISHA WAS ABLE TO DESENSITIZE
THE EXPERIENCE ENOUGH
THAT SHE WAS ABLE
TO UPDATE THE NARRATIVE
SHE HAD CONSTRUCTED OF HERSELF
AS GULLIBLE, VULNERABLE, AND DISEMPOWERED
TO ONE OF HERSELF
AS STRONG, DETERMINED, AND EMPOWERED
102

JUANITA’S MIND – BOGGLING EXPERIENCE WITH AN OPIOID
JUANITA HAD BEEN STRUGGLING TO GET OVER THE PAIN
OF HER GRIEF ABOUT THE LOSS OF A MAN
WHOM SHE HAD FELT WAS THE LOVE OF HER LIFE
ONE EVENING
– EXHAUSTED FROM THE EFFORT OF HAVING STRUGGLED
THROUGH EACH AND EVERY DAY SINCE THEIR BREAKUP –
JUANITA BLINDLY REACHED FOR A FEW OF THE HYDROCODONE PILLS
THAT SHE STILL HAD IN HER POSSESSION
FROM THE TIME HER WISDOM TEETH HAD BEEN EXTRACTED
UPON AWAKENING FROM A DEEP, OPIOID – INDUCED SLEEP
– HOURS AND HOURS LATER –
AND FEELING MORE REFRSHED THAN SHE HAD FELT IN WEEKS,
SHE SUDDENLY REALIZED THAT THE PILLS
PRESCRIBED TO RELIEVE HER PHYSICAL PAIN
HAD ACTUALLY OBLITERATED HER PSYCHIC PAIN
IT WAS ALMOST AS IF SHE
– IN DISCOVERING THE POSSIBILITY OF LIVING WITHOUT DEEP PSYCHIC PAIN –
WAS ABLE TO REFRAME HER ENTIRE EXPERIENCE OF LOSS
AS A MANAGEABLE, EVEN THOUGH STILL HEARTBREAKINGLY SAD,
WAY OF LIVING 103

MODEL 5
“OPTIMALLY STRESSFUL”
“QUANTUM DISENTANGLEMENT STATEMENTS”
THE NEUROPLASTIC SYNERGY
OF MINDFULNESS
– BODY CONSCIOUSNESS –
AND INTENTIONALITY
– BRAIN CONSCIOUSNESS –
JUXTAPOSITION OF THE TWO LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
BILATERAL ALTERNATING STIMULATION
105

AT THE HEART OF MODEL 5
IS THE “NEUROPLASTIC” SYNERGY
OF “MINDFULNESS”
– REACTIVATING AND RE – EXPERIENCING OLD BAD –
AND “INTENTIONALITY”
– INTRODUCING THE POSSIBILITY OF NEW GOOD –
IN OTHER WORDS
SIMULTANEOUSLY
“PAYING ATTENTION” TO OLD BAD
– AS THE PATIENT FOCUSES “BODILY – FELT AWARENESS”
ON THE PRESENT MOMENT
AND ALL THAT IS “EMERGING” FROM WITHIN –
AND
“SETTING INTENTION” FOR NEW GOOD
– AS THE PATIENT LEANS INTO THE EDGE
BETWEEN THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE
AND FOCUSES ON “EMERGENT POSSIBILITIES” –
106

AGAINST THE BACKDROP
OF RETRIEVING, RELIVING, AND ARTICULATING
A TARGETED TRAUMA
AND
THE DISEMPOWERING
AND DISTORTED NARRATIVES
THAT WERE “CONSTRUCTED” AS A RESULT
THE PATIENT IS DIRECTED
TO ENVISION A BETTER FUTURE,
TO OWN HER NEED THEREFORE TO CHANGE, AND
TO COMMIT TO ACTUALIZING THAT VISION
ENVISION – OWN – COMMIT
107

108
SEATED
BUDDHA
BY
ISIDORE
van
KINSBERGEN
THE HEALING
POWER OF
MINDFULNESS
COMPASSIONATE
WITNESSING
OF THE PRESENT
MOMENT

110
the
transformative
power
of
intentionality

111
THE GOAL IS TO PROMOTE
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL WELL – BEING
THROUGH MINDFUL AND INTENTIONAL LIVING

