Theoretical Rationale 

 

Premise: Internal Conflict

1. Fracturing w/in all humans: 

   1. Past vs. present 

      1. attachment injuries from childhood impair self-attachment, or our relationship to ourselves (Attachment)

   2. Brain vs. body  (Interoception) (Mindsight)

   3. Emotions vs. logic 

      1. division w/in brain (Cozolino, The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy)

         1. right vs. left hemisphere

         2. cortex vs. subcortical region 

2. Triggers 

   1. When these conflicts surface 

      1. Opportunities vs. “problems to manage” 

      2. Lead to imprinting memories for integration work 

3. Goal: Self-attachment  

   1. Self-attunement vs. talking ourselves out of our feelings/dissociation 

   2. Posture toward ourselves of curiosity and compassion

   3. Dislodge all shame

 

Integration Premise: Trauma 

1. Feelings stagnate within the body

   1. Anger & shame

   2. Triggering when present (unconsciously) echoes past 

2. Lack of resolution for traumatic event

   1. Releasing feelings out of the body necessary for closure 

   2. Attunement is the solution

      1. Lack of attunement from attachment figure

         1. Creates shame and dissociated anger 

         2. Creates implicit distorted beliefs

            1. “I don’t matter”

            2. “I’m not enough” 

         3. Implicit distorted beliefs become a template

            1. Dictate automatic responses 

            2. Cause triggers 

In summary: 

The goal of integration is to help our young self no longer feel alone in her feelings, but to finally release them, bringing closure to the trauma so it no longer haunts us in the present. We integrate our young, emotional self with our adult, logical self, which allows our body to recalibrate distorted beliefs and frees us from triggering reactions. The adult self meets the child self on her level, showing empathy, seeking understanding, validating her feelings and sharing them (what’s sharable is bearable). 

 

This brings objectivity to the child self, who is able to reframe the debilitating belief to one that is aligned with truth. 

 

Integration fights dissociation

 

Dr. Louis Cozolino, in The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy (2024), states the role of therapy is to “work against dissociation to integrate neural networks. Integration is essentially the opposite of the dissociation observed in reaction to trauma” (Cozolino, p. 4). 

1. Children learn to dissociate from anger 

   1. Fear of shame and abandonment by attachment figure

   2. Creates life-long template

2. Alexithymia

   1. Without words - literal definition 

   2. “Holding it all inside” 

3. Mental illness due to dissociated anger

   1. Anxiety, depression

   2. OCD, ADHD

   3. Bipolar

   4. Mania 

4. Somatic illness from dissociated anger

   1. Gut illness

   2. Headaches

   3. Vertigo

   4. Insomnia 

   5. Auto-immune disorders 

 

Technique 

​

1. Ask what the client feels somatically when they’re talking about a current triggering event. 

   1. If they cannot feel anything, it’s often due to dissociation away from the body, into the brain. 

   2. Have them close their eyes and say to their brain, “Brain, thank you for all the hard work you do, I appreciate you. But right now I’m going to have you take a break so I don’t dissociate from my body. I’m going to now drop down into my body and see what she feels. I will come back to you later.” 

2. The Float Back

   1. “As you focus on those sensations, let your mind float back to the first time you remember feeling anything like this. Tell me when there’s a memory.” 

   2. It can also be the “loudest time” they felt the sensations, versus the first

3. Feelings are evoked

   1. Therapists have to be OK with the level of feelings, creating a container

   2. It is necessary for clients to feel their feelings near the level they were felt originally, in order to bring closure, where they’re finally released out of her body. Dr. Cozolino writes that the “stress” of feeling painful emotions is necessary to trigger neural plasticity necessary for integration (Cozolino, p. 4).

   3. What grounds the client is attaching to themselves. 

   4. Paradoxical, because they need to feel nearly flooded in order to heal, but we have to trust this and not back off

4. Client closes eyes or looks at the floor

5. The therapist describes the client at the time of the event by summarizing what happened: “I want you to go to young Kyira, who is 13 and has been suddenly woken up in the middle of the night by mom.” 

   1. This helps the client see herself empathically and simultaneously feel seen by the therapist 

6. Client imagines herself on the level of her younger self, looking her in the eyes

7. Validation of feelings: 

   1. The therapist summarizes in the words of the client's adult self, who speaks to her young self, validating her feelings: “I don’t blame you for feeling conflicted – wanting mom to hold you but also not trusting her”. 

8. Apology: 

   1. The adult self apologizes for abandoning the child self, naming how it’s hurt the child, who has had to feel helpless and alone

9. Committing to be the new attachment figure: 

   1. The adult self commits to be the nurturing and trustworthy attachment figure moving forward. 

10.  Give up false hope on biological attachment figure 

11. Dislodge shame

    1. Adult self names the shame from the abandonment/rejection, and has child self put the shame into a cardboard box, and give it back to the person who shamed her

    2. Shame is a natural by-product of emotional neglect by a parent. 

12. Closure: 

    1. The adult self gives her young self a hug or takes her by the hand and walks her to safety, closing the door firmly behind her.