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The GSR Meter Course
By Peter Shepherd
Biofeedback monitoring skills in
the context
of transformational
psychotherapy
This edition dated 18.7.01
Copyright © Tools for Transformation 1994-2001
Tools for Transformation
shepherd@trans4mind.com.
Foreword
The Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) Meter is a type
of biofeedback monitor
specially designed to assist in one-to-one (two
hand-held electrodes) and solo
(single hand double-electrode)
psycho-therapeutic and personal development
procedures. There are many situations in which
it is extremely helpful to be able
to detect the presence of emotionally charged,
suppressed mental content just
below or at the borders of subconsciousness.
This is a tremendous aid in
assessing which of many specific topics is most
relevant to be treated and at the
same time, such material is also accessible and
readily viewable by the subject.
This can save many hours of wasted searching and
discussion and when you
have used a GSR Meter for a short time you will
wonder how it is possible to be
effective in developmental therapies without
one!
Details of recommended GSR Meters are given at
these Web sites (descending
price):
Clarity Meter
Ability Meter, Int.
The Phoenix Meter
Psychotechnics
The Clarity and Phoenix Meters are
USA-manufactured, the Ability and
Psychotechnics meters are made in UK.
The following GSR Meter Course presents the
basic information you need to
understand the principles of GSR metering and to
include the use of a GSR
Meter in both your one-to-one psychotherapeutic
and self-administered personal
development sessions..CREDITS
The techniques of GSR metering in this course
are described in the context of
Transformational Psychology. Further information
about this approach to
personal and spiritual development is to be
found in the on-line book,
'Transforming the Mind' ,
at the Heart Intelligence Web
site and in the
New Life Course.
The author, Peter Shepherd,
based the materials of
Transformational Psychology and of the Bilateral
Meter Course on principles
originally researched and developed by Gregory
Unsworth-Mitchell, the
inventor of the Bilateral Meter. Considerable
assistance was also given by Mike
Wray in producing the GSR Meter materials in the
accompanying PDF manual,
GSR Meter Course.
Of course, many eminent transpersonal and analytical
psychologists are underlying sources of these
ideas and practical applications.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Whilst studying these materials be very sure
that you do not pass by any word
or concept that you do not fully understand, and
that you are happy with your
competence in each practical technique, before
continuing further.
If at any time you are having difficulty, go
back to where you were last doing
well and spot the word, concept or technique
that was not fully grasped. When
that misunderstanding or inability to apply is
sorted out, continue on from that
point. If there is a problem, please do not
hesitate to contact Peter
Shepherd for
assistance.
Introduction
Psycho-analytical procedures are greatly
enhanced by the use of a simple
biofeedback monitor. This serves to point out to
the practitioner those
emotionally "charged" topics which
pass through the subject's mind, either
consciously or pre-consciously. Without this
device the practitioner is relying
solely on body language; with the device,
therapeutic procedures are so much
more effective that it is now possible to use
powerful techniques much more
efficiently and successfully, and even to apply
them upon oneself as the subject.
The monitor operates by the Galvanic Skin
Response of the body.
The simple psycho-galvanometer was one of the
earliest tools of psychological
research. A psycho-galvanometer measures the
resistance of the skin to the
passage of a very small electric current. It has
been known for decades that the
magnitude of this electrical resistance is
affected, not only by the subject's
general mood, but also by immediate emotional
reactions. Although these facts
have been known for over a hundred years and the
first paper to be presented on
the subject of the psycho-galvanometer was
written by Tarchinoff in 1890, it
has only been within the last 25 years that the
underlying causes of this change
in skin resistance have been discovered.
The Tarchinoff Response is a change in DC
potential across neurones of the
autonomic nervous system connected to the
sensori-motor strip of the cortex.
This change was found to be related to the level
of cortical arousal. The
emotional charge on a word, heard by a subject,
would have an immediate
effect on the subject's level of arousal, and
cause this physiological response.