THE BACKBONE OF MODEL 5 ARE
“QUANTUM DISENTANGLEMENT STATEMENTS”
THAT ARE STRATEGICALLY DESIGNED
TO CAPITALIZE UPON
“BOTTOM – UP MINDFULNESS”
AND “TOP – DOWN INTENTIONALITY”
AND “BILATERAL ALTERNATING STIMULATION”
BETWEEN THE TWO LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
CO – CREATED BY THERAPIST AND PATIENT
IN THE SESSION
AND OFTEN WRITTEN DOWN
– AND EVEN RECORDED –
FOR LATER REFERENCE AS WELL
THESE STATEMENTS ARE REPEATED
AGAIN AND AGAIN BY THE PATIENT
AND ALWAYS WITH HEARTFELT,
EMBODIED CONVICTION
112

ARE SPECIFICALLY FORMULATED
TO GENERATE “OPTIMALLY STRESSFUL”
“COGNITIVE – EXPERIENTIAL – SOMATIC DISSONANCE”
BY INSISTING THAT THE PATIENT HOLD IN MIND
– SIMULTANEOUSLY –
BOTH THE ACTIVATED MEMORY OF OLD BAD
– ACCESSED BY WAY OF EMBODIED MINDFULNESS –
– FROM BODY CONSCIOUSNESS TO BRAIN CONSCIOUSNESS –
AND THE ENVISIONED POSSIBILITY OF NEW GOOD
– INTRODUCED BY WAY OF PURPOSEFUL AND COHERENT INTENTIONALITY –
– FROM BRAIN CONSCIOUSNESS TO BODY CONSCIOUSNESS –
THEREBY CREATING JOLTING AND DECISIVE
“MISMATCH EXPERIENCES”
BETWEEN “IMPLICITLY HELD” OLD BAD LEARNED EXPECTATIONS
AND “EXPLICITLY HELD” NEW GOOD ENVISIONED POSSIBILITIES
113

BRING TO BEAR THE ANALYTIC WISDOM
OF THE PATIENT’S
PRESENT – AND FUTURE – FOCUSED LEFT BRAIN
ON THE BELATED PROCESSING
OF REACTIVATED TRAUMATIC MEMORIES
STORED IN HER PAST – FOCUSED RIGHT BRAIN
REPEATEDLY AND FORCEFULLY JUXTAPOSING
VARIATIONS OF OLD BAD
IN THE FIRST PART OF THE STATEMENT
WITH VARIATIONS OF NEW GOOD
IN THE SECOND PART OF THE STATEMENT
WILL ULTIMATELY GENERATE ENOUGH INTERNAL TENSION
BETWEEN REACTIVATED OLD BAD NARRATIVES
AND ENVISIONED NEW GOOD NARRATIVES
THAT THERE WILL BE SUFFICIENT IMPETUS FOR
“ENERGETIC DECOUPLING” OF THE PATIENT
FROM THE TOXICITY OF HER PAST
114

MODEL 5 “QUANTUM DISENTANGLEMENT STATEMENT”
“I ALWAYS WORRY THAT NO ONE WILL LISTEN TO ME.
I DON’T FEEL THAT I HAVE A RIGHT TO SPEAK MY TRUTH.
I WAS NEVER ALLOWED TO SPEAK UP IN MY FAMILY AND WAS
ALWAYS SILENCED. I WAS MADE TO FEEL INVISIBLE –
AND SO IRRELEVANT. I REMEMBER HOW AWFUL IT FELT TO BE
SO IGNORED ALL THE TIME. MY BODY TREMBLES AS I REMEMBER –
AND I FEEL TENSION IN MY CHEST AND PAIN IN MY HEART.
I START TO HYPERVENTILATE. I JUST HATED BEING
PUSHED TO THE SIDE AND TOLD THAT I DID NOT MATTER.
BUT I CAN ENVISION THE POSSIBILITY OF SOMEDAY
FEELING GOOD ENOUGH ABOUT WHO I AM THAT I
WILL BE ABLE TO PRESENT MYSELF TO THE WORLD
WITHOUT APOLOGY AND WITHOUT SELF – CONSCIOUSNESS.
I WILL HAVE A VOICE AND WILL USE IT TO EXPRESS HOW I
REALLY FEEL. I KNOW THAT I WILL NEED TO START TAKING
RISKS THAT, TO THIS POINT, I HAVE AVOIDED TAKING
BECAUSE I WAS SO AFRAID. I HAVE BEEN SO CONTROLLED
BY MY FEAR, BUT I KNOW THAT I NEED TO SPEAK UP AND
LET MY VOICE BE HEARD. I AM SO TIRED OF HOLDING
MYSELF BACK AND BEING ALWAYS IN THE SHADOW.”
115

