Both the model for relapse prevention (Witkiewitz & Marlatt, 2004) and the behavioral approach to insomnia (Bootzin & Epstein, 2000) are about cues. Each approach teaches a client to identify the cues that lead to a certain behavior, and then either embrace or avoid them, depending on the circumstance. They both also address the training of some sort of inner animal, separate from the client’s personal mental experience.
I adore the notion of separating the current experience of the body from the long term goals of the mind. Doing so might reduce the occurrence of attributing uncontrollable thoughts and sensations to one’s own personal faults or actions (e.g., I drank too much and feel guilty about it), possibly preventing a worse cascade of bad behavior (e.g., well, I might as well drink again tonight!). The separation of the two thought processes is mighty powerful as well, helping one to think of Person “A” with a brain as trying to regulate Thing “B,” a headless body, might help one disconnect emotional ties more easily, or at least re-label them with physical labels (e.g., changing “I’m so frustrated about not being able to sleep!” to “My body is a bit over-aroused. I should get up and read a book until my arousal level diminishes.”).
Reading the article on sleep was so beautiful in its self-nurturing applications that it made me want to go buy a massive terry-cloth robe and slippers just so I can look forward to putting them on when I wake up in the morning. Maybe I could buy some candles and take a bubble bath every night before bed as my sleep cue. How nice!
2 comments:
Cat: Exactly. You totally get it. It reminds me of the way I like to describe the brain. At the level of cortex--particularly prefrontal cortex--you can find, well, your self, the person you think of as Cat with her whole history and long term goals. Go deeper into your brain and, well, you find mammal. Animal. They are not always in agreement, but the good news is that they can learn to live harmoniously.
You're posts are getting beyond me, especially since I'm not reading your material, but I still find them interesting. WRT rowing studies, a good coxswain should be trained to "flip" thoughts as you've described above: turning one negative connotation into a positive one, and taking action on it. Think: "we're taking two seats on their boat, right now!" versus: "we're down two seats on their boat, let's take it back". In an athlete's mind it's also the choice between "OMG I can't go this fast, I've never gone this fast before" or the positive: "OMG, I'm going to P.R., hell ya". I've always felt that people's thoughts veto their goals and if you can figure out how to short circuit this behavior, you'll win. Teaching the behavior has always been hard for me.
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