[Neurons] 2014 "Neurons" Meta Reflections #41

Sun Oct 12 16:48:39 EDT 2014

From: L. Michael Hall

Meta Reflections 2014 #41

October 13, 2014

Neuro-Semantics & Therapy Series #4

GETTING TO THE HEART OF THINGS

COGNITIONS-> MEANINGS

Working in his residency in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania,
David Burns began research on the theory that "a chemical imbalance in the
brain, specifically that patients with depression have a serotonin
deficiency, and patients with mania have an excess."  But he couldn't find
any evidence!

Later he was given the prestigious A.E. Bennett Award for his research on
brain serotonin metabolism.  That was for the double-bind research on the
theory whereby two groups of patients, each given a milkshake daily, but one
milkshake was laced with 20 grams of L-tryptophan, a massive dose of an
amino acid that goes directly from the stomach into the blood and into the
brain.  Measuring the depression levels of tboth groups, "there were
absolutely no differences."  This was published in Archives of General
Psychiatry in 1975 which led him and others to conclude that it was not
clear at all why people were proposing the brain chemistry theory.

The theory was now in question.  So David Burns asked his advisor.  At the
time, he was one of the world's top three psycho-pharmacologists.  He
responded:

"Well David, to tell you the truth, a number of years ago, several of us got
together to try to start the field of biological psychiatry.  We know there
are thousands of substances in the human brain, but the first one we learned
how to measure with an assay, was serotonin.  So, kind of tongue and check,
we made up this theory that depression is due to too little serotonin and
mania is due to too much.  We just wanted to get the field of biological
psychiatry going so we could submit grants to NIMH and get funding and start
brain research." 

He felt that "as a basis for a dominant theory" that was ridiculous.  Yet to
that, the advisor said: 

"Don't rock the boat.  I could get you started testing antidepressants for
drug companies.  You'll make millions every year.  You're already becoming
world famous.  Don't challenge the system."

He refused.  I like this guy!  In the face of the ridiculous assertion that
antidepressions can "cure 85% of patients with depression" he said, "that's
baloney!"  Having clinical experience with depressive clients, he said most
were not getting better and many were deteriorating.  That was back in the
mid-1970s.  And that led him to discover and using Aaron Beck's Cognitive
Therapy.  But at first he resisted.  Why?  He asked in disbelief:

"Negative thinking causes depression?  Change the way people think and you
can change the way they feel?"

It seemed too simplistic, too Dale Carnegie or Norman Vincent Peale!  But he
gave it a try.  Later he had patients who were starting to say, "Hey this
stuff really helps.  This is great.  Do you have more techniques?"  And with
that he wrote, "It was the patients who really sold me on it."

"I am deeply indebted to Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck, pioneers who changed
the history of psychotherapy.  They were brilliant clinicians and they gave
us incredible gifts..."

Noting that they did not have all the answers he described how important the
factors of motivation and resistance play a great role in our cognitions and
perceptions.  In therapy, one has to have some way to melt a patient's
resistance and then "the patient becomes a powerful collaborator with the
therapist."

All of this is in the interview with David Burns in the current edition of
The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Newsletter (Summer/Fall 2014).  Then in a
tone that sounds like NLP, Burns says, "when we deal with resistance we try
to make patients proud of their depression, and show they why they possibly
should not give it up" (p. 23).  

If you can do that in a skillful way, the paradox is that the moment that
you sell the patient on the fact that they shouldn't change, suddenly their
resistance disappears and they're quite hungry to change."

I met Albert Ellis for the first time in 1979 along with Rolla May and
others during a Conference in ST. Louis.  That led me into Cognitive
Psychology.  And with David Burn published Feeling Good: The New Mood
Therapy in 1985 it bought it immediately and began putting the processes
("techniques") that he had created into action.  Later I visited,
interviewed and modeled Albert Ellis at work in his New York clinic and that
is the background for using the Cognitive Distortions in Meta-Coaching. 

All of that background also prepared me for NLP in 1986.  What NLP did for
me was flesh out the details of the Cognitive Psychology model.  And no
wonder-the two founders of Cognitive Psychology, George Miller and Noam
Chomsky were key influences on NLP.  John Grinder did his dissertation on
Chomsky's Transformational Grammar model and then the early NLP group used
Miller's work of his TOTE model in The Structure of Behavior (1960) for
creating the NLP Strategy Model.

How does all of this help with "therapy?"  To heal a person, to facilitate
the person to become okay, empowered to face reality, and to come into the
now- the problem is always at the level of cognitions, and more
specifically, meanings.  Yes, brain chemistry changes and reflects the
rpoblem.  And yes, emotions are symptomatic of the problem and can amplify
the problem.  And yes, behaviors can be dysfunctions and hurtful.  Yet they
are symptoms.  The cause of the problem always goes to how the person is
thinking- processing information, constructing meaning, and interpreting the
experiences of life.  Change that and the person changes- and so do the
symptoms.

Why is this?  Because "the map is not the territory."  The mental mapping of
the person which is trying to comprehend and deal with the territory
determines appropriateness and effectiveness.  If the map is wrong, then so
will be the biochemistry, the emotions, the behaviors, the ways of relating,
etc.

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

                Neuro-Semantics Executive Director 

                Neuro-Semantics International

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO. 81520 USA                             

                1 970-523-7877 

                Dr. Hall's email:
<mailto:meta at acsol.net\hich\af31506\dbch\af31505\loch\f31506> meta at acsol.net

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