OVER AND OVER AGAIN,
IN RAPID – FIRE SUCCESSION,
AND WITH
EVER – MORE DETERMINED, EMBODIED,
AND PURPOSEFUL COMMITMENT
THE PATIENT REPEATS THIS STATEMENT
AND VARIATIONS OF IT
ALTERNATELY VERBALIZING
FIRST THE MINDFULLY RETRIEVED OLD BAD
AND THEN THE INTENTIONALLY INTRODUCED NEW GOOD
THE THERAPIST ENCOURAGES THE PATIENT
TO MAKE EXPLICIT THE SOMATIC ELEMENTS,
PHYSICAL SENSATIONS, VISCERAL REACTIVITY,
AND SENSORIMOTOR PERCEPTIONS
THAT ARE BEING EVOKED
AS SHE BEGINS TO REMEMBER
WHAT HER BODY HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN
116

“I WANT TO CURL UP AND DIE WHEN I THINK ABOUT HOW MY
MOTHER NEVER PAID ATTENTION TO ME, NEVER LOVED ME,
AND SIMPLY THOUGHT OF ME AS AN OBJECT IN HER WAY.
AND NOW I FIND MYSELF SO OFTEN FEELING INSIGNIFICANT
AND UNCARED FOR AND KEEPING MYSELF DISTANT FROM OTHERS.
IT PAINS ME SO MUCH TO REALIZE HOW MUCH I HAVE MISSED
OUT ON BECAUSE OF HOW AFRAID I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN
OF BEING UNLOVABLE AND REJECTED. I FEEL SUCH SADNESS
AND GRIEF AND ANGER AND PAIN IN MY HEART WHEN
I REMEMBER MY FRIGHTENED AND LONELY SELF,
IGNORED BY MY MOTHER AND WANTING TO DIE.
BUT I AM BEGINNING TO SEE THE POSSIBILITY THAT SOMEDAY
I MIGHT FEEL LESS AFRAID, LESS ALONE, LESS SAD,
AND MORE HOPEFUL ABOUT FEELING CONNECTED TO THE
WORLD. AFTER ALL, IT IS NOT AS COLD AND LONELY AND
DANGEROUS AS THE WORLD I KNEW WHEN I WAS GROWING
UP. I HAVE BEEN TAKING SOME DIFFICULT STEPS TO REACH
OUT. AND I KNOW I MUST CONTINUE TO DO SO, DESPITE
MY FEARS. I SO WANT MY LIFE TO FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE,
WARMER, AND MUCH MORE UNDER MY CONTROL.”
117

EVEN THOUGH I HAVE ALL SORTS OF PRECONCEPTIONS ABOUT HOW I WILL
INEVITABLY BE HURT IF I OPEN MYSELF UP TO GETTING INVOLVED WITH A MAN AGAIN,
I CAN ENVISION THE POSSIBILITY OF SOMEDAY LETTING GO OF MY RIDICULOUSLY
DISTORTED IDEAS BASED ON THE MESSAGES I ALWAYS RECEIVED FROM MY MOTHER
ABOUT HOW MEN WERE ALL ABOUT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THEIR WOMEN.
EVEN THOUGH I CANNOT IMAGINE EVER FINDING WORK THAT WOULD ENABLE ME BOTH
TO EXPRESS MYSELF AND TO MAKE ENOUGH MONEY TO SUPPORT MYSELF BECAUSE MY
PARENTS WERE ALWAYS UNDERMINING HOW I FELT ABOUT MYSELF AND MY ABILITY TO
MAKE GOOD CHOICES FOR MYSELF, I CAN IMAGINE THAT I MIGHT SOMEDAY BE ABLE TO
GIVE MYSELF PERMISSION TO GO WHERE MY HEART LEADS ME AND TO FIND CREATIVE
WAYS TO FIGURE OUT THE FINANCIAL PIECE – SO I HEREBY COMMIT TO EXPLORING,
WITH GREATER FREEDOM, MY OPTIONS GOING FORWARD.
EVEN THOUGH I AM CONVINCED THAT I WILL NEVER GET THE WEIGHT OFF AND WILL
ALWAYS FEEL TERRIBLE ABOUT MY BODY BECAUSE OF HOW OFTEN I WAS SHAMED
AS A KID FOR BEING TOO FAT, I CAN ENVISION THE POSSIBILITY THAT, AT SOME
POINT, I MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT DOING SOME FORM OF
INTERMITTENT FASTING AND I HEREBY COMMIT TO RESEARCHING MY OPTIONS SO
THAT I CAN FINALLY HAVE THE BODY I HAVE ALWAYS LONGED TO HAVE.
EVEN THOUGH I HAVE ALWAYS FELT SELF – CONSCIOUS AND AWKWARD IN PUBLIC
BECAUSE MY FATHER WAS ALWAYS SO CRITICAL OF HOW I LOOKED AND WHAT I
WAS WEARING, WHICH I JUST HATED. I CAN ENVISION THE POSSIBILITY OF SOMEDAY FEELING
GOOD ABOUT HOW I LOOK AND COMFORTABLE IN MY OWN SKIN AND I AM COMMITTED
TO MAKING MORE OF AN EFFORT TO LOOK GOOD WHEN I GO OUT AND TO BUY MYSELF
SOME OF THE CLOTHES THAT I KNOW WOULD HELP ME FEEL BETTER ABOUT MYSELF.
118

