Stress Science

What it is

The method was first developed as a treatment for obesity, inspired by psychiatrist Hilde Bruch from Baylor School of Medicine’s research on family systems of obese children, showing depriving, neglectful and permissive parenting styles that promote stress. Research conducted at UCSF, in affiliation with COAST (Center for Obesity Assessment, Study and Treatment) and the (CHC) Center for Health and Community directed by Nancy Adler, PhD then linked stress to behavior. Mary Dallman first showed in rats the relationship between stress and the consumption of sugary, fatty foods, which as stored as visceral fat. Elissa Epel’s research showed the link between stress, reward and visceral fat in students and caregivers. Michele Mietus-Snyder and Robert Lustig have focused on the stress-reward associations in pediatric obesity as the “limbic triangle”. Bruce McEwen of Rockefeller University pioneered allostatic load theory, referring to the physiological costs of chronic exposure to the neural or neuroendocrine stress response. The repeated activation of the stress response can cause wear and tear and adaptation of the mind and body in the long term. Allostatic load is the cumulative impact on the body and the brain that sensitizes the brain to stress and becomes an insult in its own right, contributing to a new set point of chronic stress outside the homeostatic range which is defended by the organism.

How it is applied in Emotional Brain Training

One of the objectives of the method is to decrease allostatic load, the brain and body changes from stress that promote a fixed state of stress. That state of stress is defended by the organism, so effective treatment requires progressive change over time. For example, part of allostatic load is the implicit memory systems of the neural circuits that process stress as well as the trauma and conditioning of the past which only changes with intensive practice over time which is the basis for the six courses (Solution Kits).