To put it differently, lack of validation and communication between the two hemispheres may result in the construction of defenses which consequently, and in time, could alienate the child from herself. These unconscious barriers are apt to isolate and stop her from recognizing and acknowledging her resources, abilities, potentials, and propensities that could easily save her from emotional and psychological torment and make problem solving a manageable task. Hence, we come to witness the birth of “mental and psychiatric disorders” and psychosomatic symptoms and conditions. Early in his work, Freud (1913) discovered that by allowing his patients to free-associate, they were able to uncover some of the unconscious material that was interfering with their normal functioning. Symptoms, both physical and psychological, slowly began to disappear as the unconscious became more conscious. Even today, free association continues to be a potent tool for conducting insight oriented psychotherapy. It appears that, during the free-association process, important information and material tend to seep through the defensive barriers spontaneously. This results in recognition and realization of determinants of behavior, conflicts, and traumas often locked in the dungeons of the unconscious. But again, because of the complexities of defense mechanisms, this process is often time-consuming and extremely exhausting. Theoretically, the process of psychotherapy can be accelerated should the two
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Hemi-Sync® Journal 1991-2 (Spring) · 2 Hemi-Sync® and Insight Oriented Psychotherapy - A Theoretical Model.pdf
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hemispheres begin to communicate more freely with each other and transcend the defensive barriers. How can we facilitate this communication? Hemi-Sync and Hemispheric Communication It has been approximately one year since I began to study the effects of Hemi-Sync on cortical activity. Study after study I was able to demonstrate objectively that Hemi-Sync does indeed do what it is meant to do: synchronize the two hemispheres. What are the implications of this inter-hemispheric synchronization? Once I recovered from the euphoria of observing synchronized brain states after exposure to the Hemi-Sync signals, I began to explore what was happening cognitively, as well as effectively, to each subject. The results of my pilot study have been elating and quite exciting. In two studies, while psychotherapy patients were exposed to the Hemi-Sync signals, they were asked to free- associate—that is, to talk about whatever came to their minds. In both cases, from an objective standpoint (cortical activity) two observations were made. Initially, there was a tendency toward inter-hemispheric synchronization followed by brief moments of total bilateral synchrony. It was during these moments of whole-brain synchrony that subjects often had an aha, or clarity, experience. Based on these observations, I have come to believe that one of the many states that Hemi-Sync facilitates is that of hemispheric communication or, perhaps,
as a psychotherapist would put it, “an integration of content and affect”. This, to a large extent, is what psychotherapy is all about, and it is remarkable to observe that Hemi-Sync may indeed facilitate and expedite such a process. A number of groundbreaking papers stating that meditation played an important role in psychotherapy (Smith 1976) appeared in psychotherapy journals in the late seventies. The authors of such papers, however, failed to propose a convincing explanation for why or how meditation contributed to the process of psychotherapy. At last, it appears that we may have an answer. In our neuropsychological laboratory we have already demonstrated that experienced meditators tend to synchronize their brains. More recently, we are beginning to see that moments of bilateral synchrony coincide with moments of clarity. Hence, perhaps the reason meditation is such an important tool in facilitating psychotherapy is because it promotes whole-brain synchrony; it opens a channel of communication between the two hemispheres which may allow certain unconscious defenses to be transcended. If we can systematically and consistently demonstrate this process in more elaborate and well controlled studies, that is, hemispheric synchrony followed by clarification of affect and thoughts, I believe we will be making a giant leap toward better understanding of how the human mind operates and how to facilitate its healing. Summary