Prof. Nevzat Tarhan: "Psychotherapy shapes our brain not only at the behavioral level but also at the biological level..."

President of Üsküdar University Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan participated in the 8th National Holistic Psychotherapy Congress organized by the Institute of Psychotherapy. Tarhan, who made a presentation titled "Brain Connections of Psychotherapy", emphasized that psychotherapy's ability to reshape the brain is effective not only at the behavioral level but also at the biological level. Discussing brain connections under five headings, Tarhan mentioned that psychotherapy is to repair the mistakes in these connections. Tarhan also pointed out that brain studies conducted in recent years have shown that there is a 'reciprocal link' between the brain and emotions, thoughts and behavior.

The congress, which took place at the Psychotherapy Institute Bayramoğlu Education and Congress Center, attracted great attention. President of Üsküdar University Prof. Nevzat Tarhan attended the congress, which has become a tradition, this year as well.

"It is not possible to understand psychotherapy without this great perspective."

In his speech, Tarhan mentioned that there is a reality beyond matter and that it should be considered according to this reality and stated that "We need to see the whole universe. There is a trans-material universe, a trans-material reality. This needs to be seen. They ask Einstein, 'How did you find this reality?' He say, ‘I thought that 'How would I do it if I were in God's place, and that is what I found.’ In other words, while analyzing the psychology of human beings, we can only understand if we look at how the creator of this universe created it. However, if we reduce it only to the brain, we cannot understand it. If we reduce it only to matter, we cannot understand it. As Jung said, "Beyond space and time there is a part of man's soul." It is necessary to think about that piece. What is that piece? How about that piece? What kind of information is the creator of this universe currently connecting with us? What kind of information do we have to connect with it? It is necessary to think about this. For this reason, it is not possible to understand psychotherapy without this great perspective."

There is a 'reciprocal link' between the brain and emotions, thoughts and behavior

Drawing attention to the types of psychotherapy, Tarhan stated "They affect the nerve pathways and structure of the brain differently. In recent years, brain studies have shown that the brain is a networked and relational organ and that there is a 'reciprocal link' between the brain and emotion, thought and behavior. It was a great discovery that the limbic system transfers amygdala-centered emotional information to the decision algorithm in the prefrontal lobe for decision-making, while operating the left hemisphere cortex for mathematical thinking, analysis, hippocampus for memory, music, art, aesthetics, and the right hemisphere for holistic view like an orchestra. It would not be an exaggeration to say that psychotherapy is nothing more than repairing the mistakes in these connections."

Psychotherapy shapes the brain not only at the behavioral level but also at the biological level

Emphasizing that psychotherapy's ability to reshape the brain is effective not only at the behavioral level but also at the biological level, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan discussed the brain connections of psychotherapy under five items. Tarhan made the following listing:

1. Neuroplasticity: Psychotherapy, especially cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), has been shown to cause neuroplastic changes. This means that by reorganizing neural pathways, and it can help create new connections in the brain that improve mental health.

2. Functional and Structural Changes: Studies using brain imaging techniques such as fMRI and PET scans have shown that psychotherapy can lead to both functional and structural changes in the brain. For example, regions associated with emotion regulation, such as the prefrontal cortex, may show increased activity and connectivity after psychotherapy.

3. Decrease in Amygdala Activity: Psychotherapy, especially in the treatment of anxiety or trauma, has been associated with a decrease in hyperactivity in the amygdala, the emotional processing center of the brain. This leads to a more balanced emotional response.

4. Connectivity Between Brain Regions: Long-term psychotherapy can increase connectivity between different brain regions, such as the prefrontal cortex and limbic system, which are particularly involved in emotional regulation and cognitive control. This strengthens emotional resilience and cognitive processing.

5. Epigenetic Effects: Some studies show that long-frequency and long-term psychotherapy can affect gene expression related to brain function and stress responses. This means that psychotherapy could potentially change how genes related to mental health are expressed and promote long-term psychological well-being.

"Our brain is an organ that can work in a multitasking way"

Pointing out that therapy is to manage the chemistry laboratory in the brain, Tarhan stated that "What happens if you overload the cache with too much information? The computer slows down. If you do everything at the same time, you will be blocked. What will you do then? You will think categorically wisely. You are doing therapy, you are listening to 10 boring stories a day, and you are listening to your troubles. If your mind is stuck on the previous one when one ends, you will need a therapy, but the person who does the categorical thinking thinks about a subject, after thinking about it, takes it, puts it on the shelf and moves on to another topic. At that moment, it is categorized into that topic. Accordingly, it can take the therapy of 5-10 people in 1 day without positive or negative effects on each other. Our brain is an organ that can multitask. You should know how to manage it. If you think about the same thing from morning to night, you will exhaust yourself. We take care of patients with depression who come to us. Instead of thinking about negative thinking for 5 minutes, he thinks for 15 minutes. He thinks the same thing for 60 minutes, 50 minutes all the time. The brain is blocked. In such cases, the network in the brain is disrupted. In fact, what we call therapy is a kind of sculpting our brain and we can say that we manage the chemistry laboratory in our brain."

