Is Blue Monday a real thing?
January 17, 2025
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I’ve just been reading a great article on neuro plasticity.
It’s a bit wordy so I have picked some of my favourite elements of the article, in simpler terms with my own personal experiences added in.
Neural Plasticity describes the capacity of the human brain to be modified in its structure by external stimulation, even going as far as perhaps changing gene structure and the very matter of the brain itself, enhancing our human potential.
The Activation Effect
‘Use it or lose it’ – brain functions must be activated and stimulated to develop and sustain behavioural functions. If you don’t use a skill it is deemed as unimportant and so ‘pruning’ of those connections can happen. I often describe this to clients as if you walk a well trodden path through the forest, if you keep using it the path is clear and easy to walk, if you don’t use it often enough the weeds and brambles will start to grow across it, eventually even trees may grow blocking that pathway completely.
I think the languages I learnt at school have been pruned; I don’t use them, so they are deemed as unnecessary for everyday life, so the work has gone into building those neural pathways that I use more frequently, making them strong and clear.
The Specificity Affect
Interventions need to be specific to the targets of behavioural change.
This is why in the clinic clients will come up with their own goals that will show them that they are working towards their goals, and up the happiness scale.
The Repetition Effect
Repetition is important to strengthen these pathways, this is why we use hypnosis on the couch, and the client listens to a self hypnosis every night whilst committing to hypnotherapy and positive change.
This on its own is not enough though, variation and new challenges relating to positive behaviour change promotes plasticity.
The Persistence Effect
Repetition and persistence are the key here, often clients notices changes from the very start, some small some staggeringly huge. They key here though is to protect, grow and maintain these changes on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Sometimes immediate gains are not recognised, which is why during therapy sessions the clients strengths and resources and what has gone well during the week is discussed. Keep at it – it will happen!
The Salience Effect
‘The intervention must be important and meaningful to the individual’ this is why the client decides what will show them that they are working towards their preferred future. Also the fact that Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is not as direct during trance states as some other types of hypnosis, NLP etc. (unless dealing with specific phobias such as flying/spiders etc or smoking for example.) means that the mind can slip into that state of focused attention and start working on the clients own specific wants, needs and goals. When we allow our minds to relax the solution focused area of the brain comes up with wonderful and inventive, innovative and often quite surprising ways of you achieving what you want to achieve, that perhaps the conscious mind hasn’t even thought of yet.
The Optimal Timing Potential Effect
Younger minds learn quicker – we are all familiar with that. All this means is that persistence and effort are again key with the adult and elderly brains.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks eh? WRONG! You can – it just takes a bit longer.
The Novelty Effect
Learning must be new and challenging, and perhaps even complex at times.
I often tell clients in the initial consultation that with therapy you get out what you put in. If you listen to your CD/MP3 EVERY night, you work hard to achieve those things that you have expressed that you would like to achieve you CAN and WILL get exactly where you want to be, and in a lot shorter a space of time than those who do not fully commit. The very rare client that walks in through my door and wants me to literally have that magic wand, and does nothing new, positive or challenging in their own time, will more than likely pay for double the number of sessions to get where they want to be, or get despondent with themselves and therapy. I am here to facilitate positive change, to give you the tools to make those changes, and by using hypnosis help to talk that subconscious part of the mind, so that the whole of your mind is onboard working towards exactly how you want to be.
The Spread Effect
Control is constant not variable. Changes in brain functions from a particular behaviour or action can affect changes in other functions (transference effect) often without the individual’s awareness or conscious attention. An example I could give you of this would be a client that came to see me for anxiety booked an appointment at the dentist which she hadn’t been to in years and didn’t realise it was a big deal until she came for her weekly appointment. Or the client who came to quit smoking who now has taken up exercise and is feeling more confident and happier than ever. Or the client with the driving phobia who now drives a 40 mile trip to and from work every day, in a brand new job that she wouldn’t have been confident enough to apply for before.
It’s quite catching – once good positive changes start to happen, the keep on happening and increasing in areas that you could not possibly have imagined.
The Selection Effect.
In basics – as one area is stimulated, changes may occur in other areas depending on what your mind analyses as important. The seeds that you sew in your garden that are watered, nourished and cared for with plenty of sunlight will grow, but all the attention you are giving to these may mean that others may not flourish in the quite same way.
The Consciousness/Awareness Effect.
The learner’s awareness of changes that are occurring stimulate yet more change. This is why we always focus on ‘what’s been good’ in our week and what doing these positive things has achieved, and what we would like to achieve going forward. If you don’t celebrate your success’s they may slip by unnoticed which isn’t good for Neuro plasticity and positive change.
The Multisensory Effect.
Responding to stimuli in a number of modalities, for example, touching, seeing, hearing, and doing. This is where the hypnosis and trance work comes into its own compared with some other forms of therapy. During the hypnosis part of each session clients use their wonderful minds to really visualise whatever the therapist asks them to, making clear, bright, big pictures, with sound, sight and emotion to be able to really make those pathways stronger in their mind of exactly how they want to be.
So from reading all of this I am even more convinced that Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is the way forward in modern brain based therapy. Pretty much every article I read relating to neuroscience and the brain confirms this to me that this is definitely another one to add to the ‘tick’ list.
Source: http://www.neuropsychotherapist.com/ereaderpublic/articles/CognitiveElements-olr/
