Why you aren't who you think you are Part 5 - Michael's brain continued
"If we become aware of that of which we were unaware, concurrently with a means which when implemented results in resolving that which we have previously been at the mercy of, there is hope."
To look at what happened in Michael’s brain on a neurological level regarding the de-linking of the neural pathway to the encoded trauma and the building of new, more resilient neural pathways, I will continue to use the work of Dr Ronald Ruden.
After asking Michael some of his history, Kingsley was able to make a hypothesis about which event could have been the traumatically encoded moment for Michael. During Michael’s Havening session, Kingsley asked him to recall the event of the dog bite (the event which seemed to be pivotal in Michaels life) in as much sensory detail as he could: what did he see (the blur of black dog, the sun glinting off the windows), hear (a dog growling), smell (the smell of dog, perhaps the smell of fresh mown grass), taste, and feel (the feel of teeth sinking into his hand, the feeling of pressure, of pain and the sensation of wet, sticky substances on his hand). This activated the neural pathways in his amygdala and the related electrochemical responses, which were created at the time he was bitten by the dog.
When Kingsley asked Michael to recall the event he noticed him squirm slightly as he allowed himself to briefly experience the intensity of the memories. “It’s pretty bad and I remember how alone I felt” said Michael. This report from Michael confirms that the neural pathway in the brain has been activated and is now primed for 'de-linking'.
Michael was glad that this part of the session lasted about 30 seconds and that he felt safe, as he was surprised at how this memory still affected his emotions all this time after.
Kingsley then explained that the next part of the Event Havening technique involves ‘distraction’. Other areas of his brain are activated through imagining exploring a beautiful place and through counting and humming. During this part of the process Kingsley also applied Havening Touch™. It is speculated that this produced delta brain waves and a cascade of responses which led to the reabsorption of the AMPA receptors associated with the activated neural pathway. It seems that this alters the structure of this pathway so that in the future, Michael can access the memory or encounter similar experiences and feel calm.
Michael reported that the image and sensations of the memory were much further away and he couldn’t really make it out or feel much about it. This is typical of one of the ways people experience a neural pathway being de-linked.
After the Event Havening, Kingsley then moved into an area focused on long term potentiation or building new, more resilient neural pathways. It seems that Havening Touch™ produces delta waves in the awake state (these are also experienced in slow wave or deep sleep) and combining this stimulus with directing Michaels thoughts to what he hoped his experience of life would be like, may increase the high-frequency action potentials needed for long term memory formation. This means that it's possible that combining the focus on how Michael would like to experience life, with Havening Touch™, may shorten the amount of time between focusing on a new thought, and it becoming an established neural pathway with it's associated positive out-workings.
Over the following weeks, Kingsley checked in with Michael to see how his responses had changed to summer days, dogs barking, sensations on his hands and other symptoms Michael had indicated he was experiencing. Kingsley also checked to see if Michael was still experiencing migraines and found that these had become less frequent if at all. These anecdotal reports from Michael seemed to confirm Kingsley and Michael's hypothesis that the dog bite was the encoding moment and that having de-linked that particular neural pathway, Michael's related symptoms were easing.
As Michael made Self Havening part of his daily practice and intentionally focused on where he would like to go, what he would like to experience emotionally and what he hoped his life and relationships could be like, he continued to reinforce those positive, resilient neural pathways. It is also possible that daily Self-Havening may decrease the density of the amygdala in a similar way that mediation has been show to effect the amygdala. This then leads to increasing and ongoing feelings of calm, peace and clarity of thought.
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References
Books
Ruden, R. (2015). When the past is always present. London: Routledge.
Ruden, R. and Byalick, M. (2003). The craving brain. New York: Harper.
White paper
Research Paper
Britta K. Hölzel, James Carmody, Mark Vangel, Christina Congleton, Sita M. Yerramsetti, Tim Gard, and Sara W. Lazara (2010) Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density.