"It is important to be able to add emotion to thought in therapy"

Stating that the brain accepts what it accepts as belief as reference information, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan underlined that attention should be paid to reference information. Tarhan stated that "Positive thinking does not stimulate the brain much. Positive mood activates. If emotion is added to the thought, it activates. If no emotion is added to the thought, that thought comes and goes. It goes in one ear and out in the other. That is why it is important in therapy to be able to add emotion to thought. There is a negative thought, but if you add thoughts and emotions to it, if you believe in the negative thing, this happens when you believe. When you believe, emotion is added to the thought. In such cases, there is negative thinking. A person is standing in the middle of the room. One wonders if I am going to get dizzy, he says I am going to get dizzy or something. He starts to feel dizzy. However, there is nothing. The false belief about the disease creates symptoms related to that disease in the person. It is not what you think, but it is what you believe. Thought plus emotion… When the brain accepts it as a belief, the brain now accepts it as reference information. It makes decisions based on that reference information. That is why we need to pay attention to our reference information because perceptions about it are formed. We take a position on it. We make decisions about it, and we are inadvertently inviting what we believe in.”

"Religion and science complement each other"

Stating that ego wars break the family, Tarhan said that the complementarity of husband and wife is also in the synthesis of science and religion. Tarhan stated that "The solution that the West has come up with is that if you cannot work things out together, break up. However, one chose the easy way on the way to the goal if they do so. This same thing exists culturally. The argument that ‘if you cannot work things out together, break up’ was used by the West to end the wars of religion in the Middle Ages. And it succeeded. It is claimed, 'End the wars of religion. Religion and science do not go together. Let it be separate.’ And it is separated. They make it as religion is separate and science is separate. Then the church there was very smart and established a university for the church. The church has embraced the university and left the state administration. It founded a university and created a synthesis and created peace. This is how secularism came out. We could not do that, for example. We couldn't do it as ottomans and anything. Religion and science are not separate from each other, they are not completely separated. And we couldn't bring it together and integrate. There has been a war, and we are experiencing cultural ruptures with it. This is also an important thing, but in the West, religion and science have now become holistic science. As I said at the beginning, religion and science complement each other. They are not competitors of each other but complement each other. It is the same in the family, husband and wife are rivals and complements to each other. It is a point of view.”

"The biggest problem is that they are after instant rewards"

Drawing attention to the importance of endurance training, Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that "We provide resilience training to people. In therapies, we reveal the strengths and weaknesses of that person. The person can postpone his feelings here. Or the ability to delay gratification is working. If a person develops the ability to delay gratification, the orbitofrontal cortex is actually activated by antidepressant drugs. The first few times the reward is not received, the bad behavior occurs. Thinking about the reward in the future is something here again. In fact, I said physiotherapy is an example. A lady is undergoing physiotherapy. Physiotherapy is also a very painful thing. You have your arm or leg pulled, and it makes you feel pain. The physiotherapist said, ‘Ma’am, you do not say anything, do you not feel any pain?' She says, ‘Of course I do! It hurts so much, but I think I will be relieved in the future. I put up with it.' See? This is something delay of gratification. delay of gratification is thinking about the reward ahead. The biggest problem with young people today is that they are after instant rewards. However, there is a delay of gratification test, that is, if they delay gratification, those people will receive a bigger reward after a year or two years. It is one thing to teach it. It is referred to as endurance training.”

6 virtues that are important in the life of every person...

Mentioning that strengthening the personality in a positive way psychologically activates the immune system, Tarhan concluded his remarks as follows: "Our brains are currently in a state of exchange with the quantum universe. Consciousness studies show that there must be quantum consciousness. Here, the right brain is called the spiritual hemisphere of the brain. The left brain, you know, is logical, rational, rational, detailed, planned, solves the problem. It breaks down, it solves the problem with the left brain. The right brain also solves the problem as a whole. The left brain is the masculine brain, the right brain is the feminine brain. The left masculine brain is breaking down, dissolving. It is a quick perspective. It gathers into the whole, and it cannot see the whole. This feminine brain looks at the event more holistically. So emotionally, intuitively, musically, artistically, aesthetically, this way the right brain is Gardner's theory of character forces. There are six of them. He set six virtues: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence, and 24 values under the six virtues. Leadership, citizenship, equity, forgiveness, spirituality, in fact, this has emerged in positive psychology. This is important in psychotherapy. If we strengthen our personality in a positive way, if we activate these areas of our brain, that person psychologically defeats the disease by itself because it activates the immune system. And it is a very quick and short therapy method."

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)