Because the hands have a particularly large
representation of nerve endings on
the sensori-motor strip of the cortex, hand-held
electrodes are ideal. As arousal
increases, the "fight or flight"
stress response of the autonomic nervous system
comes into action, and adrenaline causes
increased sweating amongst many
other phenomena, but the speed of sweating
response is nowhere near as
instantaneous or accurate as the Tarchinoff
response.
The most advanced layers of the cortex, unique
to Man, link to the thumb and
forefinger especially, and there is a further
complex physiological response
which occurs when the forebrain is aroused.
Changes in Alpha rhythms cause
blood capillaries to enlarge, and this too
affects resistance.
By virtue of the Galvanic Skin Response,
autonomic nervous system activity
causes a change in the skin's conductivity. The
overall degree of arousal of the
hemispheres, and indeed the whole brain, is
shown by the readings of the GSR.Meter, which does not differentiate between the
hemispheres, or between
cortical and primitive brain responses. Higher
arousal (such as occurs with
increased involvement) will almost
instantaneously (0.1 - 0.5 sec) cause a fall in
skin resistance; reduced arousal (such as occurs
with withdrawal) will cause a
rise in skin resistance.
Thus a rise or fall relates directly to reactive
arousal, due to re-stimulation of
repressed mental conflict. Initially this may
cause a rise in resistance as this
emerging, previously repressed, material is
fought against. When the conflict is
resolved, by the viewing of objective reality -
the truth of exact time, place,
form and event - there is catharsis and the
emotional charge dissipates; the
release of energy giving a fall in resistance.
The Being or "Higher Self" is
involved, because it is the Being that knows the
objective truth and therefore is in conflict
with distorted mental contents. The
Being, however, is not part of the brain; it is
a quality not a quantity, and is
essentially not anywhere, except by
consideration. The Being is a non-verbal
knowingness that lies back of mental awareness
and activity, but which is
capable of influencing the composite human
being, through will and creative
choice, by postulate.
Jung and Mathison
One of the first references to the use of GSR
instruments in psychoanalysis is in
the book by Carl Gustav Jung, entitled
"Studies in Word Analysis", published in
1906. Here the Swiss psychologist describes a
technique of connecting the
subject, via hand-electrodes, to an instrument
measuring changes in the
resistance of the skin. Words on a list were
read out to the subject one by one. If
a word on this list was emotionally charged,
there was a change in body
resistance causing a deflection of the needle of
the galvanometer. Any words
which evoked a larger than usual response on the
meter were assumed to be
indicators of possible areas of conflict in the
patient, and these areas were then
explored in more detail with the subject in
session. Jung used observed
deflections on the meter as a monitoring device
to aid his own judgment in
determining which particular lines of enquiry
were most likely to be fruitful
with each subject.
Without amplification, this device was difficult
to use, thus it remained as little
more than a laboratory curiosity until the
development of sophisticated valve
amplifiers in the 1930s. Once a portable
psycho-galvanometer with
amplification was available, the idea of using a
psycho-galvanometer was
picked up with enthusiasm by criminologists.
These meters became known as
"lie detectors", and have been used by
various police forces, in this manner, for
more than 60 years. On the other hand, little
further work was done in psychotherapy with the psycho-galvanometer, until
Biofeedback Research in
the 1970s using the psycho-galvanometer in
connection with meditation and
relaxation became popular.
Biofeedback is the technique of self-regulation
of awareness states by the
subject. The level of cortical arousal is
central to a person's level of awareness,
so a machine that can measure this factor is of
the first importance in
biofeedback. Many papers have been presented on
this subject over the last 25
years, and the most important findings of this
research are:
1. A low level of cortical arousal is desirable
for relaxation, hypnosis, and
the subjective experience of psychic states and
unconscious
manifestations.
2. A high level of cortical arousal gives
increased powers of reflection,
focused concentration, increased reading speed,
and increased capacity
for long-term recall.
