MIND-BRAIN-GENE

 

An exploration of the ways the immune system, epigenetics, affect regulation, and attachment intersect in mental health.

For centuries its been accepted by the medical profession that mind and body were separated by a 'blood-brain barrier', which prevented cellular interaction. There was no consideration to investigate connections between the genes, neuroscience, the immune system and emotions. Worldwide, depression will be the single biggest cause of disability in the next 20 years, yet treatment for it has not changed much in the last three decades. In the world of psychiatry, time has apparently stood still... until now. It is clear that that is not the whole story!

New discoveries are overturning centuries of medical, psychological and philosophical understanding: the mind and body are linked far more closely than we ever knew. Just as the field of health has undergone a transformation towards functional and integrative medicine, the treatment of emotional distress is also moving toward integration. Psychotherapy in the 21st Century will change how we conceptualise mental health problems and their solutions. 

This workshop contributes to the sea change in how we conceptualise mental health problems and their solutions. Mind-Brain-Gene describes the feedback loops between the multiple systems contributing to the emergence of the mind and the experience of the self, and how our mental operating networks "self-organise", drawing from and modifying our memory systems to establish and maintain mental health. Synthesising research in psychoneuroimmunology and epigenetics with interpersonal neurobiology and research on integrated psychotherapeutic approaches, John Arden explores how insecure attachment, deprivation, child abuse, and trauma contribute to anxiety disorders and depression to produce epigenetic affects. 

In this cutting edge two-day workshop, dynamic US Psychologist Dr John Arden will explore a wide variety of factors having multidirectional causal relationships between stress, depression, anxiety, the immune system, and gene expression. He will synthesise the substantial research in the area with contemporary research on integrated psychotherapeutic approaches, applying this integrated approach to the clinical assessment and treatment of depression, anxiety and trauma, using practical examples and case studies. Based on Dr John Arden’s 40 years of experience and numerous books, this workshop reveals the breakthrough new science on:

• The overly compartmental field of psychotherapy of the 20th Century to the integrative vision of psychotherapy in the 21st Century
• Why by necessity 21st century therapists need to become more like integrated healthcare professionals to more effectively address and resolve adverse mind-body-brain interaction. 
• The fascinating interaction between the immune system, genes, brain systems, and mental health
• How poor health contributes to poor mental health as well as vice versa
• The effect of poor sleep, diet, and lack of exercise contributions to changes in mental health
• How to distinguish between various health conditions and psychological disorders and where they overlap
• How the stress systems can be turned on and are difficult to turn off
• How adverse childhood experiences (insecure attachment, deprivation, and child abuse) contribute to anxiety and depression in far more extensive ways then we realised
• The implications of an integrative approach to clinical assessment and screening
• Practical evidence-based ideas to promote the re-regulation of immune system function, stress systems, nutrition, physical inactivity, affect regulation and cognition. 
• How an overactive immune system contributes to depression and anxiety. The link between depression and inflammation of the body and brain - because it's official! Depression is not 'all in the mind'.
• Future in which treatments could be specifically targeted to break the vicious cycle of stress, inflammation and depression.

Who should attend?

Psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors, psychiatrists, doctors, social workers, physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, naturopaths, nutritionists, and any other professionals interested in an integrated view and practice of health.

Presenter

John Arden, PhD - author of 15 books has over 40 years of experience providing psychological services and directing mental health programs. Between 1999 and 2016 he served as the Director of Training for the Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers, Northern California (the organisation responsible for the landmark  epidemiological ACE study). He has developed one of the largest mental health training programs in the United States. In this capacity he managed more than 100 interns and postdoctoral psychology residents in 22 medical centres. 

Dr. Arden's study of neuropsychology has inspired him to integrate neuroscience and psychotherapy, synthesising the biological and psychological into a new vision for psychotherapy: Brain-Based Therapy. His work incorporates what is currently known about the brain and its capacities, including neuroplasticity and neurogenesis, with psychotherapy research, mindfulness, nutritional neuroscience and social intelligence. He conducts seminars on Brain-Based Therapy throughout the world.