Restoring Resilience by Eileen Russell

Author:Eileen Russell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Emotion Regulation and Resilience

For affective neuroscientists, regulation is not a valueless term. Similarly, affect regulation should also assume a central role in the work of therapists as we seek to support and enhance the resilience of our patients. The value is placed on the capacity to rapidly metabolize negative affect states and return to (genuinely) positive states. Remaining in negative affective states for too long is seen as toxic to brain development and to the ongoing smooth functioning of the central nervous system. In fact, Schore (1996) indicates that the working definition of resilience for infants and their caregivers is the capacity to return to a positive affective state from a negative one. I think that this is, in fact, a good working definition for resilient capacity for people of all ages. Negative affect generally limits one’s access to personal and external resources and is associated with fewer behavioral response options compared with positive affect (Fredrickson, 1998; Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005; Fredrickson & Losada, 2005; Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004). So the capacity to repair disrupted states marked by negative affect and to return to coordinated and positive affect states is a critical aspect of resilient capacity that is born in infancy and early toddlerhood.

In summary, the importance of the proper development of the orbitofrontal cortex and its connections to the limbic and motor systems of brain cannot be underestimated. These require at least a “good enough” emotionally resonant and responsive environment to develop properly so that the individual becomes capable of a “relatively fluid switching of internal bodily states in response to changes in the external environment that are appraised to be personally meaningful” (Schore, 1996, p. 73). If these are not well developed, the individual’s response capacity is limited, and other parts of the brain may predominate (i.e., the amygdala) in situations that pose challenges, leading to inflexible and, frequently, inappropriate response patterns that are marked, for example, by fear and aggression (Schore, 1994). This is not what one would normally consider resilient.

There are important implications of Schore’s work even on clinical interventions with adults, especially if we adhere to the philosophy of interpersonal neurobiology (see below) and the ongoing plasticity of the brain. Together, they suggest that in the development and healing of the brain, psychobiological state coordination between individuals, particularly pairs in which one has greater self- and emotion-regulatory capacities, is critical. Second, a major goal and function of these relationships is to rapidly metabolize negative affect and not only to return to positive affect states but also to remain in them, play with them, and elaborate them and all the salutary benefits they proffer. Affective neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology suggest that the most potent way to do this is through visuoaffective communication, which is primarily a right-brain-mediated phenomenon and includes face-to-face contact, gaze sharing, play, touch, and vocal rhythms that soothe distress and amplify positive affect.

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