Resourcing Clients – Resource Therapy

February 7, 2024February 7, 2024

Unlocking the Power of Memory Reconsolidation with Resource Therapy

Broken brain or faulty Memory that needs rewiring. Resource Therapy offers Memory Reconsolidation Photo by That's Her Business on Unsplash

Applying Neuroscience Advances in Psychotherapy.

In the realm of psychotherapy, innovative approaches continuously emerge, promising more profound healing and lasting change. Among these, Resource Therapy stands out as a particularly effective modality, especially when understood through the lens of the latest neuroscience research on memory consolidation.

Let’s explore Resource Therapy and what I call the Empowerment Protocol as to how to apply these neuroscientific insights to facilitate deep psychological healing.

Understanding Memory Reconsolidation

Memory reconsolidation, a groundbreaking concept in neuroscience, refers to the process by which recalled memories become malleable and can be altered before being stored again. This process underscores the brain’s adaptability and its capacity for profound change, suggesting that when we recall a memory, especially a traumatic one, it’s possible to modify the memory before it’s reconsolidated, potentially diminishing its emotional impact. (Alberini & Ledoux, 2013).

Research indicates emotional memory has an association with many emotional disorders – PTSD, Depression Anxiety, and Addictions. (Brewin, 2011; Williams, et al. 2007) This offers therapists insightful implications in the psychological treatment of these pervasive and debilitating conditions which are substantially on the rise globally. (Schwabe, L., Nader, K., & Pruessner, J. C. (2014).

The Intersection of Resource Therapy and Neuroscience

Founded on the premise that our personality is composed of various parts, each with its own role and emotions, Resource Therapy taps into the principles of memory consolidation for lasting results.

Resource Therapy guides individuals to engage with specific personality parts associated with distressing memories. By safely accessing and expressing these parts with a Resource Therapy’s therapeutic setting, utilizing the Empowerment protocol, clients can revisit painful memories, reprocess, and adapt them, creating a new relationship with past trauma.

The Steps of Memory Reconsolidation in Resource Therapy

The integration of memory reconsolidation in Resource Therapy unfolds in several stages:

Activation of the Memory: Identifying and activating the memory part that harbours distress, making the memory accessible and amenable to change.
Integration of New Learning: Introducing new, positive experiences or perspectives to challenge the original narrative associated with the memory.
Consolidation for Change: Integrating these new insights allows the client’s psyche to reconsolidate the memory with a healthier, more adaptive outlook, fundamentally altering the emotional impact of the original memory.

What that looks like in Practice – the Empowerment Protocol

Clinically trained Resource Therapists work with the part of the personality directly, we use a process called Vivify Specific. A fantastic way to talk to the part desiring change.

Diagnose the Disturbance: As psychotherapists, we understand the presenting issue of fear or rejection almost always has its roots in childhood. The RT term for these parts holding unwanted emotion is Vaded. Resource Therapy (RT) Action 1 tells us what direction we will take in the therapy, perfectly guiding us with a therapeutic road map.
Bridging: As opposed to accessing a cognitive memory, by thinking about the issue. Resource Therapists are trained to isolate a somatic sensory experience memory (SEM) (Emmerson, 2014). Once this part is out on deck, we bridge to the unhappy or traumatic event.
Empowerment Phase for Reconsolidation: This is invariably a childhood scene. We then deploy RT Actions 4, 5, 6 (if necessary), 7 of the Empowerment Protocol. Here the therapist actively facilitates the child’s state to have a voice, and get its needs met from another internal resource.

Clinical Implications and Benefits

Leveraging memory reconsolidation within Resource Therapy offers a pathway to significantly reduce emotional distress and promote lasting mental health improvements, facilitating a deep, structural neurobiological change in how distressing memories are perceived and felt, leading to transformative healing.

Resource Therapy is a game-changer. With the Empowerment Protocol, we are potentially repairing attachment wounding at its source.

Parting Thoughts

The innovative integration of neuroscience and Resource Therapy opens new avenues for addressing psychological issues, providing a potent tool for therapists and clients alike, aiming for not just symptomatic relief but genuine, enduring change.

Using neuroscience, we can rewire our brains, effectively changing our minds.

With memory reconsolidation our part’s old hurts and harms are reprocessed gently with compassion and respect, creating a new future and a different relationship to the past. We are free to have the best part out on deck, to suit the occasion with the skills and ability to live life according to our values.

Learn how Resource Therapy uses neuroscience to change your mind with memory reconsolidation - psychotherapy evidence based treatments Photo by Bret Kavanaugh on Unsplash

Be the Captain of your ship navigating life’s journey, chart a course for freedom today.

Come and join us at our next Clinical Training to discover the power of parts therapy!

Visit our Training Program page here.

