Neuroscience
Imagine you are about to give the "best-(wo)man's" speech at your friend's wedding: vast audience, huge hall, microphone, lights, wine, flowers, expectant faces ... but words fail you. Worse than that, I was consumed with an overwhelming feeling of nausea. I'd just found out I was pregnant and not told the world yet. I could see myself about to vomit at the photographer and over the bridal couple ... looming panic. "I've given hundreds of speeches, it'll be fine". But reassuring words alone didn't help. More nausea. "OK! Stop the internal focus" - my inner CBT therapist suddenly kicked in. "This isn't real - this is just an image of vomiting". The inspirational CBT work on mental imagery and social anxiety (David Clark, Ann Hackmann, Colette Hirsch and others) zoomed in. "Focus outwards! Look at the audience ". OK, deploy "cognitive science" - "external perception will compete for resources with internal images. Focus on the flowers". Oh, and a bit of image restructuring - "mentally photoshop that image of myself, I'm not looking nauseous at all, just moved by emotion at the happy couple". Here we go ... External reality started to win. I was smiling and dinner was staying down. "Good evening everyone ..."
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Emily Holmes is Professor in Clinical Psychology and Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellow at the
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford. She is co-author of the Oxford Guide to Imagery in Cognitive Therapy.
Return to main menu for Psychology to the Rescue
- Psychology To The Rescue
The fortnightly email version of the BPS Research Digest, first launched in 2003, has today reached its 200th issue. To mark the occasion I've asked a handful of leading psychologists to write 200 words on a time in their lives that their psychology...
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Neuroscience
Emily Holmes: My inner CBT therapist
--
Emily Holmes is Professor in Clinical Psychology and Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellow at the
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford. She is co-author of the Oxford Guide to Imagery in Cognitive Therapy.
Return to main menu for Psychology to the Rescue
- Psychology To The Rescue
The fortnightly email version of the BPS Research Digest, first launched in 2003, has today reached its 200th issue. To mark the occasion I've asked a handful of leading psychologists to write 200 words on a time in their lives that their psychology...
- Computer Game Could Help Prevent Traumatic Flashbacks
The idea of fire-fighters, rape victims and car crash survivors being led away from their trauma to play the jigsaw-style video-game Tetris is surreal, but could soon become a reality. That's because Emily Holmes and colleagues have shown that playing...
- Changing The Focus Of Psychotherapy To What Is Good In Your Life
Martin Seligman: "For one hundred years psychotherapy has been where you go to talk about your troubles. Looking over hundreds of controlled outcome studies, it is a moderately effective process. But does the troubles part matter? We have recently been...
- Mal De Débarquement
Rock The Boat (As recorded by The Hues Corporation) WALLY HOLMES So I'd like to know where you got the notion Said I'd like to know where you got the notion To rock the boat Don't rock the boat baby Rock the boat Don't tip the boat over...
- Can’t Form A Mental Image? No Big Deal.
UPDATE (23/6/15) - Carl Zimmer followed up his Discover piece with an NYT article about a recent paper in Cortex naming this non-imaging 'aphantasia'. The lead researcher is Dr Adam Zeman and he's interested to hear from people who...