In other words, the vast majority of disturbing events that most people experience in life would not be considered traumatic.
Another breakthrough discovery was made by Joseph LeDoux: Whenever a disturbing memory trace is consciously recalled, it becomes unstable and can easily be altered when reconsolidated into synaptic storage. The newest research on memory formation, recall, and reconsolidation also demonstrates that nearly 85% of remembered events from the past are not accurate. Each time we consciously remember something – painful or pleasurable – the contents of that recollection changes and replaces the previous recollection.
The most important discovery emerged with the development of Diffusion Tensor Imaging that can map the axons that bundle together in specific networks that carry out different neurological functions. When a strong emotional experience occurs, a learning process takes place involving the amygdala, hippocampus, and the Salience Network. The information that is formed is sent to the Default Network and this is where memory traces are used to help us navigate the world in the present moment. If a memory trace is not used or consciously recalled, it rapidly deteriorates, and this helps to explain why most disturbing experiences fade away. When memory traces are used by the Default Network to predict a future outcome, or when our conscious decision-making processes of the Central Executive Network recall a memory trace, it becomes unstable and is then reconstructed with the experiences that are happening in the present moment. The new memory trace now includes new information and is reconsolidated into a new synaptic connection, awaiting the next time it is called upon.
This has profound ramifications for the strategies we use to reduce a person’s propensity to ruminate on negative feelings and thoughts. With the exception of genuine PTSD symptoms (nightmares, uncontrollable thoughts, feelings, flashbacks, etc.), any coaching or therapeutic approach that encourages a person to recall past events – along with the false belief that this is essential for healing – can actually generate more emotional turmoil for the client who may now have the belief that there may be more hidden memories or unresolved issues stemming from past events.
New brain scan studies also call into question many of the theories of alternative practices like EMDR and somatic experiencing. They are still effective, but not for the reasons stated. For example, the autonomic nervous system is not involved in post-traumatic stress, and memories are not stored in the body, or anywhere else in the brain.
Network neuroscience changes everything we thought we knew about how the human brain functions, and it gives us a new set of tools that can help a person to briefly experience optimal psychological health during a mutually empathetic dialogue grounded in the neuroscience of effective communication. Those are the tools that we have been developing over the past two decades that have grown out of my and Andy Newberg’s brain scan research.
When I created the contents for this module, which I used to call “Working with Traumatic Memories”, the research on memory reconsolidation processes and brain networks had not been deeply understood in the neuroscience research community. This is why I chose to create a separate training course in Trauma-Centered NeuroCoaching, and which I encourage all of you to purchase. It has 40 new videos that are not in this program, covering the latest research on the instability of all memories and how to clearly distinguish PTSD from milder forms of emotional distress. Many of the new case-history videos illustrate the new way I work with trauma-related issues and why it’s important to discourage a client from seeking “repressed memories”, a concept that was fully discredited in the 1990s but has reemerged as a highly popular urban myth.
When watching the case-history videos below, keep in mind that many of the perspectives and theories presented are partially inaccurate. For example: The erroneous belief that traumatic events are encoded into stable memories that accurately reflect the original emotional disturbance. Here is my current perspective on the key processes to integrate into your work with others, following the basic protocols outlined in the Lesson 2 videos.