Kevan Owen Hypnotherapy

The first time that I heard the phrase “Human Givens” was on the 22nd July 2003. On that fateful day, as I was driving home from work idly switching channels on the car radio, I happened upon the BBC science programme “All in the mind”. This is an excellent series at the cutting edge of research and developments on all aspects of the mind and brain. In this particular episode Prof. Raj Parsaud was interviewing an Irish psychologist by the name of Joe Griffin who was talking about depression, and how people could be helped out of depression using new understandings about the brain.

During the course of this interview there were several references to something called “Human Givens”. I don’t know if you have ever noticed that when you hear an unfamiliar phrase for the first time, you can mis-hear it? For a moment I thought they said “human gibbons”. This is a good example of a psychological phenomena that I have come to know as a pattern match. Whenever we encounter something unfamiliar there is an in-built need to make sense of it. Our brains do this by going on a mental search into the memory banks to find something similar that we have encountered before. On this occasion my brain went on such a search and in an instant came up with the word “gibbons”.

What Joe Griffin was actually talking about however was the givens of human nature – those inherent patterns or templates that we are born with. This includes our basic needs and the resources that nature has given us with which to get those needs met.

Consider a simple house plant. If it gets the right amount of water, nutrients, warmth and light it will flourish. If it does not get the right balance of nutriments it will wither. Although human beings are considerably more complex than plants, a similar situation applies. Humans have a set of physical and psychological needs and the extent to which we can get those needs met will determine how well we are. These innate needs include security, attention, autonomy, friendship, belonging, status, achievement and meaning. Nature has also provided with an innate “guidance system” or set of resources with which we can get our basic needs met. These resources include memory, empathy, imagination, a conscious rational mind and an unconscious “pattern matching” mind. There is also the “observing self” – that part of us which can step back, be objective, and recognise itself as a unique centre of awareness.

We also have the ability to dream. Joe Griffin has proposed that the purpose of dreams is to defuse emotionally arousing expectations that are not acted out the previous day. His idea, which came as a result of several years studying his own dreams, is that dreams are metaphorical representations of uncompleted emotional arousals. The dreaming process allows the brain to discharge that pattern of arousal so that it is no longer lodged in the brain as an uncompleted programme.

It has been shown by sleep researchers that depressed people have more periods of dreaming sleep than the average person and Joe suggests that this is because of all the worrying or negative rumination that has been filling there mind. Because dream sleep uses up a lot more energy this results in the person waking up tired and unmotivated and so it perpetuates a negative spiral, known as the cycle of depression. Negative rumination is could be seen as a mis-use of the imagination.

By learning how to use the imagination more creatively, to draw upon one’s resources to get ones basic needs met in a healthy way, worry is reduced and sleep quality improves. This suggests how depression can be lifted without recourse to medication.

All forms of mental and emotional disturbance could be seen as being on a continuum, from stress and one end to psychosis on the other. The human givens approach offers a large organising idea as to how all these conditions can be relieved. It draws upon a variety of up-to-date, proven psychological methods and techniques focused on problem solving and developing new life skills.

After hearing that radio programme I was inspired to read the book (Human Givens – A new approach to emotional health and clear thinking by Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell). This was soon followed by attendance at a variety of fascinating seminars and workshops about the approach supplied by Mindfields college. I went on to complete the Human Givens Diploma, as well as other training in counselling and hypnotherapy, and today I am able put that knowledge to good use in my own therapy practice.

In the next blog I will discuss further aspects of the Human Givens approach such as the way in which it brings much needed clarity to what has until now been a very confusing field.

Remember Corporal Jones in the classic BBC comedy "Dads Army? Whenever the Walmington Home Guard got into dire straits, as happened frequently, Lance Corporal Jones would go into a flat spin and loudly issue the proclamation "Don’t Panic!”. In doing so he thereby succeeded in raising the anxiety levels of his compatriots even further. This was amusing to watch, but for a person caught up in the thrall of a real panic attack it is no laughing matter.

A panic attack is one of the most frightening experiences imaginable. It can feel as though ones very life is in danger. Common symptoms include a racing heart, shortness of breath, sweating, shaking and a fear of losing control. Some people experiencing a panic attack fear that they are having a heart attack or going crazy. It is important to stress however that this is NOT the case.

Panic attacks occur when a person’s nervous system goes into what is commonly known as the “fight or flight” response. It is a natural protective mechanism that primes the body for strenuous physical activity. This mechanism is highly advantageous in a situation of real danger. It is something that has helped the human race to survive in the natural world for thousands of years. A fearful stimulus such as an approaching predator triggers a release of adrenalin which in turn produces the rapid heart rate and all of the other physical responses. These prime the body for either fighting the aggressor or running away. If no such physical exertion happens the person is left with no outlet for all that pent up energy. Hyperventilation disturbs the delicate balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood, leading to symptoms such as tingling, dizziness and light-headedness.

So in a way the term “panic attack” is not a very accurate term. The person is not being attacked by panic. Rather their body is going on high alert to protect them from danger. Very often people experience this cascade of physical effects in situations where there is no present danger, and they are perplexed as to why it is happening. The explanation for this has to do with the fact that the human brain acts as a pattern-matching organ. It can trigger the fight or flight response in situations that provide an unconscious match to a feared event or situation. Usually something in the person’s immediate environment is triggering this unconscious fear reaction. It may be something very innocuous, a particular colour, sound or even a scent that at one time was matched with something dangerous for that person.

One of the best ways to recover from a panic attack is to practice a special breathing technique to counter the effects of hyper-ventilation. This technique is known as 7/11 breathing, so called because it involves breathing in to a count of seven, and breathing out to a count of 11. Doing this for five minutes or so will restore the oxygen/carbon dioxide levels to the correct balance. It is also important to breathe in and out through the nose, rather than the mouth, and to employ deep abdominal breathing rather that shallow breathing.

For people who experience panic often, hypnotherapy can be a very effective form of treatment. A good hypnotherapist will assist in teaching the client effective ways of calming down, of managing the symptoms or even removing the panic for good.