“I HAVE SO MUCH SHAME ABOUT MY BODY
AND FEEL SO MUCH PAIN IN MY HEART
WHENEVER I THINK ABOUT HOW MY FATHER
WOULD LOOK AT ME – ALWAYS WITH SUCH
CONTEMPT AND DISGUST. I FEEL DEEPLY DESPAIRING
ABOUT EVER BEING ABLE TO FEEL AT HOME IN MY BODY.
BUT I CAN IMAGINE THAT SOMEDAY I MIGHT BE ABLE
TO GO OUT INTO THE WORLD LOOKING GOOD,
CARRYING MYSELF WITH DIGNITY AND PRIDE,
AND NO LONGER NEEDING TO KEEP MYSELF HIDDEN AND
DISSOCIATED FROM PEOPLE AND FROM LIFE ITSELF.
I KNOW THAT I WILL NEED TO CHANGE HOW I POSITION
MYSELF IN RELATION TO EATING, AND I AM DETERMINED
TO DO THAT. I AM HEREBY COMMITTING TO GETTING
SERIOUS ABOUT INTERMITTENT FASTING ON A MORE
CONSISTENT BASIS BECAUSE I KNOW THAT EMBRACING
A MORE RESPONSIBLE WAY OF EATING
WILL MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.”
119

“SOMATIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION”
AL PESSO’S
“PSYCHOMOTOR PSYCHOTHERAPY”
121

SOMATIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION
AL PESSO’S PSYCHOMOTOR PSYCHOTHERAPY (1969)
IS A BRILLIANTLY CONCEIVED METHOD OF TREATMENT
THAT AIMS TO ELIMINATE OLD BAD BODY MEMORIES
AND TO REPLACE THEM WITH NEW GOOD ONES
ITS REMARKABLE EFFECTIVENESS
THE RESULT OF ITS FOCUS ON THE CONSTRUCTION
OF NEW BODY (SOMATIC) MEMORIES
UNLIKE MOST PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPIES
– WHICH EMPHASIZE THE “EXPERIENCING” OF “GOOD IN THE PRESENT” –
(IN RELATION, SAY, TO THE THERAPIST)
IN PSYCHOMOTOR WORK
THE EMPHASIS IS ON THE “EXPERIENCING” OF “GOOD IN THE PAST”
AS IT HAPPENS
THE THERAPEUTIC ACTION
IN PSYCHOMOTOR PSYCHOTHERAPY
INVOVLES THE PATIENT’S “CONSTRUCTION”
OF “GOOD PAST MEMORIES”
122

