Monthly Archives: July 2022

Proactive Neuroplasticity YouTube Series

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“Dr. Mullen is doing impressive work helping the world. He is the pioneer of proactive neuroplasticity utilizing DRNI—deliberate, repetitive, neural information.” — WeVoice (Madrid, Málaga)

The primary goal of recovery from social anxiety is the moderation of our irrational fears and anxieties. We achieve this through a three-pronged approach where we:

  1. Replace or overwhelm our negative thoughts and behaviors with healthy, productive ones.
  2. Produce rapid neurological stimulation to change the polarity of our neural network.
  3. Regenerate our self-esteem.

This series of videos explains how, through proactive neuroplasticity, we compel our neural network to repattern its neural circuitry, generating a correlated change in behavior and perspective. The deliberate, repetitive neural input of information dramatically accelerates and consolidates learning through synaptic neurotransmission. The series further describes how we replace or overwhelm our negative thoughts and behaviors through CBT, positive psychology, psychoeducation, roleplay, gradual exposure, and other individually targeted approaches.

Video Series #7: Constructing Our Neural Information

Neural information is constructed by establishing our goal, identifying the objectives or steps we take to implement that goal, and determining the Information – the self-affirming or motivating statement we deliberately and repetitively input into our neural network. We want our information to be authentic and of sound construction to engage the full capacity of positive neural response. The integrity of our goal, objectives, and information correlates to the durability and efficacy of the neural response. LINK

Video Series #6: Affirmative Visualization

By visualizing a positive outcome prior to a feared situation, we experience behaving a certain way in a realistic scenario and, through repetition, attain an authentic shift in our behavior and perspective. It is a form of proactive neuroplasticity, and all the neural benefits of that science are accrued. Just as our neural network cannot distinguish between toxic and healthy information, it also does not distinguish whether we are physically experiencing something or imagining it. LINK

Video Series #5: Challenging Our Self-Destructive Thoughts

In this video, we focus on the trajectory of our self-destructive thoughts that impact our emotional wellbeing and quality of life. They originate with our negative core beliefs generated by our disorder which influence our intermediate beliefs from life experiences and form our ANTs or automatic negative thoughts that underscore our situational fears and anxieties. LINK

Video Series #4: The Power of Positive Personal Affirmations

We drastically underestimate the significance and effectiveness of PPAs because we do not understand the science behind them. PPAs are brief, individually focused statements that we repeat to ourselves to describe what and who we want to be. PPAs help us focus on goals, challenge negative, self-defeating beliefs, and reprogram our subconscious minds. Practicing positive personal affirmations is an extremely effective form of DRNI or the deliberate, repetitive input of neural information that supports proactive neuroplasticity. LINK

Video Series #3: Tools and Techniques

Proactive neuroplasticity is the process of deliberately and repetitively inputting positive information into our neural network to consolidate learning and unlearning. What is that information? How is it constructed? The objective is to ensure the information is of the highest quality to effect change. What are the best tools and techniques? What methodologies and psychological support systems are best suited to support proactive neuroplasticity – to help us unlearn the toxicity of negative self-beliefs, replacing them with healthy, positive ones. LINK

Video Series #2: Three Forms of Neuroplasticity

Reactive neuroplasticity is our brain’s natural adaptation to sensory information. Active neuroplasticity is neural information acquired through conscious activity, which includes all forms of deliberate learning. Proactive neuroplasticity is the conscious, intentional repatterning of our neural network utilizing tools and techniques that facilitate the process. The deliberate, repetitive, input of neural information empowers us to proactively transform our thoughts and behaviors, creating healthy new mindsets, skills, and abilities. LINK

Video Series #1: Introduction

Research has established that our neural network is a dynamic organism, constantly adapting and rebuilding to each new input of information. Scientists refer to the process of neuroplasticity as the structural remodeling of the brain. By deliberately enhancing the process, we can proactively transform our thoughts, behaviors, and perspectives, creating healthy new mindsets, skills, and abilities. All information notifies our neural pathways to restructure, generating a correlated change in behavior and perspective. LINK

The videos explain how information is algorithmically coded into positive or negative electrical energy, creating the activity that modifies our neural network. We learn how our information’s goal, objective, and content correlate to its effectiveness and durability.

The series describes the evolution of the science of neuroplasticity, differentiating reactive and active from proactive neural input. Videos diagram the trajectory of neural information and how it impacts the various lobes of the human brain responsible for cognitive learning. How the neural input of data, coded into electrical energy, causes a receptive neuron to fire that energy onto a sensory neuron, which forwards the information to millions of participating neurons.

