Daniel Davis, LMFT

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Are You Aware of One of the Most Important Breakthroughs in the History of Psychotherapy?

July 14, 2015 By Daniel Davis, LMFT Leave a Comment

“Francine Shapiro’s discovery of EMDR is one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of psychotherapy. Having used it as part of my practice for the past 15 years, I, and many of my patients, still marvel at the depth and speed with which it can help heal and change the minds and brains, and even bodily symptoms of people who have been locked in, and suffering from trauma, often for decades,” writes author, Dr. Norman Doidge.

“I did what’s probably the largest NIH-funded study on EMDR. And we found that, of people with adult-onset traumas, a one-time trauma as an adult, that it had the best outcome of any treatment that has been published … even in the most biased studies, the EMDR keeps coming up as this very effective treatment,” says Bessel Van der Kolk in a public radio interview in 2013.

Following a hurricane in Mexico, Lucy Arrigas and Ignacio Janero developed the Butterfly Hug in Mexico in order to work with groups of children. Francine Shapiro writes: The Butterfly Hug “has since been used all over the world to help increase the positive feelings of a safe place.”

The Butterfly Hug is one of many techniques used to activate both the left and right sides of the brain. The activation of both the left and right hemispheres of the brain is called, Bilateral Brain Stimulation. In her book, “Getting Past Your Past,” Dr. Shapiro recommends crossing “your arms in front of you with your right hand on your left shoulder and your left hand on your right. Then, you tap your hands alternately on each shoulder slowly four to six times.”

Dr. John Omaha, creator of “Affect Centered Therapy,” says that he demonstrates the Butterfly Hug to clients without emphasizing any particular speed and pressure of the tapping. He said he figures that each client will find the best rate and strength of touch that works for them.

Francine Shapiro suggests another technique to activate both sides of the brain: “alternate tapping your thighs (with the tips of your right index finger, then left index finger) at the same slow speed for the same for length of time (as she suggests above for the Butterfly Hug).”

There are several other techniques to activate both sides of the brain that are part of “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing,” often referred to by the initials – EMDR. One way to active the brain is to follow fingers, objects, or images with your eyes. Another way to activate both sides of the brain is to use sound that alternatively moves from the left earphone to the right earphone. It is possible to have a recording on your iPhone to do Bilateral Brain Stimulation.

Francine Shapiro is a psychologist from Pacific Grove, which is near Monterey, California, USA. Back in 1987, Francine was walking on a long wide path on the west side of the Stanford University Campus. There are a lot of rattle snakes under the large eucalyptus trees in that part of the Stanford Campus. She scans the eucalyptus trees from right to left, thinking about a traumatic incident that occurred earlier in Francine’s life. She notices when she thinks about the traumatic incident, she feels calm. Dr. Francine Shapiro is obviously a keen observer of human behavior – both others as well as herself. She realizes that something very important had just happened to her. Later, Francine notices some thoughts that make her feel afraid. She tries an experiment as she deliberately moves her eyes to the right and to the left. It works again! The anxious feeling goes away as a result of moving her eyes from side to side. EMDR was created!

EMDR is also used all over the world to resolve symptoms like poor sleep, anger, anxiety, and flashbacks of painful events. It is also used as a treatment technique by the Veteran’s Administration to treat soldiers returning home who show trauma symptoms. EMDR is used to treat psychological problems from robberies, earthquakes, and car accidents as well.

Dr. Daniel Amen writes that “EMDR is one of the most effective treatments I have ever personally seen as a psychiatrist.” There is a great deal of research supporting the effectiveness of EMDR to improve symptoms from events that people experience as traumatic. The changes made by EMDR to the physical brain can be seen in a brain scan called, Single-photon Emission Computer Tomography or a SPECT scan.

This SPECT scan uses a special camera to create a 3-D pictures of the brain that show how an organ such as the brain works, unlike other imaging techniques like X-ray that show the structures of our body. Dr. Amen goes on to write: “We have studied EMDR with SPECT imaging before, during, and after treatment. EMDR is brain treatment. EMDR changes brain function.”

