“When a person has access to both the intuitive, creative and visual right brain, and the analytical, logical, verbal left brain, then the whole brain is working… And this tool is best suited to the reality of what life is, because life is not just logical – it is also emotional.” – Stephen Covey
As with everything and anything, extremes can lead to problematic functioning – the brain is a prime example. Divergent hemispheric processing occurs when either the left (conscious, linguistic self) or right (somatic, emotional self) cerebral cortices dominates executive control of conscious processing. Evidence shows that the left hemisphere typically takes on the function of moderating states of arousal and social connectedness - sometimes rejecting information coming from the right and resulting in dominance of one hemisphere over the other. This is extremely common and why divergent hemispheric processing shows up on Cozolino’s eight problematic aspects of functioning that cause an individual to consider counselling from his book The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy: Healing the Social Brain (2010):
1) The suppression of language and predictive capacity under stress
2) Divergent hemispheric processing
3) The bias towards early learning
4) The tenacity of fear
5) The damaging effects of stress hormones
6) The speed and amount of unconscious processing
7) The primacy of projection
8) Unconscious self deception
This disruption of proper integration and balance between the two hemispheres can produce problematic effects. In more severe instances, the overinhibition of the right hemisphere by the left can result in alexithymia (an inability to recognize and articulate emotions), while an underinhibition can result in over emotionality, magical thinking, or even auditory hallucinations. Typically, we see this in issues around mood regulation, as this is a skill dependent on integration and balance of the left and right prefrontal cortices.
This is particularly common when trauma has occurred in early development and is a frequent response to abuse, neglect, or a lack of attunement in childhood. When this happens, hemispheres can grow to be less coordinated and integrated (resulting in problems in affective regulation and positive social awareness) or it can also be possible to develop fewer connecting fibers (decreased lateral integration). As discussed in previous posts, the left and right prefrontal cortices are biased toward positive and negative emotions, and an imbalance of the two can result in extremes of depression and mania. The good news is that neuroplasticity offers an opportunity to contend with these effects and heal.
Therapists seek balances in hemispheric processing by drawing out the conscious and unconscious realities of both hemispheres by encouraging overintellectualized clients to become aware of and explore their feelings, and alternatively to provide tools to build cognitive skills in clients presenting with an overwhelmed by experience with anxiety, fear, or depression. This is a critical step in vitality, a competency directly impacting our ability to attune, and at the core of being able to regulate and respond to whatever complexities exist in our unique lives.
“When the brain is whole, the unified consciousness of the left and right hemispheres adds up to more that the individual properties of the separate hemispheres.” – Roger Wolcott Sperry
References
Cozolino, L. (2010). The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy: Healing the Social Brain. W.W.Norton & Company: New York, NY