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They demonstrate how this cellular chain reaction reciprocates that initial electrical energy in abundance due to the amplified neural response. Positive information in; positive energy multiplied millions of times; positive energy reciprocated in abundance. Each neural input of information impacts millions of neurons as they restructure our neural network to a form conducive to a positive self-image. 

Subsequently, the natural hormonal neurotransmissions reward our activity with GABA for relaxation, dopamine for pleasure, endorphins for euphoria, serotonin for a sense of well-being, and hormones that support our motivation, enhance our memory, and improve concentration.

However, since our brain doesn’t distinguish healthy from toxic information, the neurotransmission of pleasurable and motivational hormones happens whether we feed it self-destructive or constructive information. That’s one of the reasons breaking a habit, keeping to a resolution, or achieving our desired goal is challenging and why positive informational input is crucial for recovery and self-transformation.

Contemporary wisdom disputes the effectiveness of one-size-fits-all approaches to behavioral modification, so these videos evidence how integrating science and east-west psychologies is best suited to positively modifying our thoughts and behaviors. Science gives us proactive neuroplasticity; cognitive-behavioral modification and positive psychology’s optimal functioning are Western approaches; Eastern practices give us Abhidharma psychology and the overarching truths of ethical behavior. 

Our core and intermediate beliefs condition our neural system. Childhood disturbance and emotional dysfunction negatively impact these beliefs, generating negative self-appraisal that affects our emotional well-being and quality of life.

The mechanics of Hebbian Learning is defined—how the repeated proactive input of information correlates to more robust and effective learning. Hebb’s rule states the more repetitions, the quicker and stronger the connections. Harmful behaviors are unlearned, and new ones are adopted through deliberate and calculated activity. Negative core and intermediate beliefs are challenged and replaced by healthy and life-affirming ones. Videos demonstrate how deliberate, repetitive neural information alleviates emotional dysfunction symptoms and empowers us to achieve our goals and objectives.

Proactive neuroplasticity is theoretically simple but challenging due to the commitment and endurance required for the long-term, repetitive process. We advance to Wimbledon with decades of practice on the courts; philharmonics cater to pianists who have spent years at the keyboard. Proactive neuroplasticity requires a calculated regimen of deliberate, repetitive neural information that is tedious and fails to deliver immediate tangible results, causing us to readily concede defeat and abandon hope in this era of instant gratification. 

The universal law of compensation anticipates this. The positive impact of proactive neuroplasticity is exponential due to the abundant reciprocation of positive electrical energy and the neurotransmission of hormones that generate motivation, persistence, and perseverance. Proactive neuroplasticity dramatically mitigates symptoms of emotional dysfunction and advances our pursuit of goals and objectives.  

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WHY IS YOUR SUPPORT SO IMPORTANT?  ReChanneling develops and implements programs to (1) moderate symptoms of emotional malfunction and (2) pursue personal goals and objectives – harnessing our intrinsic aptitude for extraordinary living. Our paradigmatic approach targets the personality through empathy, collaboration, and program integration utilizing scientific and clinically practical methods including proactive neuroplasticity, cognitive-behavioral modification, positive psychology, and techniques designed to reinvigorate self-esteem. All donations support scholarships for groups, workshops, and practicums.  

Services Offered by ReChanneling

Subscriber numbers generate contributions that support scholarships for workshops.

“Dr. Mullen is doing impressive work helping the world. He is the pioneer of proactive neuroplasticity utilizing DRNI – deliberate, repetitive, neural information.” – WeVoice (Madrid, Málaga)   

WHY IS YOUR SUPPORT SO IMPORTANT? 

ReChanneling develops and implements programs to (1) moderate symptoms of emotional dysfunction and (2) pursue personal goals and objectives – harnessing our intrinsic aptitude for extraordinary living. Our paradigmatic approach targets the personality through empathy, collaboration, and program integration utilizing scientific and clinically practical methods including proactive neuroplasticity, cognitive-behavioral modification, positive psychology, and techniques designed to reinvigorate self-esteem. All donations support scholarships for groups, workshops, and practicums.

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Devising Response Plans for Situations

Dr. Robert F. Mullen
Director/ReChanneling

Numbers generate contributions that support scholarships for workshops.

Dr. Mullen is doing impressive work helping the world. He is the
pioneer of proactive neuroplasticity utilizing DRNI—deliberate,
repetitive, neural information. Alfonso Paredes, CEO, WeVoice.

  • Situation: The set of circumstances ̶ the facts, conditions, and incidents affecting us at a particular time in a particular place. For social anxiety disorder and other emotional dysfunctions, a Situation is an occasion or event that generates anxiety or stress such that it impacts our emotional well-being and quality of life. Examples include restaurants, the classroom, job interviews, speaking in front of a group, and socializing with strangers.
  • Fears and apprehensions: The stress-provoking feelings developed by our life-consistent negative self-beliefs and images. Examples include the fears of saying or doing something stupid; being criticized or rejected; being the center of attention; engaging in conversation.
  • Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs): Spontaneous conscious or subconscious expressions of our fears and apprehensions. ANTs are ostensibly irrational and self-defeating. Examples include “I am incompetent, “I will say or do something stupid,” ” No one will like me,” “No one will talk to me.”