EMDR is a therapy used by trained professionals. Yet, there are EMDR self-help techniques available to help you feel better and think more clearly. These ways to activate both sides of the brain are available to everyone. The book by Francine Shapiro called “Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy,” has clear instructions for everyone who wishes to use these EMDR techniques.

A Whole Brain State is when both the right and left cerebral hemispheres of the brain begin to work together. This is called hemispheric synchronization. Bruce Lipton writes that “in our normal waking consciousness, we tend to operate predominantly from our left hemisphere, the side of the brain preoccupied with logic. In contrast, the right hemisphere is associated with processing emotions. When the left hemisphere is dominant, we tend to overrule our emotional drives with logic and reason.” Neuroscientist, Dr. Jeffery Fannin, asserts that whole-brain function is a “gateway to higher consciousness.”

Please watch my brief video and learn how to do the Butterfly Hug.

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Here is a description of the Butterfly Hug by Lucina Artigas and Ignacio Jarero:

“September, 2014.

The Butterfly Hug method was originated and developed by Lucina Artigas during her work with the survivors of Hurricane Pauline in Acapulco, Mexico, 1998 (Artigas, Jarero, Mauer, López Cano, & Alcalá, 2000; Boel, 1999; Jarero, Artigas, & Montero, 2008). The Butterfly Hug had become standard practice for clinicians in the field while working with survivors of man-made and natural catastrophes.

The “Butterfly Hug” (BH) is a self-administer Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) method (like the eye movement or tapping) to process traumatic material for an individual or for group work. Desensitization (self-soothing) is a reprocessing byproduct using the BH as BLS.

Instruction for the Butterfly Hug Method

Say, ‘Please watch me and do what I am doing. Cross your arms over your chest, so that the tip of the middle finger from each hand is placed below the clavicle or the collarbone and the other fingers and hands cover the area that is located under the connection between the collarbone and the shoulder and the collarbone and sternum or breastbone. Hands and fingers must be as vertical as possible so that the fingers point toward the neck and not toward the arms.
If you wish, you can interlock your thumbs to form the butterfly’s body and the extension of your other fingers outward will form the Butterfly’s wings.

Your eyes can be closed, or partially closed, looking toward the tip of your nose. Next, you alternate the movement of your hands, like the flapping wings of a butterfly. Let your hands move freely. You can breathe slowly and deeply (abdominal breathing), while you observe what is going through your mind and body such as thoughts, images, sounds, odors, feelings, and physical sensation without changing, pushing your thoughts away, or judging. You can pretend as though what you are observing is like clouds passing by.'”

Filed Under: Blog, Butterfly Hug Tagged With: Bilateral Stimulation, Butterfly Hug, Daniel Amen, EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Francine Shapiro, Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy, Hemispheric Synchronization, Instruction, Jeffery Fannin, John Omaha, Lucina Artigas, Norman Doidge, Single-photon Emission Computer Tomography, SPECT scan, Therapy, Whole Brain State

How do I calm down?

May 12, 2015 By Daniel Davis, LMFT Leave a Comment

Think about the most mature and likable person you know.  They are probably flexible, highly skillful, and self-aware in the area of emotions and relationships.  She or he will genuinely and with confidence increase happiness and excitement as well as calm shame and anger inside her or himself.

It is like a thermostat inside of us.  A system of balancing our inner and outer worlds.  Sometimes, this system works very well, increasing our joy, desire, excitement at the best times.  Our anger, sadness, and fear will decrease as needed when this emotional system works well.  When this emotional system is not functioning well, we have trouble with our relationships and getting things done, like homework or tasks at work.

In the book, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” JK Rowling writes: “Get too near a dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. . .You’ll be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life.” Experiencing a dementor seems to be like being depressed.

