No Anxiety

Psychology and Psychotherapy Articles

Psychology

Neurology and Semantics

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by Robert DePaolo

Abstract

A previous article by this writer on brain function involved a discussion of how learning occurs in the acquisition phase, i.e. by a parallel, neural signaling, imitative mechanism. Here the discussion revolves around access to and retrieval of memories and responses, with an emphasis on language functions. More specifically, the assumption is made that the connectivity and relationships among sounds, words and grammar can provide indicators on how the brain processes information and consolidates memory. It is proposed that language skills such as retrieval, cognition and comprehension operate in a way analogous to the flow of energy from high to low resistance, i.e. along a psychophysical “path of least resistance” both between cortex and limbic system and within various neural circuits in the brain.

Signals among the Living…

While researchers and theoreticians such as Chomsky (1998) Pinker (1994) Luria (1966) and Whorf (1942) have written eloquently about the origin and nature of human language, settling in on a neurologically-based description has been difficult. That is due in part to a lack of technology that would enable us to trace the interaction among pathways as language responses are being formulated. It is also due in part to anthropocentric ideas on the distinction between human language and the communicative behaviors of other creatures.

Some distinctions are obvious. The human brain is more complex and therefore so is our language. The chimp, with a brain of roughly 14 ounces has about 15 distinct vocalizations, (i.e a phonetic vocabulary) that it uses to communicate with fellow troop members. The human brain weighs between 35-65 ounces so it stands to reason that our cortically-driven, enhanced capacity to parse and inter-connect sounds would be much greater. The ability to differentiate between and among sounds is every bit as important as being able to produce them through the fortuitously situated human larynx and hyoid bone.

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Autism and the Closure Response: A Discussion of Brain Evolution and Future Treatments

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By Robert DePaolo

Abstract

This article discusses the phenomenon of closure seeking as a mechanism for modulating brain arousal, superimposing structure on the aversive, chaotic dispersion of brain activity and how that process might have influenced the evolution of human language and of mind itself. This concept of mind is used to explain certain behavioral and developmental features of autism.

Internal/External Evolution

One ostensible drawback of Darwin’s theory of natural selection is that it focuses almost exclusively on the interaction between organisms and the environment. That is clearly an important aspect of evolution, particularly in a biological sense, since all creatures must adapt to the climate, terrain, food resources and the competition arising within its ecology.

Yet there is another side to evolution, which is perhaps more in the domain of physics than biology; specifically that all organisms are also systems that can only remain functional and intact through internal biochemical, intra-cellular and intercellular regulatory configurations and interactions. The second law of thermodynamics mandates that all system will ultimately be prone to entropy, but also that the duration of their existence depends in large part on the capacity of their sub-parts to operate in integrative, complementary fashion so that each organ system and each component of singular organ systems are in sync. In simple terms, the organism must have an effective noise-reducing capacity, i.e. a functional means of assuring that messages sent between brain and heart, brain and lungs, hormones and various muscles and bones are not blurred – irrespective of what’s going on in the outside world.

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TEEN PATHOLOGY AND THE ART OF SELF-SURFING

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By Robert DePaolo

Abstract

This article discusses a treatment method designed as both a preventative and post-morbid mode of intervention for various psychopathologies among children and adolescents. The method is termed “self surfing” and it is described as being most applicable with primarily para-biological disorders (those with no a clear or primary biochemical antecedent). A psychodrama format is suggested as a best possible milieu in which to implement preventative and treatment measures.

In discussing psychopathology among children and teens it is helpful to begin with early psychological development. Most mental practitioners in the field of psychology would interpret the word “development” in terms of specific stages; for example in ways espoused by Erickson, (Eagles, 1997) Piaget (1952) and Freud (1956). Here it is described more globally, as an early definition of self, emerging out of the myriad behavioral successes, failures, language attributions hoist upon the child by peers, family, and various authority figures in his or her life.

While the history of clinical psychological is replete with theories to explain the roots of psychopathology, it would seem three main theses have prevailed over time and that these are the seedbeds from which have sprung many of the current theoretical variations. One is behavior theory, which holds that wellness correlates with the learning and execution of useful, successful behavior patterns that produce enough positive feedback to preclude the frustration, helplessness, response uncertainty anxiety that typically lead to the onset of emotional disorders.

A second is the analytic model, which attributes psychopathology to myriad factors such as unmet needs in childhood, inadequate development of the ego and accompanying inability to moderate between id-driven urges and a sense of social probity. According to both the Behaviorist and Analytic (Freudian) models anxiety is the prime pathogen resulting from conflict rising stealthily from the unconscious.

