Keith Norman

Occupational Therapy Student

‘Love one another...as I have loved you.’

Jesus of Nazareth

‘Love is not the product of thought’Jiddu Krishnamurti

I'll be your dreamI'll be your wishI'll be your fantasy.I'll be your hopeI'll be your loveBe everything that you need

Savage Garden

Evidence-based and outcome-oriented practice often overlook the importance of caring in professional relationships

Unconditional love is vital to the development of the individual

Acceptance (unconditional positive regard), empathy and genuineness (Rogers)

Communication of empathic understanding and unconditional positive regard nurtures self-healing

(Stickley and Freshwater 2002)

Stern (1985) Empathic Attunement

Winnicott (1965) Holding

Bion (1963) Container/contained

Pines (1982) Mirroring

MIRROR MIRRORING

Immediate/fleeting One-way Exact Unbiased

Flat/two-dimensional

Delayed/enduring Two-way An imitation Coloured by

thoughts, judgements and pre-conditioning

Layered, complex, multi-textured

(Rizzolatti http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/589463_2

Individual neurons fire when an action is performed and when it is observed or heard

In macaques inferior frontal gyrus (region F5) and the inferior parietal lobule

In humans inferior frontal cortex (close to Broca’s area) and superior parietal lobe

Allow humans to understand others actions, but also emotions

People who have high activity in brain regions associated with mirror neurons also score highly on empathy questionaires

Allow others’ actions and intentions to be automatically understood/intuited

Allow others actions and intentions to be automatically and appropriately responded to

Works via insula with limbic system to allow understanding of others’ emotional state

Abnormal function of mirror neurons (pars opercularis) during action observation and imitation

No activity in pars opercularis during facial expression recognition

Lower activity in limbic (emotional) system during facial expression recognition

Children with ASD able to imitate and name facial expressions do so using different neural strategies

(Dapretto et al 2005)

Loss of a potential bridge between minds

Critical for intersubjectiveunderstanding, attention sharing and social survival

Imitation is critical for early development and learning (motor, language, behaviour)

Loss of imaginative ability

Behaviour restricted, repetitive & stereotyped

(Williams et al, 2001)

‘Theory theory’

Logical process based

Observe others behaviours

Theorize regarding mental/emotional state

Predict behaviour and plan response

‘Simulation theory’

Intuition based

Put self in other’s shoes

Simulate mental processes operating in other

Act in concert with other

‘Theory theory’

Logical process based

Observe others behaviours

Theorize regarding mental/emotional state

Predict behaviour and plan response

‘Simulation theory’

Intuition based

Put self in other’s shoes

Simulate mental processes operating in other

Act in concert with other

Find out more about them

Trust in them (they give us lots of useful information)

Be honest and genuine (the other person will know we’re faking, even if they don’t know that they know)

Forgive others when they don’t seem to understand us (their mirror neurons might be broken)