Sometimes talk therapy can be what I call the therapist’s “left hemisphere mafia” talking to the client’s “left hemisphere mafia” which can cause growth to stagnate. The difference between working with me and other modalities can be that I have an awareness of what’s happening in the brain as we work together and I can explain that to the client. 

Stagnation can relate to the skill level of the counselor and to the openness of the client.

It’s my opinion that the counselor often needs to have a wider toolbox but there can be times when the client is facing their ceiling (a threshold of awareness beyond which they cannot pass). Although, even if the client is reaching a ceiling, the counselor can facilitate a greater awareness of that ceiling and help the client decide what to do about it.

In the end successful therapy has to do with differentiating (separating) in new and creative ways from stuck thinking states and linking to new ones. Probably there is some kind of fear controlling the outcome that needs to be released in order to break through.

The therapist needs to be skilled to help the client find fear regulation, especially when dealing with unconscious fears.

Somatic Experiencing uses body-based tools to get at fear in ways different from talk therapy and is possibly one explanation why my approach could be more effective.

Somatic Experiencing (when done correctly) is effective because it uses a specific form of neuroplasticity called memory reconsolidation and encourages brain integration. 

The modality overviews how trauma is originally programmed in the brain, then how to help clients reprocess it, (key components are slowing down time and learning to “tinker” so that the thinking goes in new ways). 

Sessions include play, movement, sensations, images, and fresh metaphor (the language of the right hemisphere,) and aim to help a client move beyond the “word channel” or “thinking channel.”

Anyone who is interested in learning the program is welcome to sign up and attend. 

The more knowledge you have ahead of time, the easier it will be to learn from the videos and live class content. 

Whereas classes are graduate level material, (see certificates in interpersonal neurobiology at universities for the approximate educational level of recorded content you will watch,) it is my intention to simplify brain science so as many people as possible can understand it’s core precepts and share it as widely as possible.

Effective therapy doesn’t necessarily need to be more than one or two sessions. 

It depends on what you want worked on and what your goals are for a session(s). 

One example is working on what’s called “shock trauma,” (such as a one-time car accident,) stereotypically that can be reconciled within fewer sessions than relational and developmental trauma (which is developed over time in relationships from childhood and/or adulthood). 

My recommendation is to think of one specific thing or memory you want worked on or to be different that is not your biggest issue but is important to you and do one session with me. 

Most clients report knowing whether or not sessions are effective after one session.