AGAINST THE BACKDROP
OF REMEMBERING AND “SOMATICALLY RELIVING”
THE EARLY – ON BAD EXPERIENCES
AT THE HANDS OF HER PARENTS,
THE PATIENT IS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY
TO “CONSTRUCT IN THE PRESENT”
WHAT SHE “WISHES HAD HAPPENED IN THE PAST”
ACCORDINGLY
A “STRUCTURE” IS SET UP IN WHICH THE PATIENT
FIRST REVISITS THE EARLY – ON TRAUMATIC SCENE
– THE “HISTORICAL SCENE” –
SELECTS SPECIFIC MEMBERS OF THE GROUP
TO ROLE – PLAY THE OLD BAD OBJECTS
AND THEN RE – EXPERIENCES
– IN HER MIND’S EYE AND IN HER BODY –
THE ANGUISH, OUTRAGE, AND DEVASTATION
THAT SHE HAD EXPERIENCED
AS A CHILD IN RELATION TO THEM
123

BUT THE HEALING DOES NOT FOCUS
UPON THE CATHARTIC DISCHARGING
OF LONG – REPRESSED FEELINGS AND BODY MEMORIES
– OR, EVEN, THE GRIEVING OF EARLY ON PARENTAL FAILURES –
RATHER
ONCE THE “HISTORICAL SCENE” HAS BEEN RECREATED
AND SOME VERSION OF IT “SOMATICALLY RELIVED”
A “HEALING SCENE” IS INTRODUCED
ONE THAT INVOLVES
THE PATIENT’S PROACTIVE CHOREOGRAPHING
OF THE RESPONSES OF OTHER GROUP MEMBERS
WHOM SHE NOW ENLISTS
TO ROLE – PLAY CHILDHOOD OBJECTS
NOT THE ACTUAL BAD ONES
BUT “HYPOTHETICAL” GOOD ONES
– ONES SHE WISHES SHE HAD BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE HAD –
124

IN ESSENCE
THE “HEALING SCENE”
INVOLVES THIS CREATION BY THE PATIENT
OF “POSITIVE FALSE MEMORIES”
– ANTIDOTES TO THE ORIGINAL TRAUMA –
PSYCHOMOTOR PSYCHOTHERAPY
IS THEREFORE ABOUT “CREATING POSSIBILITIES”
FOR THINGS TO BE
– AND, THEREFORE, TO HAVE BEEN –
DIFFERENT
BASED UPON WHAT I NOW KNOW
ABOUT NEUROPLASTICITY AND MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION
I WOULD THEREFORE DESCRIBE
AL PESSO’S INGENIOUS APROACH
AS A STORY ABOUT “SOMATIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION”
AND, BAR NONE,
IT PROVIDED THE SINGLE
MOST IMPORTANT INSPIRATION
FOR MY BRAIN – BASED MODEL 5
125

SOMATIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION
FOR PSYCHOMOTOR WORK TO BE EFFECTIVE
THERE MUST BE A “SPLIT” WITHIN THE PATIENT
BETWEEN WHAT AL CALLED THE PATIENT’S “PILOT”
– HER “OBSERVING EGO” –
AND WHAT HE DESCRIBED AS THE PATIENT’S
“KINESTHETIC / SENSORIMOTOR EXPERIENCE”
– HER “EXPERIENCING EGO” –
“DUAL AWARENESS”
SUCH THAT THE PATIENT ALWAYS “KNOWS”
THAT IT IS REALLY HAPPENING IN THE PRESENT
BUT “EXPERIENCES” IT
“AS IF” IT HAD HAPPENED IN THE PAST
THE PATIENT MUST BE ABLE
TO HOLD WITHIN HER THIS “DIALECTICAL TENSION”
BETWEEN WHAT SHE “KNOWS” TO BE REAL
AND WHAT SHE “WISHES” HAD BEEN REAL
126

MY OWN PSYCHOMOTOR SESSION WITH AL
THE ISSUE WITH WHICH I HAD PRESENTED
WAS HOW BURDENED, WORRIED, ANXIOUS, AND UNHAPPY
I SO OFTEN FELT BECAUSE OF ALL THE RESPONSIBILITY
THAT I IMAGINED I WAS CARRYING ON MY SHOULDERS
AFTER RE – CREATING THE OPPRESSIVE “HISTORICAL SCENE”
OF FEELING SOMEHOW RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYBODY’S HAPPINESS
I WAS THEN ABLE TO “CONSTRUCT” A “HEALING SCENE”
IN WHICH I HAD A MOMMY AND A DADDY
WHO WOULD HAVE NOTICED THE WEIGHT I WAS CARRYING
AND, LOVINGLY AND THOUGHTFULLY, WOULD HAVE KNOWN
TO TAKE THAT BURDEN ONTO THEIR OWN SHOULDERS
THE “HEALING SCENE” THAT I CHOREOGRAPHED FOR MYSELF
AND THEN INTERNALLY RECORDED AS A SOMATIC MEMORY
FEATURES ME AS A LIVELY AND FUN – LOVING LITTLE GIRL
JOYFULLY SKIPPING DOWN THE STREET
BETWEEN MY MOMMY AND MY DADDY
– WITH A BROAD SMILE AND WITHOUT A CARE IN THE WORLD –
EVEN AS I AM CALLING TO MIND THAT MEMORY IN THE PRESENT
I SMILE AND CAN FEEL MY BODY RELAXING
AS I MYSELF NOW EMBRACE THE IMAGE OF THAT CAREFREE YOUNG GIRL
127

“SOMATIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION”
ANDRE’S
INTENSE LONGING
TO REACH OUT
FOR HIS DAD
129

ANDRE’S INTENSE LONGING TO REACH OUT FOR HIS DAD
ANDRE WAS A HIGH – LEVEL EXECUTIVE
FROM A SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRY WHO
– UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF A COLLEAGUE –
HAD TRAVELED THOUSANDS OF MILES
TO STROLLING WOODS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
TO DO A STRUCTURE WITH AL
HIS COLLEAGUE HAD TOLD ANDRE THAT IT WOULD BE
A POWERFULLY “TRANSFORMATIONAL” EXPERIENCE,
BUT ANDRE WAS HAVING TROUBLE GETTING STARTED
AND FOUND HIMSELF BEGINNING TO QUESTION
THE WISDOM OF HIS DECISION TO HAVE TRAVELED
SO MANY MILES IN ORDER TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY
TO DO SOMETHING THAT NOW SEEMED ALMOST SILLY
AS ANDRE SAT CROSS – LEGGED ON THE FLOOR
– EMBARRASSED, ANXIOUS, FRUSTRATED, AND DISTRESSED –
HE BEGAN FIRST TO PRESS THE TIPS OF HIS FINGERS
INTO THE RUG ON THE FLOOR IN FRONT OF HIM
AND THEN TO RUB HIS FINGERTIPS,
SLOWLY AND METHODICALLY,
BACK AND FORTH, BACK AND FORTH 130

MEANWHILE
ANDRE’S STORY WAS BEGINNING TO UNFOLD AND TO TAKE SHAPE
ANDRE’S FATHER
– WHOM HE HAD LOVED DEARLY –
HAD SUDDENLY LEFT HIS WIFE AND ONLY CHILD
WHEN ANDRE WAS BUT FOUR YEARS OLD
SUBSEQUENTLY
ANDRE HAD HAD A VERY INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS MOTHER
– WHO HAD NURTURED HIM WELL –
BUT SHE WAS CONSTANTLY REMINDING HIM
OF THE HATRED SHE FELT TOWARDS HER HUSBAND
FOR HIS ABANDONMENT OF HER AND ANDRE
NOTING THE WAY IN WHICH ANDRE WAS STROKING THE RUG IN FRONT OF HIM
AFTER A WHILE, AL SUGGESTED THAT ANDRE CONSIDER ENROLLING
ONE OF THE WOMEN IN THE GROUP
TO ROLE – PLAY ANDRE’S “REAL MOTHER”
AND THAT THIS WOMAN BE INSTRUCTED
TO LIE FACE DOWN ON THE FLOOR,
STRETCHED OUT IN FRONT OF ANDRE UNDERNEATH HIS FINGERTIPS
131

WHEN THIS WOMAN POSITIONED HERSELF
FACE DOWN ON THE FLOOR IN FRONT OF ANDRE,
HE CONTINUED THE NOW MORE OBVIOUSLY TENDER
BACK – AND – FORTH STROKING MOVEMENTS,
HIS HANDS NEVER ONCE LEAVING HER BACK
AFTER A WHILE
AL SUGGESTED THAT ANDRE CONSIDER
ENROLLING ONE OF THE MEN IN THE GROUP
TO ROLE – PLAY ANDRE’S REAL FATHER
AND THAT THE MAN BE INSTRUCTED
TO LIE FACE DOWN ON THE FLOOR
ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE WOMAN
ROLE – PLAYING ANDRE’S REAL MOTHER
132

