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"Neuroscience: A New Direction for Solution-Focused Thinkers?"

For those interested in Solution-Focused practices, this article may be thought-provoking.

Abstract:

The development of highly sophisticated imaging techniques in the past 20 years has made it possible for neuroscientists to study the brain like never before. The resulting findings, particularly about emotions, are challenging psychotherapists of all orientations to reevaluate their theories and practices. These considerations are a particularly daunting task for therapists whose work reflects the post-modern denial of objective reality, like that of Solution-Focused therapists. In this article, the authors have juxtaposed solution-focused theory and practice with some key neuroscientific ideas in order to explore fit and incompatibility. Possible benefits for Solution-Focused practice are discussed.

Excerpt from Conclusion:

Neuroscientists work in a domain in which the human body is a material reality. SF therapists work in a domain in which reality is a subjective experience constructed through language. It is difficult in this moment in time to imagine a theoretical integration of these very different domains. ...

SF therapists considers problems as subjective realities and believe that people have inherent resources to find solutions to these perceived problems. In this paper, we have explored some neuroscientific findings that suggest that the most evolved living systems (human beings) have mechanisms that allow for subjective realities and continuing change. When SF therapists say that

Guru of conflict coaching will be giving 4-day seminar in Colorado

Cinnie Noble will be offering her Conflict Management Coaching Workshop on July 11-14 at University of Colorado at Boulder. From the flyer:

Conflict management coaching, also known as conflict coaching, is a specialized niche in the field of coaching and conflict management.  It is a one-on-one technique, in which a trained coach assists people to effectively prevent or manage specific disputes and to enhance their conflict management skills.  This process has wide application, in the organizational context and for coaching individuals to participate in mediation, negotiation and relational conflict.

Outcomes of the Conflict Management Coaching Workshop:

Here's a class I'd like to take! Law and Literature

If only I could go back to college; my focus would be much different and my appreciation for the experience would be much greater. Today seeing the reading list for Law and Literature, being taught by Tyler Cowen (his TED video about storytelling has been very popular), made me want to return immediately to the role of student in the classroom.

Click to take a look at the reading list. An excerpt

• The New English Bible
• Oxford Study Edition Billy Budd and Other Tales, by Hermann Melville
• The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories, by Franz Kafka
• In the Belly of the Beast, by Jack Henry Abbott
• Borges and the Eternal Orangutans, by Fernando Verrissimo
• Glaspell’s Trifles, available on-line
• Sherlock Holmes, The Complete Novels and Stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, volume 1
• I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov.
• "John Keats's Attitude to Lawyers"

See why I am drawn to this class?

47 new studies in the January edition of MINDFULNESS RESEARCH MONTHLY

From the current edition of the monthly newsletter:

In this issue

47 new studies including:

21 Intervention & Application studies

8 Etiology & Association studies

7 Theory & Processes studies

5 Review & Meta-analysis studies

6 Method & Measures studies

Also...

3 Clinical Trials

Another nail in the coffin of eyewitness testimony? At least reasons for more caution when using it?

From "Your memory of events is distorted within seconds" (BPS Research Digest):

Memory isn't etched in neural stone. It's a creative process, sketched in sand. In one of the most dramatic demonstrations of this yet, Brent Strickland and Frank Keil have shown how people's memory for a video clip was distorted within seconds, to form a coherent episode "package". ...

...

The researchers said their findings have obvious implications for crime scene witnesses. Imagine a witness sees a man wielding a gun, and imagine seconds later they also see a person nearby falling from a gunshot wound - these new results show how easily the mind of the witness could invent a memory of having seen the moment the trigger was actually pulled. "In some circumstances," the researchers said, "conceptual packaging can induce the perceiver to insert unseen information in order to fulfil structural requirements. This was the case in the present study."

Click to read the rest.

Quick thoughts from US District Court Judge John L. Kane on the future of lawyers, law schools, the courts

After sending Judge Kane a link to "Federal Judge Says Law Schools Need To Change" (CityTownInfo.com), I received this e-mail from him:

Law schools do need to change ---so  does the profession, if nothing else by ending the billable hour---- and so do the courts, if nothing else by throwing out the present rules of procedure and coming up with an entirely new paradigm.

