Self-Determination and the Neurology of Mindfulness

Abstract

Self-actualization is one of the keystones of humanistic psychology which, as a reaction to the reductionist values of behaviorism and psychoanalysis, also silently ignored brain research, subsuming it under the same rubric. Now comes mindfulness, a fairly new movement, with its openness to brain research and such cutting-edge notions as the adaptive unconscious—“thin slicing” unconscious perceptions for immediate decision making. The integration of mindfulness with emerging brain research leads to the possibility of modifying brain structure through conscious awareness, thereby restoring self-determination to its proper role. Another incipient movement in humanistic psychotherapy, deep empathy, is explained in terms of mindful human connection and limbic brain function. Just as emotion, thought, and brain structure mutually affect one another, so do therapist and client. Mindfulness, emotional connection, and deep empathy all contribute to mental well-being and a physiologically nurtured brain and help us transcend the numbing “consensus trance” that blinds us to the deeper aspects of life. Mindfulness and the new awareness of mind-brain interaction bring us back to the self-actualization values of the beginnings of humanistic psychology.

What Does Meditation Contribute to Workplace? An Integrative Review

“…Mental well‐being at work, to which meditation can contribute (Grossmana, Niemann, Schmidt, & Walach, ), nurtures the ability for self‐determination (Ryback, ) and nourishes meaningful work (Whitmyer, ). Participants in one multicountry project (Hülsheger, Alberts, Feinholdt, & Lang, ) included Dutch and Germans who were working in the interactive service sector and who practiced mindfulness‐based stress reduction, mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy, loving‐kindness meditation, and three‐minute Breathing Space.…”

Psihoterapija kot možnost razvoja empatije v odraslosti

“…Za označitev tega momenta se uporabljajo različni pojmi. Nekateri govorijo o »globoki empatiji«, ki jo opisujejo kot globok proces, v katerem čustva, misli in možganske strukture terapevta in klienta vzajemno vplivajo drugi na druge, kar pripelje do preoblikovanja psihične strukture (Ryback, 2006). Raziskave možganov kažejo, da imajo možgani sposobnost plastičnosti, torej preoblikovanja, ta sposobnost pa je utemeljena zlasti na izkušnjah.…”

“…V vzajemnosti psihoterapevtskega procesa terapevt vpliva na možganske procese klienta, hkrati pa možgani obeh vzajemno vplivajo drugi na druge, če je povezava resnična in globoka. Nekateri govorijo o tem kar kot o spajanju dveh v intersubjektivni sferi (Ryback, 2006). To je mogoče samo v vzajemnosti.…”

“…Takšna novost bo mogoča samo ob pristnem terapevtu, ki bo klientu pomagal videti širšo sliko, ki ni vedno tako grozna, kakor morda misli posameznik v svojem svetu. Vse to vodi v preoblikovanje možganskih krogotokov, rezultat tega pa so bolj uravnotežena čustvena stanja (Ryback, 2006). Iz večine raziskav terapij je razvidno, da so najučinkovitejše tiste terapije, ki so bile bogate s čustvenim izražanjem (Cain, 2007).…”

“…Pri tem gre za limbično uglašenost, ko sta amigdali dveh posameznikov v resonanci in na isti valovni dolžini, kjer uglašujeta svoja čustvena stanja. Nevrobiologija tako daje dokaze za to, da globoka empatija dela psihoterapijo učinkovito (Ryback, 2006). Globoka empatija preoblikuje možgane, saj omogoča rast močnejših možganskih vlaken, zaradi česar postanejo čustvena stanja, ki so jih zlorabljajoči odnosi uničili, bolj uravnana.…”