Individual Psychology, Brainspotting, Trauma and Addiction Jared - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Individual Psychology, Brainspotting, Trauma and Addiction Jared Lee Adler Graduate School Master’s Thesis Presentation

In Individual Psychology • Safety, significance, and a place to belong • (Ansbacher & Ansbacher 1956) • Culture of isolation and separation • Trauma leading to addiction and loneliness • 1 in 20 people ages 15 to 64 use an illicit drug • (WHO, para. 1, 2017) • Individual Psychology: Emphasis on courage and community • Brainspotting connects mind-body to restore the whole person

Trauma and the Body • Trauma is an unresolved negative experience held in the body • Nervous System responds with fight, flight, freeze, faint • Creating “dis - ease” or altered functioning • Trauma causes physiology to change • (Van der Kolk, 2016) • (Scaer, 2007) • (Levine, 2010)

The Brain • Front brain responsible for decision making • Midbrain responsible for emotion regulation • Hindbrain responsible for “instinctual functions” (i.e., breathing and survival responses) • (Siegel, 2012)

Nervous System • Sends and receives signals throughout the body • Sympathetic Nervous System prepares body for activity • Parasympathetic Nervous System calms and relaxes the body • Together - create a balanced state of responses • (Siegel, 2012)

Trauma and Arousal • Nervous System • Triggers • Distress • Survival Instincts • Therapist/Client Understanding

Threshold of Arousal • Unique to the individual • Trauma to narrow range of arousal, less effective regulation • Hyper-panic, racing thoughts, or tension • Hypo-numbness, dissociation, shutting down • Difficulty managing triggers, emotions, and thoughts • (Van der kolk, 2016) • (Porges, 2011) • (Siegel, 2012)

Psychological Response to Trauma • Herman stated that trauma overwhelms the human system • Van der Kolk defined trauma as shock or threat that changes coping ability • DSM-5 states trauma produces symptoms similar to: • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) • Panic Disorder • Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) • (Herman, 2000) • (Van der Kolk, 2000) • (APA, 2013)

PTSD • Re-experience, avoidance, isolation, and hyperarousal (APA, 2013) • Dysregulation impairs ability to cope with emotions • Cope with symptoms through drugs and alcohol • 14 times more likely to have SUD (McCauley, Killeen, Gros, Brady, & Back, 2012). • Traumatic event has unprocessed emotions (Dube et. al., 2006). • 6 x more likely to develop generalized anxiety • 4 x more likely to experience panic attacks • 7 x more likely to experience depression (Kessler, Sonnega, Bromet, Hughes, & Nelson, 1995; Shaley et al. 1998).

GAD • Worry beyond normal worry • Ruminating thoughts, restlessness, irritability, muscle tension, poor concentration • 4% of the population • Alegria et al. (2010) 43,000 participants, 2% had GAD and met criteria for SUD • Mental Illness increases vulnerability to substance use

Panic Disorder • 5% of the population (APA, 2013). • Symptoms lasting several minutes to days or weeks, marked by avoidance of … • Heart pounding, hot flashes, pain, trembling, fear of lost control (APA, 2013) • Kim, Dager, & Lyoo (2012) similarity between panic and PTSD • Kim et al. (2013) therapy to identify reprocessing area of the brain would help

Depression • Low mood, fatigue, apathy, decreased interest, guilt, isolate (APA, 2013) • 337 participants in a level-1 trauma center experienced similar trauma, 3 months later predicted presence of either PTSD or depression (O’Donnell, Creamer, & Pattison, 2004) • Negatively held experiences affect mood • Trauma feels present, processing occurred in the past • Siegel (2012) described 2 chemical reactions from trauma • Block short to long-term memory passage • Adrenaline increases coding of unconscious memory

Adverse Childhood Experiences • Study impact of negative childhood experiences • Researchers raised awareness for childhood abuse • 900,000 children physically abused nearly 100,00 sexually abused (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 2015) • ACES increase adult illnesses (Swan, 1998) • ACES correlated trauma and increased drug and alcohol use • 3 times more likely than general population to use drugs (Dube et al, 2003)

