ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 explores the mysteries of consciousness and the development of mind. Readers are introduced to Antonio Damasio’s description of the proto-self, core self, and autobiographical self. The functions of the left and right cerebral hemispheres are elucidated. This chapter considers the role of asymmetry and evolution in the function of our brains from our reptilian ancestors to the present-day Homo sapiens. A potential early common universal ancestor – the lystrosaurus – is proposed. The chapter provides a neurobiological explanation of why – when traumatised – our clients access instinctive brainstem responses and have the blood supply to their prefrontal cortex reduced. The chapter goes on to demonstrate why the patient can only respond rationally when they no longer feel trapped in an unsafe or life-threatening environment. This is very likely to be the case of in-patients, especially those admitted under sections of the Mental Health Act in the UK. Various locations for the neuroanatomical origin of consciousness are proposed, such as the periaqueductal grey matter in the midbrain. The philosophical origins of consciousness are also mentioned. New insights, such as those once achieved by the Ancient Greeks at the Delphic oracle, are proposed. As we moved from the Age of Enlightenment to the age of reason in society, so did our world perspective shift from the right to the left hemisphere. This has had significant implications in the field of psychiatry, with many more patients experiencing mental ill-health because of cutting themselves off from their feelings. I aim to redress this balance by guiding therapists to integrate their own thinking on Western and Eastern medicine before applying this to their patients. Ideas on the evolution of mind are explored with the development of language using “motherese” and mother-infant attunement as proposed by Prof Colwyn Trevarthen. Practitioners are given relevant information on language development. Finally, I summarise the work of Dan Siegel in his book The Mindful Therapist.