An essential factor in recovery is learning how to moderate our situational fears and anxieties that precipitate our automatic negative thoughts (ANTs). There are as many different situations as there are persons negatively impacted. They fall into two primary categories: anticipated and unexpected.

Anticipated and Recurring Situations are those we know, in advance, will evoke our fears and corresponding ANTs.

Unexpected Situations are those anxiety-provoking Situations we do not anticipate, and those that suddenly get out of hand.

Structured Plan for Feared Situations

  1. Identify the Feared Situation
  2. Identify the Associated Fear(s)
  3. Unmask the Corresponding ANT(s)
  4. Examine and Analyze Our Fear(s) and Corresponding ANT(s)
  5. Generate Rational Responses
  6. Reconstruct Our Thought Patterns
  7. Create a Plan to Challenge Our Feared Situation
  8. Practice the Plan in Non-Threatening Simulated Situations (including Affirmative Visualization)
  9. Expose Ourselves to the Feared Situation

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Coping Skills

In Unexpected Situations, sudden and unpredicted stress can be moderated with certain coping skills. Their primary objective is to reduce the influx of the fear and anxiety-provoking hormones, cortisol and adrenaline, and provide a modicum of control over our fears and corresponding ANTs. It also provides us the opportunity to identify and challenge them going forward.

Not all coping skills provided below work in Unexpected Situations but are better suited for Anticipated and Recurring Situations where we have time to devise a more specific and comprehensive approach.

  • Affirmative Visualization (anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Character Focus (anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Controlled Breathing (unexpected and anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Deliberate Slow-Talk (unexpected and anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Distractions (unexpected and anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Diversions (anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Character Focus (anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Persona (anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Positive Personal Affirmations (unexpected and anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Progressive Muscle Relaxation (unexpected and anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Projected Positive Outcomes (anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Projected SUDS Rating (anticipated/recurring  situations)
  • Purpose(s) (anticipated/recurring  situations)
  • Rational Response (unexpected and anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Self-Affirmations (unexpected and anticipated/recurring situations)
  • Strategy (anticipated/recurring  situations)

Proactive Neuroplasticity YouTube Series

Affirmative Visualization. By visualizing a positive outcome prior to the Situation, we experience behaving a certain way in a realistic scenario and, through repetition, attain an authentic shift in our behavior and perspective. It is a form of proactive neuroplasticity, and all the neural benefits of that science are accrued by Affirmative Visualization. Just as our neural network cannot distinguish between toxic and healthy information, it also does not distinguish whether we are physically experiencing something or imagining it.

Character Focus. Focusing on a personal character strength or attribute rechannels our emotional angst to mental deliberation, disrupting our ANTs. It’s also beneficial to work on strengths and attributes that we would like to refine or build upon. A valuable tool in In a recovery workshop is developing our Character Resume – a list of our strengths, virtues, and achievements, recognition of which has been subverted by our social anxiety and lacuna of self-esteem.

Controlled Breathing. This abbreviated breathing exercise takes roughly a minute. Place one hand on your abdomen, just above your navel, and the other hand in the center of your chest.

  1. Open your mouth and sigh gently, as if mildly irritated. Allow the muscles in your upper body and shoulders to drop down and relax as you gently exhale.
  2. Close your mouth for a few moments.
  3. Slowly inhale through your nose, keeping your lips closed. Push your stomach out as you do this to pull air in.
  4. Pause for a few moments – as long as is comfortable, then open your lips and gently exhale through your mouth while pulling your stomach in.
  5. Repeat several times.

Deliberate Slow-Talk. Speaking slowly and calmly slows our physiological responses, alleviates rapid heartbeat, and lowers blood pressure. It is also helpful to incorporate the 5-second rule, i.e., pause any response for five thoughtful seconds. Not only do these coping skills reduce the flow of cortisol and adrenaline, but it also presents the appearance of someone who is thoughtful and confident.

Distractions. Objects that momentarily rechannel our attention from the emotions of our ANTs.  Examples: a picture on the wall, a vase, a trophy on the bookshelf. When confronted by emotional angst, we turn our attention, momentarily, to a Distraction. Recommendation: Three Distractions.