INTERESTINGLY
ANDRE CONTINUED THE GENTLE CARESSING
OF HIS MOTHER’S BACK BUT SHIFTED HIS EYES
– NOW FILLED WITH SADNESS, PAIN, AND HEARTFELT YEARNING –
TO THE BACK OF THE MAN ROLE – PLAYING HIS REAL FATHER
NEVER ONCE DID ANDRE REMOVE HIS HANDS
FROM HIS MOTHER’S BACK,
BUT NOW HIS ATTENTION WAS RIVETED ON HIS FATHER’S BACK
ANDRE WAS OBVIOUSLY BEING GRIPPED
BY A POWERFUL INTERNAL CONFLICT
– BETWEEN HIS INTENSE DESIRE TO REACH OUT TO TOUCH THIS MAN (HIS FATHER)
AND AN EQUALLY INTENSE INABILITY TO DO SO –
CLEARLY
ANDRE WANTED DESPERATELY
TO ESTABLISH CONTACT WITH HIS FATHER
BUT SIMPLY COULD NOT BRING HIMSELF
TO BREAK THE CONTACT WITH HIS MOTHER
133

TO BEAR WITNESS
TO ANDRE’S AGONIZING STURGGLE
WAS PROFOUNDLY HEARTBREAKING
FOR ALL OF US IN THE GROUP
THE “WITNESS FIGURE”
– IN RESPONSE TO AL’S PROMPT –
THEN SAID THE FOLLOWING
“I CAN SEE HOW MUCH YOU LONG TO BE ABLE
TO REACH OUT TO YOUR FATHER”
AT WHICH POINT ANDRE
– STILL UNABLE TO BREAK FREE OF HIS MOTHER
BUT OBVIOUSLY STILL HUNGERING TO MAKE CONTACT WITH HIS FATHER –
BOWED HIS HEAD
– THOUGH NEVER ONCE TAKING HIS EYES OFF HIS FATHER –
AND BEGAN TO SOB
DEEP, HEARTRENDING, ANGUISHED SOBS
THAT CONTORTED HIS FACE AND CONVULSED HIS BODY
134

AL THEN INTRODUCED A “CONTACT FIGURE” WHO
– UPON BEING INSTRUCTED BY ANDRE (THROUGH BROKEN SOBS) TO SIT BY HIS SIDE –
HELD ANDRE AS ANDRE COLLAPSED INTO THIS MAN’S ARMS
AL SUGGESTED
– WITH ANDRE’S READY AGREEMENT –
THAT THE CONTACT FIGURE EXPAND HIS ROLE
TO THAT OF AN “IDEAL FATHER”
AND THAT ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE GROUP
BE ENROLLED AS ANDRE’S “IDEAL MOTHER”
ANDRE’S “IDEAL MOTHER” TOOK UP A POSITION
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF ANDRE
AND BOTH PARENTS ENCIRCLED ANDRE
LOVINGLY IN THEIR ARMS,
MAINTAINING, ALL THE WHILE,
CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER
135

ANDRE’S “IDEAL FATHER” WAS INSTRUCTED TO SAY THAT,
HAD HE BEEN ANDRE’S “IDEAL FATHER” BACK THEN,
HE WOULD NEVER HAVE LEFT HIS WIFE AND SON
ANDRE’S “IDEAL MOTHER” WAS INSTRUCTED TO SAY THAT,
HAD SHE BEEN ANDRE’S “IDEAL MOTHER” BACK THEN,
SHE WOULD NEVER HAVE FELT BETRAYED
WHEN ANDRE WANTED CONNECTION WITH HIS FATHER
BOTH PARENTS OFFERED THIS
AND MANY OTHER STATEMENTS
THAT INDICATED THEIR COMMITMENT
BOTH TO BEING THERE FOR ANDRE
AND TO NOT INSISTING
THAT HE CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM
136

EVENTUALLY
ANDRE’S SOBS BEGAN TO SUBSIDE
AND HIS BODY BEGAN TO SETTLE
INTO A STATE OF DEEP RELAXATION
AS HE BEGAN TO ALLOW HIMSELF TO “TAKE IN”
THE PROFOUNDLY HEALING EXPERIENCE
OF BEING COMFORTED AND NURTURED
BY “IDEAL PARENTS”
WHO WOULD HAVE LOVED EACH OTHER,
WOULD HAVE LOVED HIM,
AND WOULD NEVER HAVE MADE HIM
CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM
AS ANDRE NESTLED IN THEIR ARMS,
HIS BODY, ONCE TENSE, VISIBLY RELAXED
A BLISSFULLY HAPPY, PEACEFULLY SERENE SMILE
LIGHTING UP HIS ENTIRE FACE
137

