Sunday, March 30, 2014

NEUROPLASTICITY OF YOUR BRAIN, YOUR PERSONAL CHANGE INDICATOR AND FOCUSED ACTION

One of the most exciting scientific advances affecting the practice of Psychology in recent decades is the large body of research clarifying how NEUROPLASTIC our brain is and how we can change our brain through concentrated FOCUSED ACTION.

So what is Neuroplasticity and how does this come about through Focused Action?

Neuroplasticity is an umbrella term referring to changes in neural pathways and synapses resulting from changes in your behaviors, in the environment you live in, and complex neural processes ongoing in your highly active, dynamic brain.

Neuroplasticity occurs at multiple levels in your brain and is ongoing from childhood through the golden years.

The point is this:  As previously thought, your brain is not immutable.  It can be changed systematically through now available brain training technologies.  At the bottom of this Post, you will find references to books regarding the neuroplasticity of your brain.  In these books you will find links to web sites offering creative, practical, training opportunities as you seek improvements in your own brain functioning.  One is these is http://www.soft-wired.com

An important component of the neuroplasticity of your brain is MENTAL FOCUS.  When you seek personal change, it is always better to have a clear idea what you want to change.  This is where the Personal Change Indicator (PCI) comes into play.  www.Tool4Change.com

To assist you in optimizing the value of the Personal Change Indicator (PCI),  I have three previous Posts relevant to the pivotal outcome of your becoming YOUR OWN PSYCHOLOGIST.  These posts are:

How do you define a Personal Concern?             Posted on February 17, 2014
What is most important to you in your life?       
Posted on February 24, 2014
How goal directed are you?                                    
Posted on February 28, 2014
You might want to check these posts out before you complete the PCI.  Then, upon completion of the PCI, you will have clarification of your Primary, Secondary and Highly Focused Personal Concerns.  The good news is they are immediately available to you in your online THIS IS ME! report.

When you have a clear idea of what the concern is, the solution to the concern becomes readily apparent.  Changing your behaviors and your brain using the PCI, soon becomes a matter of FOCUSED ACTION, which means practicing what it takes to resolve your clearly defined Personal Concerns.

As you practice new behaviors, behaviors leading to the resolution of your personal concerns, new neural pathways will develop and will be observed in new, positive HABITS.

NOTE: To complete the PCI you will need an access code, just email me using the link below and I will send you your FREE ACCESS CODE.  This will be joined with your privately assigned password, fully protecting your privacy.  No one but you will see your THIS IS ME! Report. 

Remember, you ARE what you think.  You BECOME what you do.

Dr. Ray

For any of your comments or questions, email me at drray@relaxationtherapy.pro

Sunday, March 23, 2014

PAIN IS A FRIEND. IT DOESN’T LIE. WHEN IT SPEAKS, LISTEN.

Simply put, pain is a message from your body something is not going well.  It is drawing attention to the area of concern.
When it speaks to you, listen.
A common reaction to pain is to seek some form of medication.  Let’s listen to what the INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE  has to say on the subject:

“Pain is a major driver of visits to physicians, a major reason for taking medications, a major cause of disability, and a key factor in quality of life and productivity.    Given the burden of pain in human lives, dollars and social consequences, relieving pain should be a national priority.

Because pain varies from patient to patient, healthcare providers should increasingly aim at tailoring pain care to each person’s experience, and self-management of pain should be promoted.”

Self-management of personal health and yes, pain, is a continuing theme of this Blog.

I have encouraged patients for decades to replace psychotropic and pain medications with self-mastery and internal locus of control and to replace pain, depression, tension and anxiety with emotional health coping skills.  In other words, engage self-management alternatives to drug dependence.

Deep Rhythmic Breathing and Relaxation Therapy offer such alternatives.

Learn to use them appropriately and experience the benefits.

Remember, you ARE what you think.  You BECOME what you do.

Dr. Ray

For any of your comments or questions, email me at drray@relaxationtherapy.pro

Monday, March 17, 2014

HOW ABOUT ACTIVATING YOUR INNER PHARMACY ?



Pharmacy is the science and technique of preparing as well as dispensing drugs and medicines.

Your body is the best source of useful, natural Biochemicals.  Mother Nature set it up that way.  Why not use them to the fullest?  They are always available, you don’t have to drive anywhere to access your source, they do not cost anything  AND they are your most effective support  system for the positive, emotional, and physical results you seek.