I don't think any of these changes will happen.  What I think will happen is that legal education and the law as we know it will vanish as they become increasingly irrelevant. The Age of Administration is already here.

The universities have been ruined by the shift to administrators; the courts and lawyers continue to price themselves out of the market.

----But then, I'm an optimist.  Imagine the whole system as a replication of the airline industry.

 Posted with his permission, of course.

The "we" of leadership: If led this way, people will continue to act in a given direction even if the leader is absent

Leadership is not my favorite topic in books, but I recommend a book I have been reading this week. It appeals to me because it stresses the "we" of leadership rather than identifying the traits of the "I" leader. Here's a short excerpt from The New Psychology of Leadership: Identity, Influence and Power (Psychology Press):

[L]eadership is not about brute force, raw power, or “incentivization.” Indeed we suggest that such things are indicators and consequences of the failure of leadership. True, they can be used to affect the behavior of others. If you threaten dire punishment for disobedience and then instruct others to march off towards a particular destination, they will probably do so. Equally, if you offer them great inducements for obedience, they will probably do the same. But in either of these cases it is most unlikely that they will be truly influenced in the sense that they come to see the mission as their own. If anything, the opposite will be true. That is, they are likely to reject the imposed mission precisely because they see it as externally imposed. So, take away the stick—or the carrot—and people are liable to stop marching, or even to march off in the opposite direction in order to assert their independence. Not only do you have to expend considerable resources in order to secure compliance, but, over time, you have to devote ever-increasing resources in order to maintain that compliance.

In contrast, if one can inspire people to want to travel in a given direction, then they will continue to act even in the absence of the leader. If one is seen as articulating what people want to

A fun list on how to be more interesting (with some serious advice)

I like this list! How about you? From "How To Be More Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps)" (Forbes.com):

1.Go exploring.
Explore ideas, places, and opinions. The inside of the echo chamber is where all the boring people hang out.

2. Share what you discover.
And be generous when you do. Not everybody went exploring with you. Let them live vicariously through your adventures.

Click to read the rest.

 

Cartoon Counsel: Try this for improving your ability to hold various points of view in conflict, making a decision, or puzzling out a problem

I learned several valuable exercises from the late Harry Sloan when I took from him a 10-day course in psychosynthesis. (The 10 days were a part of a two-year intensive I took in mediation from Gary Friedman.) For those of you not acquainted with psychosynthesis, I highly recommend the book What We May Be; or books by Roberto Assagioli, founder of psychosynthesis: The Act of Will and Psychosynthesis. (For other books on psychosynthesis, see below; click for past posts related to psychosynthesis here, here, and here.)

One of the exercises learned from Harry which I will describe in a minute may seem simple, silly, and maybe not worth your time. That was my first reaction until I participated; our group spent a half day digging into this process! You don't need to spend hours, but I think you might benefit with even a few minutes. Since learning it in the '80s, I have used the cartoon process a number of times over the years, both myself and in workshops.

As explained below, this process (and the whole of psychosynthesis) can help conflict professionals to feel at ease with ambiguity and contradictory points of view. (That is, of course, one of the main reasons we took 10 days of psychosynthesis in our mediation intensive.)

Below is the process as I recall it from memory and my notes, and is probably just a bit different from how Harry presented it.

Here are each of the steps of the Cartoon Counsel process—my name, I can't recall what Harry called this exercise. (As you will see, it could also be spelled Cartoon Council.)

In preparation, for a week or more, collect cartoons that you find especially funny. Choose one of

Another attorney who turned to writing for her life after law

Susan Cain's forthcoming book shows some signs of being a hit. It is ranked high on Amazon before it has been released (approaching the top 100 today), and, in my little part of the world, there is a long waiting list for it at Denver Public Library.

From her bio page:

Before I became a writer, I practiced corporate law for seven years, representing clients like JP Morgan and General Electric, and then worked as a negotiations consultant, training all kinds of people, from hedge fund managers to TV producers to college students negotiating their first salaries. My clients have included Merrill Lynch, Shearman & Sterling, One Hundred Women in Hedge Funds, and many more. I went to Princeton University and Harvard Law School.