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Pleasure Parameters and Behavioral Evolution

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By Robert DePaolo

Abstract

 

This article discusses pleasure as a necessary concomitant of organic behavior and consequently as an impetus in the evolution of increasingly complex behavior patterns. Pleasure is viewed as a function of uncertainty reduction – as per information theory principles, and since uncertainty bears some relationship to systemic complexity the size of bodies and brains is tied to ever-increasing capacity for pleasure, as well as an expanding evolutionary-based behavioral repertoire.

Evolutionary psychology is a relatively new field with intriguing implications. Among the most interesting is the idea that humans share many common behavior patterns with other creatures and that such primal/genetically determined patterns are, while viewed as immoral or antisocial in many instances, ultimately natural to man and more important necessary to our survival. (Miller (2000), (Symms 1979) (Elkadar & Wilson 2008).

Certain aspects of the EP thesis seem paradoxical. For example the supposition that acts of jealousy, sexual opportunism and social deception are necessary to survival (Buss 1992) is hard to reconcile with the fact that such acts often lead to social discord and counteractions that actually entail aggression and jeopardize the survival of members within the group.

Some advocates of EP would logically assert that as Darwin proposed, survival is multifaceted. Individuals do what they must to pass on their own genes, but also act to ensure that the generic family line is continued. Therefore while jealousy and promiscuity might somehow enhance reproduction rates for an individual, altruism might do the same for the group (Trivers1971).

Others have offered similar criticisms of conflict of EP, for example Gannon (2002) and Buller (2005) but in this discussion the author would like to focus on one element of the theory in particular. It has to do with the Raison d’etre of behavioral evolution, which is not survival per se but the pleasure response. No organism, with the possible exception of  homo sapiens, has any sense that its behavior has long term evolutionary consequences. Most creatures do what they do in response to immediate concerns. For instance, low energy states (glucose depletion in particular) lead to hunger which prompts food finding behaviors. Hormonal tensions and signs of estrus lead to mating behaviors and so on. Thus in the truest, existential sense, behavior, and consequently behavioral evolution are driven by the pursuit of pleasure, which is the intermediary, short term, perceptible code by which long-term adaptation is facilitated.

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Models of leadership behaviour in organisational coaching: a psychoanalytic approach.

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Nicola Caramia, BSc (Hons) MBA

 

Abstract:

Most of the research studies on leadership fail to contribute to a satisfactory explanation of the irrational and unconscious behaviour of leaders and groups in organisations. In this paper it is argued that current theories of leadership appear insufficient to predict the effectiveness of a leadership style in the context of organisational coaching. Leadership models have dealt with a narrow focus on the unconscious-irrational behaviour of leaders. A psychoanalytic coaching model is suggested to coach individuals in their leadership role.

Coaching can be defined as a form of personal development and is becoming increasingly popular in organisations that foster a leadership caching culture. Many different types of coaching exist in literature ranging from a special focus on the client such as executive coaching (Hillary, 2003), to neurosemantic coaching (Hall & Duval, 2004). Kampa and White (in Lowman, 2002) defines coaching as a form of consultation, an ongoing relationship between an individual (the client) and a consultant who possesses knowledge of behavioural and psychological change. The underlying process involves the facilitation of change that includes self-awareness, self-esteem and increased quality in communication with peers and employees.

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The Physics of Social Interaction in Psychotherapy

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By Robert DePaolo

Abstract

This article describes client-counselor interactions in psychotherapy in terms of physical laws. This somewhat unorthodox coupling of two separate fields espouses that like all aspects of nature, social interactions (particularly as pertains to the counseling process) are governed by the same principles that govern the rest of the natural world. This discussion also offers potential insight into how psycho-physical phenomena affect the emotional and cognitive realignments of both client and counselor

The idea that psychotherapeutic intervention has parallels in the laws of physics is really nothing new. It was the foundation of Freud’s description of the psyche, which he defined as an interwoven energy conservation system; one part borrowing from another to suit its purposes and an overall quest for pan stability among ego, id and superego. It was also inherent in the canalization theory proposed by Gardner Murphy’s personality theory (1947) and in the unified biosocial theory of personality discussed by Cloninger (1986).

Each of these theories espoused a concept of personality based on a broadly construed theory of stability. It is the idea that all elements in nature tend toward some degree of stasis (Baldwin (1988), (Lascar 1987) and indeed move, grow, act, approach and avoid in order to resolve states of instability. Just as personality theorists have incorporated physical principles into psychological functions, so have practitioners in the physical sciences done so with regard to human behavior; for example as seen in the work of Ashby (1952), (1957).

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