CRM Neurophysiology in a Nutshell

CRM neurobiology was developed by Frank Corrigan, MD.
A synopsis of the CRM model, and Corrigan’s work, was compiled below by Lisa Schwarz, M.Ed.
Symptoms, addictions, relationship problems, behavioral challenges are the presenting problems that bring people to therapy and doctor’s offices. These are considered defense responses that follow the profoundly difficult emotions that are too much to experience. Terror, grief, rage, shame, pain, and disgust are the feelings that we try to avoid feeling throughout our life. Our mind buries these feelings. Our defense responses, or symptoms, not only protect us from feelingthis intolerable pain, but in the CRM therapy process give us information about the true cause or root issue resulting from the truth of our life.
The truth of our life is:
– What happened (to us)
– What didn’t happen that should have happened
– Conflicts and paradoxical feelings about needing/loving/trusting people that hurt us
– How our life has been influenced by these things
These truths create emotional pain, fear or threat that can be intolerable or unbearable. Because our nervous system cannot allow us to feel that pain fully and completely, our brains make sure that we have ways to avoid those painful feelings and we call these defense responses. They are actually the symptoms mentioned above that bring us to therapy and are driven by the need to fight, flight, freeze, hide, avoid, submit or dissociate from those experiences and the pain that goes with them. In the CRM process, we are guiding the client to access within themselves the resources of their mind, body and spirit that makes feeling painful feelings possible. When we can feel the most painful things completely, and step into the pain fully, the need for our defense responses (symptoms, addictions, etc.) are no longer needed. Our nervous system does not need to avoid, fight, hide or bury the things that have influenced how we have operated and related to ourselves and to others.
Breathing, connection to our history with nature, our instinctual ability to connect and attach to ourselves or others, and the ability to really feel a connection to our physical  body allows us to feel safe enough to truly feel deeply to release that pain and
Copyright CRM LLC 2017 terror. For the times when the fear keeps us from being able to develop these resources, the CRM therapist will guide you through these obstacles. CRM  clears out the sludge and debris that keeps us from re-membering who we really  are, the us that is not defined from our pain and history.
The following is a brief description of three neural loops postulated by Frank Corrigan, a psychiatrist in Scotland and the developer of the neurobiology of CRM:
1. The first loop starts with a threat, activates the intolerable feelings which then tell the body to go into a defense response. These defense responses manifest as our symptoms, negative beliefs, addictions and relationship problems that bring us into therapy.
2. The second loop is happening at the same time and releases neurochemicals that tell our brain that it is dangerous to be connected to other people and that we are isolated and unworthy which is another threat that makes the first loop strengthen the fear, unbearable emotions and defense responses which then makes more “‘bad” neurochemicals release and both loop#1 and loop #2 are reinforced and continue.
3. Loop 3 is the loop that makes our brain learn what is dangerous and when something that we learn is dangerous happens, the first two loops know to start their jobs again which strengthens the symptoms, addictions and negative beliefs.
4. CRM resource layers create loops also, AT THE SAME TIME AS THE TRAUMA LOOPS MENTIONED ABOVE, which makes the brain and body feel safe enough to feel the unbearable feelings without needing to run away from those feelings. When the feelings are NOW able to be felt as tolerable there is no need for symptoms so the body and brain changes its behaviors, its
thinking and the neurochemicals change to ones that make us feel that it is safe to connect with ourselves and others. With all the positive changes, the intolerable events, memories and especially the emotions can be felt fully, very quickly and released. So no more symptoms needed. The “learning loop, (#3) then learns new responses to situations and learns that certain experiences are no longer dangerous.

Copyright CRM LLC 2017