Biochemicals occur naturally in nature, which means they naturally occur in your own body.
Let’s see what this means for you.


Your body is already equipped to deal with the demands and challenges of everyday life.  Your body is a SURVIVOR and has the ADAPTIVE potential you need to meet stressors effectively.  There are many such Biochemicals, so let’s review but a few:

SEROTONIN regulates mood, sleep and digestion.  When activated, you feel positive, confident, flexible and easy going.

ENDORPHINS are soothing and reduce pain.  They are your own, natural pain-killer and they do not have side effects.  Relaxation Therapy generates a good dose of endorphins.

OXYTOCIN promotes nurturing behaviors.

VASOPRESSIN supports pair bonding in males.

ADRENLINE provides power and focus.

DOPAMINE is utilized by all the reward centers in your brain.

MELATONIN is a hormone produced by the pineal gland; a small gland in the brain. Melatonin helps control your sleep and wake cycles.

These Biochemicals are readily available in your body and are designed to serve your health and happiness needs. ACTIVATE THEM!

The following is an example of how you can do this:

When you do Relaxation Therapy and do Deep Rhythmic Breathing, the breathing stimulates the vagus nerve, which then sends messages to your brain which then generates your own, naturally produced tranquillizer.

This is one of the many good reasons to do Relaxation Therapy on a regular daily basis.  When you have developed Relaxation Skills, you can achieve the same result without the MP3 file or Audio CD.  Practice, practice and more practice and you will get there, perhaps sooner than you think.

Remember, you ARE what you think.  You BECOME what you do.

Dr. Ray

For any of your comments or questions, email me at drray@relaxationtherapy.pro

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

HE WAS A MENSH


JULIAN B. ROTTER, PHD     1916-2014

 
As some of you know, Dr. Julian B. Rotter is the author of Social Learning Theory, upon which much of this Blog is based.
 
It was my great privilege to study and work with Dr. Rotter, starting at Ohio State University where I served as his student and research assistant, and later relocated to the University of Connecticut when Dr. Rotter joined the UCONN faculty.
 
It is with great respect I present the following Obituary:
 
Julian B. Rotter, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Connecticut, died in his home on January 6, 2014. He was 97 years old.
 
He is survived by his wife Doffie Hochreich Rotter, his daughter Jean Rotter, and his older brother Saul Rotter, M.D. Jules, as he was known to his family, friends and colleagues, was predeceased by his first wife Clara E. Barnes Rotter, his son Richard, and Jules' brother Norman Rotter. Jules was born on October 22, 1916 In Brooklyn, N.Y. to Abraham Rotter and Bessie Goldstein Rotter.
 
He attended primary and secondary school in that borough and received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Brooklyn College. His formal education proceeded at the University of Iowa where he received a Master's degree in Psychology and culminated with a Ph.D. in Psychology from Indiana University.
 
He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and married Clara Rotter in 1941. His daughter Jean was born in 1947 and his son Richard was born in 1949. His academic career began at Ohio State University whose Psychology faculty he joined in1949. He rapidly rose to the rank of Full Professor and directed the Clinical Psychology graduate program for nine years.
 
In 1963 he joined the Psychology faculty of the University of Connecticut and directed it's Clinical program until his retirement in 1987. During his years at Connecticut Clara Rotter died in 1985 and he married his friend and colleague Doffie in 1997.
 
 Professor Rotter's career was extraordinarily productive, so much so that he has been identified as one of the most influential psychologists of the twentieth century by the American Psychological Association and by the BBC which included him in a series they called the "Mind Changers".
 
He wrote many scholarly articles, produced three widely used measurement scales, and a ground-breaking book "Social Learning and Clinical Psychology." His works were widely cited and he mentored over 100 graduate students most of whom became highly competent academics or clinical practitioners. He taught those students the importance of grounding theory and practice in carefully controlled experimentation, a lesson which was sorely needed in the early and mid twentieth century, an era when speculation was often substituted for science.
 
Among his many honors were the APA's Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award and an Honorary Doctorate from the Ohio State University.
 
As impressive as was Jules' professional career, his qualities as a human being were even greater. He was insightful, empathetic, compassionate, and possessed an admirable social conscience. The word " mensh" has crept from Yiddish into the vernacular. Leo Rosten in his "Joys of Yiddish" offers three definitions: 1. human being, 2. an upright, honorable, decent person and, 3. someone of consequence; someone to admire; someone of noble character. Jules was all of these.
 
