A Neurobiologist’s GuideTo Mind Manipulation

Casey Watts!

@kyloma caseywatts.com

“Intra-LA infusions of garcinol impair training-related acetylation of histone H3 and fear memory consolidation.”My Papers

Casey’s Research

Overview

A. Cognitive Restructuring B. Psychological Safety

Part A Cognitive Restructuring

1. Inner vs Outer Brain2. Brain as a System 3. Downward Spiral 4. CBT background 5. How to CBT

LeDoux’s Dual Pathway

Inner vs Outer Brain

Feelings

Limbic System“inner brain”

“low road”FAST ~ms

Thoughts

Cortex“outer brain”

“high road”

SLOW ~s

1. Inner vs Outer Brain 2. Brain as a System3. Downward Spiral 4. CBT background 5. How to CBT

An Engineer’s System

automatic response“mindful”

deliberate response

Inputs

- stimuli from the environment- things that happen - people’s words/actions

- spontaneous thoughts- spontaneous emotions- current bodily state

Hangry

1. Inner vs Outer Brain 2. Brain as a System 3. Downward Spiral4. CBT background 5. How to CBT

NegativeThoughts

NegativeFeelings

How do we fix this? (hint: it is CBT)

1. Inner vs Outer Brain 2. Brain as a System 3. Downward Spiral 4. CBT background5. How to CBT

Depression Anxiety

Bipolar disorder Eating disorders Schizophrenia

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Mental Illnesses

CBT is as effective as antidepressant drugsfor treating depression

(although both in conjunction is even better)

Everyone benefits from understanding thoughts &

emotions better

Cognitive BehavioralTherapy Training

1. Inner vs Outer Brain 2. Brain as a System 3. Downward Spiral 4. CBT background 5. How to CBT

npm install constant-introspection

debugging tool

automatic input automatic feelings automatic thoughts automatic response

Automatic

automatic input automatic feelings automatic thoughts automatic response

deliberate input deliberate feelings deliberate thoughts deliberate response

Automatic Deliberate

1. Notice input

2. Process emotions & thoughts

3. Choose response

1. Notice Input

Whoop!

congratulate yourself when you notice

2a. Process Emotions

Expand emotional vocabulary

Processing Techniques

- write them out - talk about them

View emotions as data

non-judgmentally

2b. Process Thoughts

Maladaptive Cognitions

or

Unhelpful Thoughts

link at: caseywatts.com/mindmanipulation

Hangry, wet, raining, late Stepped in a puddle

Hangry, wet, raining, late Stepped in a puddle

“Wet shoes are THE WORST”

Hangry, wet, raining, late Stepped in a puddle

“Wet shoes are THE WORST”

Hangry, wet, raining, late Stepped in a puddle

“If I’m late, I should just not go.”

Hangry, wet, raining, late Stepped in a puddle

“If I’m late, I should just not go.”

Hangry, wet, raining, late Stepped in a puddle

“Today sucks.”

Hangry, wet, raining, late Stepped in a puddle

“Today sucks.”

More Adaptive Thoughts

“I am feeling frustrated”

“This hangriness will go away when I eat”

“I’ll feel great after I dry off”

Maladaptive Cognitions

or

Unhelpful Thoughts

link at: caseywatts.com/mindmanipulation

Print

This

1. Notice input

2. Process emotions & thoughts

3. Choose response

Other Tools

Joyable (webapp) Therapist CBT Book

links at: caseywatts.com/mindmanipulation

Questions? In particular about:

Emotion in the Brain Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Part B Psychological Safety

PsycSafe Groupvs

“Safe Space”

PsycSafety shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking

- Amy Edmondson

What makes some teams perform better as teams?

(Google)

Failed Correlations

personality types skills

backgrounds management style

Successful Correlations

“group norms” ->

“PsycSafe” team attributes

PsycSafe Traits 1. conversational turn-taking 2. average social sensitivity (~= empathy)

PsycSafe

higher collective IQ

non-PsycSafe

lower collective IQ

Improving PsycSafety

Decrease Riskiness Propinquity Vulnerability Validation

Depersonalize Ideas Task vs Relationship (PEARLS)

Conversational Turn-Taking

Earned Dogmatism Effect Frame as learning

Acknowledge fallibility Ask many questions Declare unknowns

Decrease Riskiness Propinquity Vulnerability Validation

Depersonalize Ideas Task vs Relationship (PEARLS)

Conversational Turn-Taking

Earned Dogmatism Effect Frame as learning

Acknowledge fallibility Ask many questions Declare unknowns

Earned Dogmatism Effect

“I am experienced therefore I am right”

link at: caseywatts.com/mindmanipulation

Framing this is a “learning opportunity”

not an “execution problem”

Acknowledge Own Fallibility

“I may miss something — I need to hear from you.”

Model Curiosity ask many questions

Declare Unknowns “We’ll probably come across some issues around X”

Earned Dogmatism Effect Frame as learning

Acknowledge fallibility Ask many questions Declare unknowns

Decrease Riskiness Propinquity Vulnerability Validation

Depersonalize Ideas Task vs Relationship (PEARLS)

Conversational Turn-Taking

Earned Dogmatism Effect Frame as learning

Acknowledge fallibility Ask many questions Declare unknowns

Decrease Riskiness Propinquity Vulnerability Validation

Depersonalize Ideas Task vs Relationship (PEARLS)

Conversational Turn-Taking

Earned Dogmatism Effect Frame as learning

Acknowledge fallibility Ask many questions Declare unknowns

Propinquity social closeness

Vulnerability increases trust

Validation recognition and acceptance of another person's thoughts,

feelings, sensations, and behaviors as understandable

(whether or not you agree)

1. Be Present 2. Accurate Reflection 3. Mind Reading 4. Context: their background 5. “anyone would” 6. Radical Genuineness

Validation Levels

link at: caseywatts.com/mindmanipulation

Depersonalize Ideas Not “Casey’s Idea” but “Idea A”

Task Channel vs Relationship Channel

PEARLS

PEARLS

link at: caseywatts.com/mindmanipulation

Decrease Riskiness Propinquity Vulnerability Validation

Depersonalize Ideas Task vs Relationship (PEARLS)

Conversational Turn-Taking

Earned Dogmatism Effect Frame as learning

Acknowledge fallibility Ask many questions Declare unknowns

Questions?

Yay! fin

Bonus Content

Why doesn’t everyone already do CBT? Because: - it is a skill people don’t often study - it takes time - it takes energy - it’s uncomfortable at first

but you can power through :)

Haidt’sElephant Model

Post-hocRationalization

Haidt’s“Moral Foundations Theory”

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.

In our response lies our growth and freedom.

- Viktor Frankl

Anxiety a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease,

typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.

Rumination compulsively focused attention on the symptoms of one's distress, and on its possible causes and

consequences, as opposed to its solutions

More about Joyable (app)

Social Sensitivity“Reading the Mind in the Eyes”

link at: caseywatts.com/mindmanipulation