Being is good.

An Overarching Treatment Planning Framework

Psychological well-being is like an instrument. When the various strings are in tune with one another the overall system functions harmoniously. When one string is out of tune, the entire system is affected.

Drawing on the neurobiologist Yaak Panksepp, as well as cognitive and behavioural psychology, Radius uses an overarching treatment planning framework that targets three key neurobiological systems. The first, what Panksepp calls the ‘seeking system’ is associated with outward exploration of the world. The second system, what Panksepp calls the ‘care system’ is associated with the felt sense of comfort and nurture; at Radius we call it the ‘soothing system.’ The third system, what Panksepp identified as three overlapping emotional states of ‘fear,’ ‘rage,’ and ‘grief’ we describe as the ‘stress system.’

Treatment planning begins at the outset of the first session where we use a structured interview process to identify incidents in clients lives that have shaped who they are. At the outset, clients learn how to link past incidents to present actions and identify patterns of relation between themselves and others.

Ongoing treatment then aims at changing the interaction between the three systems — seeking, stress, and soothing — to encourage the emergence of new, more functional patterns of relation. This can include resolving memories of past traumatic events, increasing self-compassion, or teaching the brain to rewire chronic stress and/or pain.

Radius uses this overarching treatment planning framework to collaborate on the best course of action relative to each client’s individual history, needs and goals. In this way, therapy has a purpose, and clients have a clear rationale each step of the way.

Methods

  • Relational frame theory (RFT) is a unique form of behavioural theory that applies B.F. Skinner’s classical and operant conditioning principles to understand the influence of language on human behaviour. It is useful for helping clients articulate valued goals and then track the means to achieving those goals.  It is also useful for disentangling unhelpful thoughts and narratives that tend to keep people stuck in cycles of unnecessary suffering. 

    If RFT is considered the metaphorical ‘motor,’ acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is considered the ‘vehicle.’  ACT mobilizes RFT principles and provides a variety of means for overcoming patterns of inflexible thinking and action. 

  • Brainspotting (BSP) is a body centered form of therapy that developed out of the more well-known method called eye movement desensitizing reprocessing (EMDR).  In contrast to EMDR which utilizes eye movement to help the brain reprocess trauma, BSP uses a client’s fixed eye positions to access neural pathways associated with the emotional ‘felt sense’ of memories.  During a BSP session clients practice non-judgmental, moment-to-moment attention on an elicited felt sense.  The process eventually reconditions the nervous system.  The brain learns to shift out of automatic response patterns that perpetuate stress and pain and into more adaptive patterns that enhance feelings of wellbeing. 

  • Pain has a purpose: to protect the body from further injury and harm.  Neuroplastic pain (or chronic pain) is pain that no longer functions as a form of protection; instead, it is the result of the brain’s (mis)interpretation of normal sensations as danger signals. Pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) is a comprehensive process that trains clients how to rewire pain neurocircuitry — it empowers clients to shift the brain’s pain processing back to its helpful function of protecting the body.  

  • Aaron Jensen uses an interactive form of hypnosis aimed at enhancing and developing clients’ felt sense of safety.  In general, clinical hypnosis is useful for increasing confidence, motivation, and deepening neural networks associated with the soothing system.

  • Aaron Jensen has trained in a system of Tai Chi Chuan for 28 years and has also taught for 14 years.  Aaron offers individualized Tai Chi Chuan classes on a case-by-case basis.