ANDRE WAS INSTRUCTED
TO REGISTER THE EXPERIENCE INTERNALLY
– IN BOTH HIS MIND’S EYE AND HIS BODY –
AS A “POSITIVE MEMORY”
TO “CONSTRUCT” A “VISUAL, KINESTHETIC,
AND SENSORIMOTOR IMAGE”
OF THAT CHILD FINALLY FINDING
WHAT HE HAD SPENT A LIFETIME IN SEARCH OF
ONCE ANDRE SIGNALED HIS READINESS,
THE FIGURES WHO HAD BEEN ENROLLED TO “ACCOMMODATE”
WERE DISENROLLED AND THE “STRUCTURE” WAS COMPLETE
IN THE LANGUAGE WE HAVE BEEN USING HERE
CLEARLY A NEW GOOD “NARRATIVE”
– ONE THAT INVOLVED BOTH MIND AND BODY –
HAD BEEN “CONSTRUCTED”
IN THE PLACE OF THE OLD BAD “NARRATIVE”
138

IT WAS SUCH A POWERFUL EXPERIENCE
FOR ALL OF US IN THE GROUP
TO BEAR WITNESS
TO THE “TRANSFORMATIONAL POWER”
OF PSYCHOMOTOR PSYCHOTHERAPY
FOR THIS MAN
A HIGH – LEVEL, SELF – ACKNOWLEDGED
OBSESSIVE – COMPULSIVE BUSINESS EXECUTIVE
WHO HAD NEVER BEEN EXPOSED
TO ANY KIND OF PSYCHOTHERAPY
AND HAD, FOR DECADES, CARRIED AROUND INSIDE HIM
THE PAIN OF HAVING LOST CONNECTION TO HIS DAD
BUT A MAN WHOSE LIFE WAS TRANSFORMED
BY THE “MUTATIVE POWER”
OF “SOMATIC MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION”
139

MY PSYCHODYNAMIC SYNERGY PARADIGM
IS INDEED AN INTEGRATIVE APROACH TO HEALING
DEEPLY EMBEDDED EMOTIONAL INJURIES
AND RELATIONAL SCARS
RESULTING FROM
UNMASTERED TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES
IN THE PAST,
COMPROMISING THE QUALITY OF LIFE
IN THE PRESENT,
AND UNDERMINING DREAMS
FOR THE FUTURE
IT IS AN APPROACH THAT AIMS TO ADVANCE PATIENTS
FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL RIGIDITY TO PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY
SUCH THAT ONCE PATIENTS HAVE COME
TO UNDERSTAND THEIR LIVES BACKWARD
AND THEIR COMPULSION TO REPEAT,
THEY CAN FOCUS ON ENVISIONING POSSIBILITIES,
COMMITTING TO CHANGE,
AND TAKING ACTIONS THAT WILL ENABLE THEM
TO LIVE THEIR LIVES FORWARD 142

INDEED
WHEREAS THE PSYCHOANALYTICALLY INFORMED
MODELS 1 – 4
INVOLVE “UNDERSTANDING LIFE BACKWARD”
SO THAT THE PATIENT’S HISTORY
WILL NOT BECOME HER DESTINY,
THE CONSTRUCTIVIST MODEL 5
INVOLVES “LIVING LIFE FORWARD”
AND APPRECIATING THAT THE PATIENT
HAS WITHIN HER THE POWER
TO CREATE HER DESTINY
SUCH THAT SHE WILL BE ABLE
TO EMBRACE LOVE, WORK, AND PLAY
TO HER GREATEST POTENTIAL GOING FORWARD
ANN LANDERS’S (1996) SIMPLE BUT PROFOUND ADVICE
“NOBODY GETS TO LIVE LIFE BACKWARD.
LOOK AHEAD, THAT IS WHERE YOUR FUTURE LIES.”
144

145
I THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE!

IF YOU WOULD
LIKE TO BE
ON MY MAILING LIST,
PLEASE EMAIL ME AT
MarthaStarkMD @
HMS.Harvard.edu
146

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