Therapeutic Benefits of Auditory Bilateral Stimulation

Presented by

George Herring

Alternating Sounds, LLCwww.AlternatingSounds.com

Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) is anyrhythmic alternation of stimulation

between the left and right hemispheres.

There Are Several Forms of BLS,Each With Therapeutic Applications

• Visual/Eyes (Example: EMDR)

• Tactile/Skin (Example:“Tapping”)

• Auditory/Ears (Example: Brainspotting)

“Bilateral stimulation activates an accelerated processing effect that encourages an extraordinary free-associative process between the mind and body that causes thoughts, emotions, images, memories, body sensations, dreamlike fantasies and other aspects of perception to break out of their old patterns and move rapidly to new levels of self-awareness.”

- Laurel Parnell, “Tapping In: A Step-by-Step

Guide to Activating Your Healing Resources Through Bilateral Stimulation”

Trauma Resolution

BLS has historically been used to desensitize and reprocess

trauma-based encoding and enhance ego-state integration.

Resource Enhancement

BLS is increasingly used to potentiate adaptive thoughts,

emotions, sensations, memories and associations.

Potential BLS Goals

• Resolve recent and remote trauma

• Enhance executive functioning

• Encode adaptive and affirming thoughts, feelings and beliefs

• Enhance creativity by strengthening new neural connections

• Reduce psychosomatic symptoms

Logical Abstract

Analytical Creative

Verbal Visual

Sequential Holistic

Linear Intuitive

Details Big Picture

Knowledge Beliefs

Strategies Possibilities

Mathematical Philosophical

Scientific Spiritual

Reality/Facts Fantasy/Imagination

Language-based memory Perceptual/symbolic memory

Hemispheric Differentiation

Characteristics of BLS

• More neurological than mental

“reflexive” rather than “reflective”

brain-based rather than mind-based

• Activation is both “bottom-up” (extraction of neural information) and “top-down” (integration of neural information)

• 5-6 hour reconsolidation period

• Defragmentation: integrates scattered (dissociated) information

• File cleaning: removes unnecessary artifacts(“orphan files”)

• Debugging: identifies and removes “programmingerrors”

• Virus removal: identifies and removes corrupting code

Result: improved “software” functioning, especially background processes

BLS Is A LikeOptimizing A Hard Drive

Theoretical Mechanisms of Action

• Dual attention theory

• Orienting response

• Reciprocal inhibition

• Reconsolidation process

Special Benefits of Auditory BLS

Music Processing is Distributed Throughout the Brain and Involves Nearly Every Neural Subsystem

From “This is Your Brain on Music, by Daniel J. Levitin

Frontal CortexProcesses musical structure, expectations and meaning

Music Adds To Potential Benefits of BLS

• Attending to musical structure requires both halves of the brain.

• Music taps into primitive brain structures involved with motivation, reward and emotion.

• Receptive process: no active effort needed

• Allows simultaneous application of multiple degrees of BLS strength (next slide)

• Allows much greater variety of input

• Utilizes inherent benefits of music

• Capable of accessing pre-verbal neural

encoding of experience

• Music serves role of “safe place”

Benefits of Auditory BLS

Multiple BLS Strengths

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• Sound should be at lowest audible level

– The cycling, not volume, is important

– Too loud can cause distraction or disequilibrium

– Can increase volume as desired

• Eyes open or closed ok

• Standing, sitting, lying down, walking all ok. No driving!

Tips for Auditory BLS

Further Reading

• “Tapping In: A Step By Step Guide to Activating Your Hidden Resources Through Bilateral Stimulation”, by Laura Parnell

• “Brainspotting: The RevolutionaryTherapyfor Rapid and Effective Change”, by David Grand

For more information and suggestions about using auditory bilateral stimulation,

including the opportunity to personally experience innovative bilateral stimulation

music designed to enhance emotional well-being, improve insight, cultivate

creativity and promote overall personal growth, please go to:

www.AlternatingSounds.com