References

Alberini, C. M., & Ledoux, J. E. (2013). Memory reconsolidation. Current biology : CB, 23(17), R746–R750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.046

Brewin C. R. (2011). The nature and significance of memory disturbance in posttraumatic stress disorder. Annual review of clinical psychology, 7, 203–227. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032210-104544

Emmerson. G. E, (2014). Resource Therapy Primer. Blackwood. Old Golden Point Road. – Here are Gordon’s books

Schwabe, L., Nader, K., & Pruessner, J. C. (2014). Reconsolidation of human memory: brain mechanisms and clinical relevance. Biological psychiatry, 76(4), 274–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.03.008

Williams, J. M., Barnhofer, T., Crane, C., Herman, D., Raes, F., Watkins, E., & Dalgleish, T. (2007). Autobiographical memory specificity and emotional disorder. Psychological bulletin, 133(1), 122–148. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.122

June 13, 2023July 30, 2023

Have you Heard of Other Personalised Introjects and What’s that got to do with Therapy?

What is an OPI? Here's an explanation to deal with this phenomenon using Resource Therapy's psychological techniques.

Probably not. Other Personalised Introjects is a term coined by Professor Gordon Emmerson Ph.D. Resource Therapy is known as Advanced Ego State Therapy as a nod to its origins in Ego State Therapy.

Let me give you some background.

Ego State Therapy (EST) first introduced Introject as a theoretical construct. There’s a very different meaning of Introject in Resource Therapy (RT).

According to RT an Introject is simply an internalized impression of a person, animal, or object which is specific to a Resource State.

This is not a personality part, and Resource Therapists do not work to change Introjects as in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Imaginal Re-Scripting. In a workshop for CBT Imaginal Rescripting that I attended, therapists were encouraged to fight the Introject, gaol them, send them into outer space, and machine gun them down. I was disconcerted, as this seemed unnecessary and a waste of valuable therapeutic time and energy.

As RTer’s we believe introjects to hold no power, as they are memory fragments and illusory objects. RT clinicians seek to empower our Resources, our personality parts, for healing, by unmasking the control they have over their introjects.

For example, an adult part will have a different internal Introject of their elderly parent. Whereas a child part of us may hold unprocessed emotions like anxiety or rejection with regard to their parent, at the age they were when they were a child, in having that experience with their caregiver.

By now you may be asking what has got to do with Other Personalised Introjects. The key phrase is ‘Other Personalized’ Introjects (OPI’s).

In RT Introjects belong to Resources.

OPI’s they do not.

They are unusual personality phenomena that don’t usually feel like they belong at all.

In other modalities, they might be said to be spiritual attachments/ possession or past life experiences. Resource Therapy says Other Personalised Introjects are specialized client personality manifestations.

Many mental health professionals will have encountered clients with differing belief systems. Buddhist clients hold there are many lives and reincarnations.

Clinical Psychologist Edith Fiore reports in her foreword to Alan Sandersons book -“In what I thought were multiple personalities [now known as dissociative Identity Disorder, DID] turned out to be other people inhabiting my patients’ bodies, I learned techniques to help them leave, which resulted in instantaneous cures.” She goes on to say that although she did not believe in reincarnation or the possession of spirits, some of her patients did and others did not. The hypnotic technique she used assisted her patients dramatically for the better ( Sanderson, 2022).

Psychiatrist Alan Sanderson M.D’s research project on eye-movement desensitizing, before it became EMDR with Reprocessing), in phobias led him to be introduced, through Lance Trendall, to spirit attachment, as a cause of psychiatric disturbance (Sanderson, 2022).

Whatever your beliefs are, as therapists, we aren’t there to judge. We are here to help our clients. So we need a clinical method to effectively work with these personality manifestations.

Gordon Emmerson discovered this in his clinical work.

He noticed a client was having difficulty with their eyes. They were scrunching them and looked uncomfortable. He asked to speak to the part who was responsible for this sensation. He was mightily surprised to meet ‘Hank’. Especially as his client was a young woman. Gordon asked Hank if there was a problem with his eyes. Hank shot back with “Yeah I’m blind.” On speaking with Hank Gordon learned that he had lost his sight in a combat situation.

Gordon ascertained with was neither a part nor an introject. This was unique. This was the first OPI presentation he had encountered. Thinking on his feet, he ascertained that Hank was not where he was meant to be and devised a technique to help with this situation.

This is an advanced technique in Resource Therapy I call the OPI protocol. In our Clinical Resource Therapy training, we learn this on day 8.

Extremely interested to hear about your clinical experiences on this phenomenon. Personally, I have had the opportunity to use this protocol to good effect in our clinic. It takes me by surprise the ease and the results. It’s fantastic to have a method on hand.

References

Sanderson, A. ( 2022). Psychiatry and the Spirit World. Park Street Press. Rochester, Vermont.

Image credit

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

February 6, 2023

Want to Learn Parts Therapy and Save ?

Say yes and you can.

The Clinical and Foundation Program Early bird special extended. That’s right, but this offer won’t last.

It’s only till this Friday 10th Feb. I am celebrating my Mum and Dad’s birthday this week and you get the goodies. Interesting being raised by Aquarians. Now that is another story.

Many parts therapy trainings are expensive and not accessible. Resource Therapy parts training is good value and easily be applied in your next therapy session.

Here are the dates and fees for – Resource Therapy Training Program.