Feeling Numb - or Back to Normal? Understanding the 3-Step Neurological Process to Regain Control of Emotions and Energy During a Time of Extended Crisis

This Webinar is On-Demand and can be accessed upon registration at any time. On-Demand Webinar duration is 1.5 hours. You will earn 1.5 General CEUs upon completion of the on-demand webinar. 

Description: Everyone is going through this pandemic at the same time, facing the same set of risk factors. Not everyone is managing it the same way. Why are some people and organizations bouncing back quickly after the pandemic lockdown as other groups are completely shutting down? Some race back to ‘normal’ functioning while others are feeling emotionally frozen or ‘numb.’

Times of crisis expose the neurological patterns of rapid recovery and resilience – or the lack of it. This pattern – or change loop always occurs after catastrophic events and difficulties. It is an automatic response to extreme difficulty flowing out of the subconscious mind. Wendy Wood, senior researcher at the University of Southern California describes it this way-

“We spend a shocking 43% of our day doing things without thinking about them. That means almost half of our actions aren’t conscious choices but the result of our non-conscious mind nudging our body to act along learned behaviors.”

COVID-19 has affected everyone – but not in the same way. This global pandemic triggered a surge of the stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol which has sparked radical behavioral change at two extremes.

·         In some - to lose weight, finish a degree, pay off debts and improve their sleep and relationships

·         In others – to gain weight, watch TV, create more debt with online spending, never sleep and argue with or pull away from others

This radical shift in behavior flows out of thinking patterns – or mental habits – which are most noticeable during extended times of crisis. Norepinephrine helps our brains make new connections faster during challenging or stressful times. The higher your IQ – the faster it happens, especially in children. This pattern was first noticed over 100 years ago by Williams James, the founder of psychological functionalism, who said, “All our life is but a mass of habits,—practical, emotional, and intellectual bearing us irresistibly toward our destiny.”

Catastrophic stress is not new – but the unusual circumstances of COVID-19 might create a new opportunity for some to change neurological patterns to recover faster as they build a new ‘normal’ and better quality of life.

CE Broker Tracking #: 20-840480

This is an event sponsored by FMHCA. This course is approved by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling, LMHC, LMFT, LCSW – FMHCA CE Broker #: 50-748

Learning Objectives:

1. Gain awareness of the neurological process of rapid habit change during times of extreme stress following community crisis

2. Characterize the patterns of resilience in building a healthy mental health response to manage the normal surge of emotions during an extended pandemic

3. Create a three-step process to use with clients in overcoming compulsive cues to craft healthy behavioral change during extremely stressful times

About the Presenter:

Dwight Bain is a Nationally Certified Counselor in practice since 1984 with a specialty in managing crisis events. He served on a critical incident team at Ground Zero after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City. Bain is a trusted media resource on trauma recovery who has been interviewed on over 500 radio and television stations as well as quoted in over 100 media sites including: New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal, Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald, Newsday, CBN.com, FoxBusiness.com & MSNBC.com