 From all this you might guess that I’m a hardcore, wonderfully self-confident, pound-the-table kind of person, when in fact I’m just the opposite. ...

The book is titled Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. From early indications, one might guess there are lots of introverts out there, and they like to read!

I wish Cain all success with her writing life after law.

Click to read other stories of life after law.

 

Interview with Jason Meek about mindfulness in the teaching of law

Click to listen to Scott Rogers of the Institute for Mindfulness Studies interviewing Jason Meek who teaches law at UC Hastings Law and at Berkeley Law (formerly Boalt Hall).

If you are interested in the contemplative approach to both teaching and practicing law, I recommend that you listen to what Meek says. He talks about his own story, how he teaches, and recommended resources and practices. He also discusses challenges experienced by the students in balancing competition and contemplation.

Bonus: Click to read a different interview of Meek in the The Mindful Law Professor.

Note: It was pleasing to me to hear him acknowledge Gary Friedman for the value Gary provided to Jason's path of mindfulness in the law. He found particularly helpful Gary's ability to integrate his personal and professional self. As I've several times mentioned here, I was fortunate to take a two-year intensive in mediation with Gary, and will always be grateful for what I learned from him.

A leader is more than an action hero, more than a pretty face: Let's move away from facelift leadership

In his classic book Psycho-Cybernetics, plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz wrote that many of his patients were not helped by his surgery because what was getting in their way of happiness was "more than skin deep."

It was as if personality itself had a "face." . . . If it remained scarred, distorted, "ugly," or inferior, the person himself acted out this role in his behavior regardless of the changes in physcial appearance. If this "face of personality" could be reconstructed, if old emotional scars could be removed; then the person himself changed, even without facial plastic surgery. Once I began to explore this area, I found more and more phenomena which confirmed the fact that ‘self-image’, the individual’s mental and spiritual picture of himself, is the real key to personality and behavior. ...

Dr. Maltz explained why he changed his professional direction.

These observations led me into a new career. ...I became convinced that the people who consult a plastic surgeon need more than surgery and that some of them do not need

3 articles on meditation from academic publications

In June, Upaya is offering "ZEN BRAIN - Emotions, Equanimity, and the Embodied Mind" (click to learn more). As preparation for the seminar, three articles are recommended. All of them are downloadable at the seminar Web page:

• "Mental training as a tool in the neuroscientific study of brain and cognitive plasticity"
• "Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise"
• "Meditation, Mindfulness, Cognition, and Emotion: Implications for Community-Based Older Adult Programs"

 

Here's an excellent opportunity if you are interested in psychosynthesis

If you are a mediator or other conflict resolution professional, a coach, a lawyer, a therapist, or someone seeking increased personal self-awareness, I strongly recommend that you learn more about psychosynthesis. I took a refresher course in it this year and was reminded of its value.

In fact, I typically refer people to professionals who know and use psychosynthesis in their practices (or who use related approaches, such as Bonnie Badenoch's aligned methods).

Here's a way to learn more about psychosynthesis and more particularly study a book (on my top ten list of best books I've ever read) that can increase your self-knowledge and ability to facilitiate effective change—in yourself and others.

And at no cost! From the announcement:

The beginning of the year, when so many of us make New Year's resolutions, is a very good time to read The Act of Will. Most people have had the experience of making resolutions and then not carrying them out. Then we complain about not having enough will power. If you have had this happen in your life, perhaps you would like to engage in the upcoming "Book Study Plus."

We will read Roberto Assagioli's The Act of Will, over a period of 10 weeks, followed by an 11th week of summing up and evaluation. We will discuss the book, dialog about it, and also choose and carry out a "real-life application" of what we learned (that's the 'Plus'). Book Study Plus begins on January 24, 2012. ...

Click to read the rest. Email Carla Peterson for more information. The time the calls will be held is 11 AM Pacific, noon Mountain, et cetera.

Note: I have a growing list of people in the Denver area who are interested in a study group focused on how psychosynthesis applies to conflict resolution. Email me if you are interested.