Why Holistic Therapy Matters

By: Dr. Suzanne LaCombe and Mr. Terry McGraw
June 17, 2006.

Hi, I'm Dr. Suzanne LaCombe!

I am delighted to bring you exciting news about personal growth and recent advances in psychotherapy theory and practice.

These breakthroughs have enabled me to experience a profound personal and professional shift. I want to share how I was able to do this and why it's given me the freedom to pursue the passions in my life.

I also believe that you can achieve this for yourself. That's why I created MyShrink.

Please understand that personal growth doesn't come without effort. And you'll need the right tools to get you started. But I think you'll find this series on holistic therapy to be a good first step.

It begins by asking you a few direct questions...

When was the last time you danced?

When was the last time you sang in the shower?

When was the last time you had a real belly laugh?

Okay, so maybe it's been a while. But you've probably met a few people who seem to get the most of out life. You know the ones I'm talking about...

They seem effortlessly real and spontaneous.

They're self-assured and comfortable with who they are.

They're grounded emotionally.

It's not just that they're at ease in their own skin - it's in the way they experience everything around them. They see life as it is.

It's beyond positive thinking...

They're energized for change.

Sometimes serious, often playful,

They get a kick out of being alive!

The last two decades have witnessed an explosion of brain research³ that is dramatically revitalizing the practice of psychotherapy, and providing the scientific basis for no less than a pardigm shift for clinical practice. We now have a new appreciation for the necessary therapeutic conditions for personal change.

And what it could mean for your life just might astound you!

New imaging technologies have made it possible for us to observe the brain in action, providing scientific evidence of what was previously unsubstantiated theory. We now know for instance that synaptic regeneration can occur within an hour, coincidentally the same time as the average therapy session.

We can now explain the futility of clichés like "think your way to riches" or "just do it", as well as the almost universal failure of "quick-fix" self-help books and New Year's resolutions to make a lasting difference in people's lives.

You see, you can't change yourself without changing your brain. But you can't change the brain just by thinking the right thoughts.

Because lasting change happens from the inside out!

It is our evolutionary heritage to feel alive, vitally alive. This sense of agency makes it possible for us to make almost any personal change we can imagine.

When you really get it, when you fully understand how personal change depends on changing the brain, you can exploit your innate ability to emotionally heal, to adapt to changes around you, and to create the life you want.

If you're like most people you go about your business without giving a thought to the moment-to-moment activities that consume your day.

But deep down many feel that something's not working for them, that "something is missing" (and no, I don't mean their sanity!)

Yet do you ever stop to consider the possibility that your life could be more satisfying, more complete? Have you given up believing it could be any other way?

I challenge you to ask some deep questions of yourself.

• Are you living your life's purpose?
• Are you living your potential?
• Have you unknowingly sold yourself short?

You can create the life you want!

I'm not talking about feeling 'warm and fuzzy'. I'm talking about living a rich, fulfilled life.

It doesn't involve drugs. It's not about "thinking the right thoughts". It's not even getting mad about how you were toilet-trained.

The key to personal change is understanding that our sense of well-being, and how we relate to the world, are completely dependent on processes that operate below consciousness. In fact, the brain is predominantely occupied with processes that are not, and cannot be, brought into awareness.

But "updating" these non-conscious processes ultimately enables us to make deeper connections with others and to find more meaning in our lives. It is my belief, and experience, that there is really no other way to do this effectively apart from psychotherapy.

Not just any psychotherapy, but the kind that involves an empathic relationship with an attuned therapist, like the ones we describe on the MyShrink site.

You see, it takes a powerful learning experience for the brain to change, and thus for us to change. Neuroscience explains why. Holistic therapy shows how.

Ever notice that some people...

• have no trouble making money while others struggle paycheck to paycheck?
• bounce back from calamity and are never stuck in defeat?
• have lots of friends, while others are alone?

If you're like a lot of others you probably thought that these are your burdens to bear, that "that's just the way things are".

Maybe you're waiting for tomorrow, or counting on the next lottery.

Or maybe you think, "I'm just unlucky".

Change is possible but you need to know how!

Neuroscience is showing us the way.

It is not only changing the way we see therapy.

It's changing how we do therapy.

And that's why therapy matters!

Have I piqued your interest? Want to know more? Then follow me! Forget what you thought you knew about therapy, and see if what I say is true for you.

Notes

1 We conceive holistic therapy as those types of client-therapist interactions that are right-brain based. They include what are known as mind-body psychotherapy, body psychotherapy and mindfulness psychotherapies. At MyShrink we emphasize the moment-to-moment interactions between client and therapist, since research suggests that this is when the brain is most open for change.

2 This series of three articles begins a discussion of the mind, body, spirit principles underlying holistic psychotherapy. Recent research shows that holistic therapy presents a unique opportunity to change the way you feel on both an emotional and physical level.

Through interactive, right brain experiences with a therapist attuned to your moment-to-moment internal states, you can: restore your capacity for emotional self-regulation; enjoy greater freedom and flexibility in your relationships; and, develop a coherent, resilient and unified sense of self.

3 "There is no longer any doubt that psychotherapy can result in detectable changes in the brain". From:

Etkin A., Pittenger C., Polan H.J., & Kandel E.R., "Toward a neurobiology of psychotherapy: basic science and clinical applications." Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 17: 145-158, May 2005. American Psychiatric Press.

Access above article here:Toward a Neurobiology of Psychotherapy

_{BTW, Dr. Eric Kandel won the Nobel Prize in Neuroscience for the Year 2000.}

"...insofar as psychotherapy is successful in bringing about substantive changes in behavior, it does so by producing alterations in gene expression that produce new structural changes in the brain." From:

Kandel E.R. "A new intellectual framework for psychiatry." American Journal of Psychiatry, 155:4, April 1998.

Access the above article here: A New Intellectual Framework for Psychiatry

Jim Rosack of Psychiatric News interviewed Dr. Kandel for the May 4, 2001 issue (Volume 36 Number 9 p.16). In response to the controversy of his article in 1998:

So, does Kandel think that the analyst’s couch is obsolete?

"No, absolutely not," he said. "Therapy has the potential, just as learning and memory do, to alter the brain’s functions at the gene level. And I think that the methods of evaluating the outcomes, such as new imaging techniques, will provide indications of just that."

Access the above article here: Nobel Prize Winner to Speak at Annual Meeting

More Articles on Neuroimaging and Psychotherapy

Express Lane to the Next Article

REFERENCES.

Holistic Psychotherapy and Personal Growth

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