Harry Potter learns to concentrate, with all his might, on a single, very happy memory.  This frees Harry Potter from the haunting clutches of dementors.  Great writers and directors of movies, like J.K. Rowling, William Shakespeare, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, know how to change the emotions of readers or moviegoers.

In order to have healthy, satisfying relationships and learn and work productively, we need to influence our emotions internally.  We can try to use external methods such as food, movies, alcohol, drugs, sex, computer games, or controlling others to calm our upsetting emotions, but they eventually fail to soothe us.

Yet we can also regulate our emotions internally by changing our breathing, physical exercise, self-talk, and focusing on an images of safety, affirmation, and validation.  With healthy emotional regulation, the goal is to be aware of your body and calm unpleasant emotions, not feel numb.  Unfortunately, a vast majority of men have difficulty even sensing the emotions in their bodies and describing them in words.

Emotional regulation is a skill we can learn with practice.  Over time, it begins to happen naturally, just like learning to tie your shoes.  Do you think about it when you tie your shoes?  Put simply, healthy emotional self-regulation is responding to challenges of a situation with a level emotion allowing mature actions.  Affect Centered Therapy teaches us the skills to calm our sadness or fear.

John Omaha, Ph.D., MFT, the creator of Affect Centered Therapy and author of the book, “Psychotherapeutic Interventions for Emotional Regulation: EMDR and Bilateral Stimulation for Affect Management,” is in private practice in Santa Rosa, California in the United States of America.  In this video, John demonstrates the important skill of down regulating emotion.

Key Words:

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John Omaha, Emotional Down Regulation 1
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self soothing
How do I calm down?
Affect Centered Therapy

Filed Under: AMST (Affect Management Skills Training), Blog Tagged With: Affect Centered Therapy, Affect Management Skills Training, Bilateral Stimulation, Emotional Down Regulation, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowlings, John Omaha, self soothing

Would You Like to Be Free of Worry?

April 28, 2015 By Daniel Davis, LMFT 4 Comments

Do upsetting memories or trauma affect your concentration? We may lie awake at night with our mind filled with worries about money. A memory of an argument with our child or partner may distract our concentration the next day while trying to concentrate on school or work.

Containing these intrusive worries is an important thing to learn. “Affect Centered Therapy” is a remedy for problems controlling our thoughts and emotions. As a baby, we learn to soothe or calm ourselves from our mother’s love as she holds and caresses us. We then learn to comfort ourselves by sucking our thumb or snuggling with our blanket.

Sometimes, we may have upsetting or distracting memories of which we may or may not be aware. All the time, all our experiences are present in our minds, research confirms.

We can learn the “Container Skill.” By using our imagination as well as valuable techniques to balance the hemispheres of our right and left brain, we can feel calmer and focus on work or those whom we love.

John Omaha, Ph.D., MFT, the creator of Affect Centered Therapy and author of the book, “Psychotherapeutic Interventions for Emotional Regulation: EMDR and Bilateral Stimulation for Affect Management,” is in private practice in Santa Rosa, California in the United States of America.  In this video, John demonstrates the important skill of containment.

Keywords:
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Affect Management Skills Training (AMST), Container Skill 1
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Worry
Would You Like to Be Free of Worry?
“Psychotherapeutic Interventions for Emotional Regulation: EMDR and Bilateral Stimulation for Affect Management”

Filed Under: AMST (Affect Management Skills Training), Blog Tagged With: Affect Management Skills Training, AMST, Bilateral Stimulation, Container Skill, Emotional Regulation, John Omaha, Worry

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About Daniel Davis, LMFT

I create an environment where clients experience their unique significance, authentic empowerment, and profound acceptance and collaborate with clients to identify solutions to their current crises. For more information on how I can help you, contact me today by calling 408-249-0014 or emailing info@danieldavislmft.com. I look forward to speaking with you! Read More…

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Daniel Davis, M.A., LMFT
Counselor in Santa Clara, CA
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