[thesnowqueen]

I'm currently seeing a therapist who SOMETIMES uses a technique called Brainworking Recursive Therapy. I think of some bad memory and then T takes me back to some really good memory and then guides me back and forth very fast between the two. This is an oversimplification but kind of the way it feels. When I think of the 'bad memory' afterwards it no longer brings up any emotion. We are going to try the technique on what he calls a different level in which it is meant to change core issues.

When I google this technique however, I get PAGES of results that all seems sponsored by the person/organisation putting it out. So far as I can see there are no academic studies that establish it. It concerns me a little that I can find no critical literature about it. I find the idea that it LITERALLY rewires the brain somewhat implausible... Does anyone have any experience with this?

[Elio]

I don't know about that technique. When I did my initial research on neuroscience of psychotherapy they talked about how memories are actually a neuropathway of several neurons and that the more we revisit a specific memory the stronger that pathway is. Part of psychotherapy creates junctures in those pathways that over time can be stronger than the original memory. This is also a much simplified explanation.

So yes, I believe the brain can rewire itself and I can see how quickly flipping between memories could cause confusing in the neuropathways and possibly breaking the intensity of any (either) pathway. Have you found any downside towards the good memory?

If not, and you are seeing a difference/improvement in when you think of a 'bad memory', it sounds like something is working. I'm not sure how well it would work on a core issue. Some of those seem to be pretty hard to address.

[thesnowqueen]

Thanks so much for your reply, Elio! I wonder if changes in neuronal pathways can be observed by way of any kind of technology? The theory sounds good - of BWRT - but I wonder about the evidence, or even possibility of evidence. In any case, I have NOT had any bad effects. One does not actually work off a very specific good memory so this probably helps - it is more of an imaginative construct with elements of 'good memories'? I have had positive results with respect to very particular memories but so far I'm not sure it's generalising to the overall tone of my mood, attitude, automatic responses etc. I'd imagine it to be more effective with PTSD than CPTSD which is more like what I have. Still, it is working far better than I thought it would so I will continue....

[Omers]

I don’t know anything of the method you are talking about but in some ways it sounds like it would be based on similar research to EMDR here in the states... it is using a different method than eye movement but has the same feel to it. There are mixed views on EMDR. Personally I am not a fan but my T was able to discover history I didn’t think was important that keeps EMDR from working with me.
Anyway, my bottom line having worked with a lot of T’s both good and bad is if it is helping and not causing harm then give it a chance.

[thesnowqueen]

Thanks Omers - there are definite similarities. More studies have been done on EMDR which predates it and has more literature. I've never actually tried it though...

[Elio]

Originally Posted by thesnowqueen

Thanks so much for your reply, Elio! I wonder if changes in neuronal pathways can be observed by way of any kind of technology? The theory sounds good - of BWRT - but I wonder about the evidence, or even possibility of evidence. In any case, I have NOT had any bad effects. One does not actually work off a very specific good memory so this probably helps - it is more of an imaginative construct with elements of 'good memories'? I have had positive results with respect to very particular memories but so far I'm not sure it's generalising to the overall tone of my mood, attitude, automatic responses etc. I'd imagine it to be more effective with PTSD than CPTSD which is more like what I have. Still, it is working far better than I thought it would so I will continue....

I believe they can use fMRI but finding someone to do that is another story.

Getting Over Your Ex: Can Brain Science Help Heartbreak? : Shots - Health News : NPR

[thesnowqueen]

Interesting! Neurofeedback really sounds so much more plausible than many other types of therapy. I have seen it offered by many institutions. One social worker I know who sees many children told me she has not seen real effects from it though...

[koru_kiwi]

Originally Posted by thesnowqueen

Interesting! Neurofeedback really sounds so much more plausible than many other types of therapy. I have seen it offered by many institutions. One social worker I know who sees many children told me she has not seen real effects from it though...

i eventually sought out neurofeedback with a practitioner while continuing to work with my talk T and i found it incredibly beneficial. it addressed many of my trauma symptoms in ways that years of talking alone in therapy just never ever could. it helped to calm my anxiety, emotional dysregulation and my fears so i could start actually doing and benefiting from the process of talk therapy without becoming triggered and /or highly dissociated. my neurofeedback practitioner was familiar with the proper neurofeedback protocols to use for addressing complex/ developmental trauma and i believe that is one of the keys to increase one's chances for experiencing success from doing neurofeedback.

Bessel van der Kolk talks about neurofeedback in his book, 'The Body Keeps the Score' and it was the therapist, Sebern Fisher, who he talks about in his book whose protocols and methods i used in my own neurofeedback therapy. it was reading about neurofeedback in Bessel's book that encouraged me to seek it out when i felt nothing else was working and i was losing all hope of ever feeling better or healing. it completely changed my life for the better.

[thesnowqueen]

koru_Kiwi thanks for weighing in! That's very interesting! Bessel van der Kolk is very positive about a wide range of treatments (if I remember the book correctly). I think I might have been most interested in massage after reading it (or maybe a related book) but did not actually pursue it. I think the social worker I spoke to felt neurofeedback was not that helpful for attention issues which surprised me because i would have thought it was very well tailored for that. In any case, I am now feeling more positive about trying a new type of therapy.