Diversions. Distractions are objects that momentarily rechannel our attention away from the emotional angst of our ANTs. Diversions are activities that perform the same function. A common Diversion is snapping a rubber band encircling our wrist. Other examples: Carry a pushpin or other physical deterrent in our pocket; character analyze people in the room; place a tiny object in our shoe. Recommendation: Three Diversions.

Persona. Sixty percent of communication is represented by our body language. Our Persona helps establish our body language. Persona is the social face we present to our situation, designed to make a positive impression while concealing our social anxiety. It determines how we carry ourselves, the timbre of our voice, the shoes we wear (boots, sneakers, high heels), and the attitude we present. Personas are not other-selves but various aspects of our personality. We have multiple Personas subject to our mood, temperament, and circumstance. We present ourselves differently depending upon the context of the situation, e.g., a sports event versus an interview for a job or a family dinner versus a sorority bash. Deliberately choosing a Persona dramatically alters our perspective, attitude, and presentation.

Positive Personal Affirmations. Brief, prepared personal statements that help us focus on goals and objectives. Deliberately repeating PPAs is an extremely valuable asset to our recovery and our neural restructuring.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR). This quick and discreet process of muscle relation takes roughly a minute. Each component is held for roughly 10 seconds.

  1. Raise your shoulders up toward your ears… tighten the muscles there. Hold. Release.
  2. Tighten your hands into fists. Very, very tight… as if you are squeezing a rubber ball very tightly in each hand. Hold. Release.
  3. Your forehead – Raise your eyebrows, feeling the tight muscles in your forehead. Hold.  Now scrunch your eyes closed. Hold it. Relax.
  4. Your jaw – Tightly close your mouth, clamping your jaw shut. Your lips will also be tight. Hold it. Release
  5. Breathe in deeply through your nose. Hold it. Release the air through your mouth. Repeat at least three times.

Projected Positive Outcome. Because of our years of life-consistent negative self-beliefs and images, we tend to set unreasonable expectations. The key to recovery, however, is progress, not perfection. We already know the projected negative outcome of a Situation is succumbing to our ANTs. Setting moderate expectations can better guarantee a positive outcome. What would be a reasonable expectation for success? What would satisfy our efforts? Our Projected Positive Outcome should be rational, possible, unconditional, problem-focused, and reasonably attainable.

Projected SUDS Rating. Notwithstanding our SUDS evaluation before the situation happens, it is even more important to moderate our expectations. We tend to set unreasonable ones to compensate for our years of self-disappointment and, if our expectations are not met, we justify our irrational negative self-beliefs and image. Remember, all of this is subjective, which means we control the process from anticipation to result. If we evaluate our initial SUDs Rating at 70, a reasonable and attainable Projected SUDS Rating might be 65 or 60.

Purpose. Our overarching goal in recovery is to moderate our fears and anxieties. However, we rarely expose ourselves to situations for the sole purpose of challenging our social anxiety. We have alternative motivations. So, why are we there? What do we seek or hope to accomplish? Ancillary goals are normal and healthy as long as they support our primary goal, however, it is best to limit our expectations.

Rational Responses. It is always prudent to ask ourselves: How logical is my fear? What is the worst that can happen? The answer to that is usually a rational response.

Self-Affirmations. Situationally specific, self-empowering statements designed to improve our self-confidence while fueling our neural network with positive information. Examples: I deserve to be here. I am as significant as anyone else in the room. I am valuable. I will be successful.

Strategy is our structured plan of action to achieve our goal – that of moderating our fears and anxieties. Objectives are the measurable steps or actions we take to achieve our goal. Strategies and alterable to fit the situation; our primary goal is inflexible. Our strategy is the blueprint of what we anticipate and have determined will happen during our feared-situation. It is a compilation of our coping mechanisms and other skills we have acquired in recovery. It is our script, and we are the producers, actors, and technicians. In Chapter Twenty-Three we will chart each of the coping mechanisms we utilize, and create a narrative strategy as our master blueprint.

Utilizing some or all of these coping skills can provide a dramatic moderation of our fears, apprehensions, and corresponding ANTs. While the process may be challenging due to our life-consistent negative self-beliefs, and images, the scientifically supported power of suggestion tells us that by imitating confidence, competence, and a positive outlook, we can attain an authentic shift in our behavior and perspective. Fake it ’till you make it.

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WHY IS YOUR SUPPORT SO IMPORTANT?  ReChanneling develops and implements programs to (1) moderate symptoms of emotional dysfunction and (2) pursue personal goals and objectives – harnessing our intrinsic aptitude for extraordinary living. Our paradigmatic approach targets the personality through empathy, collaboration, and program integration utilizing scientific and clinically practical methods including proactive neuroplasticity, cognitive-behavioral modification, positive psychology, and techniques designed to reinvigorate self-esteem. All donations support scholarships for groups, workshops, and practicums.