Addiction and Trauma • 59% of traumatized adolescence are affected by substances (Khoury et al., 2010) • Looks like: anger, sleep issues, and change in school performance (Dube et al., 2003) • Substance use leads to more traumatic experiences (Brick, 2012) • Siegel (2012) stated substances compromise nervous system • Unable to process and integrate experiences

Individual Psychology Alfred Adler: • Inspired to become a physician after childhood rickets and pneumonia • Transitioned to psychology and in 1902 joined Sigmund Freud • In 1912, founded Society of Individual Psychology • Child guidance clinics after WWI. • Theory influenced by Freud, Jung, Frank, Nietzsche, and Kierkegaard • Individuals strive to perceived plus by encouragement (Oberst & Stewart, 2003) • Strive for superiority and feelings of safety, significance, and belonging (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956)

Holism • Sum greater than it’s parts • Individual’s thoughts, feelings, and actions • Treat the whole person (Powers & Griffith, 2007).

Lifestyle • Private logic , and goals of life • Thoughts, feelings, actions used to make sense of world (Oberst & Stewart, 2003) • As if , acting by private meaning • Developed from family of origin (Ansbacher & Ansbacher 1956) • Adler believed poor mental health = lack of social interest • Poor mental health marked by feelings of inferiority (Oberst & Stewart, 2003)

Tasks of Life Tasks: 0-6 years old • Contribute to decisions how individual will meet tasks of life (Oberst & Stewart, 2003) • Social • Ability to get along, intrinsic need to belong • Work • Enables survival and thrive, includes obligations and responsibilities • Love • Grow and develop ideas of being a man or woman (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1964)

Social Interest • Each individual responsible for a role in community • Private assessment of the world • Promotes community - is on the useful side of life • Superiority is acting on the useless side of life • Community shapes social interest • All behavior has a purpose (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956) • Family forms lifestyle, social interest, and ability to manage tasks (Oberst & Stewart, 2003)

Organ Jargon • Evaluation of self, others, world, and tasks of life • Body response reveals attitudes and opinions • Private reasoning is conclusion to the behavior • Useful side of life = private logic benefits community (Griffith & Powers, 2007). • Addiction and trauma affect views and feelings of relationships (Yoshimasu, 2012; Gupta, 2013)

Organ Inferiority • Adler said, “Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement” (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p. 195). • Perceived organ inferiority manifests throughout the body • Physical symptoms are language of lifestyle • Brainspotting examines physical and emotional reactions to life events

Early Recollections • Memory • Facts are irrelevant • Presents current convictions, attitudes, and biases of life’s challenges (Griffith, 1984). • Measure progress of views on life or traumatic situations • Measure progress in stages of change • Access activation and serve as pre and post intervention

Brainspotting • Identifies, processes, and releases negatively-held energy in the mind and body (Grand, 2013; Scaer, 2007) • Dysregulation of mind-body regulation • Accesses nervous system through field of vision (Grand, 2013).

The Process and Techniques • Sympathetic • Reflexes • Emotions of arousal • Parasympathetic • Reflexes • Emotions of calming and soothing (Grand, 2013).

Outside and Inside Window • Brainspot , a reflex indicating point of importance • Accessed through activation • Outside, scan field of vision for reflexes • Inside, locate activation in the body and locate a fixed eye position • Or, access through calm, neutral spot

Gazespotting and Resource Model • Unconscious or spontaneous look reflects internal mechanisms • Hold spot with pointer • Activating emotions are overwhelming, start with calm • Locate calmness or “ okayness ” within body • Reference or coping location for distress • “Islands” of calm, grow islands as coping skills (Grand, 2013)

Discussion and Implications • Adler found in most approaches: • Social relations • Self-actualization • Person centered • Empathy to build rapport ▪ Lacks long term studies ▪ Trained therapists ▪ Alternative to talk therapy ▪ Intervention for addiction and emotional dysregulation

Recommendations • More intervention studies • Dual intervention model for trauma and addiction • Individual Psychology and brainspotting research

Conclusion • Adler said, “to see with the eyes of another, listen with the ears of another, and feel with the heart of another,” (p. 164) • Encouragement • Treat the whole person, change the community