The Upward Spiral – Alex Korb (Digital Seminar)

1. Analyze findings from neuroscientific research exploring the connection between key brain regions, neurotransmitters, and mental health.
2. Communicate how understanding neurobiological processes can help clinicians establish realistic goals with clients and engage them in therapy.
3. Explore the role of the amygdala in stress and anxiety and communicate how labeling feelings and mindful awareness of emotions can be used to manage symptoms.
4. Characterize how habits relate to stress and connect this information to cognitive behavioral approaches that intervene in habit loops and reduce stress related symptoms.
5. Establish how neuroscience informed explanations of mental health disorders can bring objectivity into your discussions with clients and shift the way they feel about their pathology.
6. Assess the latest scientific research on gratitude and characterize the potential benefits and research limitations found in these studies.

Understand the Key Brain Regions and Chemicals Involved

• Prefrontal cortex, limbic system, striatum
• Neurotransmitters: serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, oxytocin, etc.
• How it all fits together

Key Principles From Proven Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions

• Behavioral Activation Therapy (BAT)
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

Utilize the Benefits of Exercise

• Benefits on serotonin and dopamine systems, as well as stress reductions
• Intensity and frequency of exercise required
• How simply being outdoors can help

Minding the Amygdala: Mindful Awareness of Emotions

• Labeling feelings to reduce amygdala activity
• Making the most of ACT to reduce stress

Set Goals, Make Decisions, and Top-Down Regulation of Brain Activity

• The impact of goal-setting on lower-level processing
• Choice, decisions and happiness
• The importance of intention and voluntary choices
• Simple strategies for applying BAT

Low-Tech Biofeedback

• The mind-body connection, meditation and MBCT
• Understanding heart-rate variability
• The power of breathing
• How postural changes, muscle tension and facial expressions can affect mood

How the Brain Encodes Habits and How to Change Them

• The distinction between impulses and routines
• Cognitive and emotional habits
• The relationship between habits and stress
• Cognitive-behavioral approaches to changing habits

Social Solutions

• The impact of social support on the brain’s stress response
• The power of physical touch
• Why social interactions are rewarding
• How social support can improve the efficacy of medication

The Power of Gratitude

• The impact of gratitude on key neural circuits
• How to operationalize gratitude in order to implement it in daily life

Make the Most of Sleep

• How sleep affects mood
• Key changes in sleep hygiene that improve sleep quality

The Limitations of Neuroscientific Research

• fMRI imaging
• Things to consider regarding animal studies
• Simple explanations for complicated processes

NLP online course

So what is NLP?
NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Neuro refers to your neurology;
Linguistic refers to language; programming refers to how that neural language functions.
In other words, learning NLP is like learning the language of your own mind!

NLP is the study of excellent communication–both with yourself, and with others.
It was developed by modeling excellent communicators and therapists who got results with their clients.
NLP is a set of tools and techniques, but it is so much more than that.
It is an attitude and a methodology of knowing how to achieve your goals and get results