He was a Mensh.

 

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

IF YOU’RE NOT IN THE ZONE, WHERE ARE YOU?

 
Having a solid sense of self-direction, knowing where you are, where you are going, and how to get there, is fundamental to your success.  When you’re In The Zone, you are operating at your peak.  Like the great performers in every field, you can get there if you know what it takes.

When I wrote In The Zone: Making Winning Moments Your Way of Life, I wanted to evolve my previous books into the world of SPORT PSYCHOLOGY.  But it wasn’t just about sports.  Consider the following, from the first paragraph:
What Zone?

“If you are at all involved in sports, you may know what I mean right away.  The zone is not a literal place. It’s not the end zone on a football field.  It’s inside you, a feeling, a state of mind and body, a level of performance when everything clicks.  You are effortlessly at your best.”
Later in the book I wrote:

No matter how vague their idea of being in the zone is, most of the people I meet and talk with understand two things about it.  First, it occurs when we are totally involved, mentally and physically, in some activity we do well and enjoy.  And second, it doesn’t happen to most of us very often, and even when it does, it’s unpredictable.

Eventually I came to the conclusion that common knowledge was accurate on the first point and inaccurate on the second.  The feeling of being in the zone occurs indeed when we are fully involved in what we are doing.  But it need not be something that occurs by chance.  In fact, there’s a great deal we can do to make it happen.

After years of refining a comprehensive approach to correct body movement, I have concluded there are four crucial elements underlying high level performances In The Zone: relaxation, balance, flexibility and focus.”
AND THAT IS WHAT THIS BLOG IS ULTIMATELY ABOUT.

Relaxation Therapy and the development of Relaxation Skills is what www.relaxationtherapy.pro aims to introduce you to.  I am hoping you will find self-development through performance skills attainment useful to your being the best you can be.

Remember, you ARE what you think.  You BECOME what you do.

Dr. Ray

For any of your comments or questions, email me at drray@relaxationtherapy.pro

Saturday, March 1, 2014

INTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL – A PIVOTAL SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY CONSTRUCT

ACHIEVING GOALS is fundamental to Social Learning Theory (SLT).  How we achieve goals varies from person to person.  INTERNALS feel success results from acquired skills and what they do for themselves to make things happen.  Internals anticipate good health, for example, by not smoking, proper exercise, good nutrition and similar self-management activities.  EXTERNALS feel good luck and the actions of powerful others make things happen.  Externals are more likely to purchase a lotto ticket, hoping for the big bucks, regardless of the improbable outcome.  From their perspective, achieving good health by quitting smoking is not so important.  Externals expect they will get cancer or not, depending on the fall of the dice.

MOTIVATION FOR GROWTH AND CHANGE is different for Internals and Externals.  Internals appreciate competitive situations where performance skills dominate, letting the best man/woman win.  Externals are more comfortable in chance based environments.  They will go to the Casino and play the slots.  You will find Internals at the Poker table, if they have the card playing skills required for success.

Where do you stand along this dimension of Internal and External Locus of Control?  Have you given much thought to the importance of acquired skills to your evolving success? If so, you have probably looked into self-development activities such as Yoga, Martial Arts, Mindfulness Training, Meditation and related activities.

How about Relaxation Therapy when seeking self-management of personal health and emotional self-regulation?  Relaxation Therapy is all about development of RELAXATION SKILLS and you will find competitive athletes, successful executives, highly productive corporate cultures, all headed in this direction.

The highly stressed, emotional dysfunctional individual will not last long in today’s extremely competitive environment.  Those seeking personal comfort from recreational and prescription drugs and similar external mechanisms of control, will be observed bringing up the rear.

You can’t fake self-confidence and self-esteem.  Either you have the skills of a successful competitor or you do not.  The good news is such skills can be developed and you can always move from a disposition of externality, toward internality.

Developing Relaxation Skills is the first step in my program for Elite Performers as outlined in my book, In The Zone: Making Winning Moments Your Way of Life.  This subject will be covered in later posts on this Blog.  For now, you might give some thought to how much control you would like over your evolving life and how an evolving attitude of internality can help you achieve your particular goals.

Remember, you ARE what you think.  You BECOME what you do.

Dr. Ray

For any of your comments or questions, email me at drray@relaxationtherapy.pro