3. Cortical arousal has a simple relationship to
skin conductivity. Arousal
of the cortex increases the conductivity of the
skin and conversely, a
drop in arousal causes a drop in skin
conductivity. With a sensitive
meter the level of arousal can be brought under
conscious control. With
a few hours' practice the level of arousal can
be consciously controlled
over wide limits.
Volney Mathison was a pioneer in the discovery
that all fears, feelings and
resentments - all thought and emotion - were
electrical in their nature. He found
through experiments with lie-detectors during
the 1940s that when a person was
reminded of certain past events, or when a
change of mood was induced in him,
the needle in the meter would jump erratically;
the degree of jump was in
proportion to the strength of unconscious
reaction. In skilled hands the meter
could be used to locate a particular mental
content, the nature of that content,
the location of that content in space and time,
and the amount of force contained
within it.
His researches with lie-detectors in the 1940's
made it possible for Volney
Mathison to go on and invent the modern type of
portable transistorised GSR
Meter - a type that has survived with very
little change, until the present day.
The Hubbard E-meter was based on its design;
contrary to propaganda, these
early types of meter worked well. Mathison went
on to develop a word-list to be
used in conjunction with the GSR meter. He would
ask the subject under
analysis, to take hold of the meter-electrodes,
then he would read this list of
words to him. Without fail, some of these words
would trigger a response on the
meter, and in some cases violently. Whenever
this was the case, Mathison knew
that these words were associated with violent
and negative fear or resentment that had its origin in unconscious (reactive)
complexes in the subject's mind.
Most of the time, the subject was completely
unaware that he was reacting on
the meter in this way.
This contradiction has been noted by Dr. Apter of Bristol University in his book "Reversal Theory". He refers to this as Paradoxical Arousal. His discoveries are that high arousal can be pleasant and exciting when a person is in the (active) Paratelic state, whereas high arousal is experienced as unpleasant in the (thinking) Telic state.
Apter's findings are that a person with a heavy traumatic history experiences high arousal as unpleasant, because the cortical arousal is unequal due to restimulation. It can be demonstrated in many cases that one hemisphere is aroused more than the other, as seen on the Bilateral Meter (a special type of Biofeedback Monitor using twin electrodes). In contrast, when cortical arousal is uniform this is experienced as a pleasant state of high energy (the Bilateral meter reflects this).
This is similar to Freud's early findings, that high arousal in a neurotic is experienced as internal excitement, which is unpleasant, whereas a person who is substantially free from neurosis experiences arousal as energy for incitement, i.e. energy for action. Our findings substantiate Freud's early findings. Proportional to a client's erasure or transcendence of traumatic material there is an increased capacity to operate at high arousal, in a relaxed state without discomfort, and at a high emotional tone.
In order to resolve the paradox, I suggest that it would be more effective to correlate high and low skin resistance, not with "relaxation" and "stress" but with "withdrawal and "involvement" respectively; both these terms can refer either to a relaxed or to a tense state. The state of withdrawal is relaxed when it means detachment from worldly cares or abandoning responsibility (Telic); and withdrawal is experienced as tense when it means an inability to confront repressed material (Paratelic).
Involvement is experienced as tense when it means over-reach or anxiety (Telic), and is experienced as relaxed when it means enhanced awareness, or when there is a flash of insight and the sudden clearing away of a mental blockage caused by repressed material (Paratelic). A client who is involved in the session of analysis will be in the Paratelic state; if he goes "out-of-session" this will be a reversal to the Telic state:
It is for the above reasons that a fall of the meter needle, i.e. an increase in arousal, is usually more useful than a rise, i.e. a decrease in arousal, when a list is being assessed to find a case entry point - the most appropriate item to handle. Usually, unless the arousal is too high due to overwhelm or terror, the fall of the needle indicates involvement, hence increased awareness and the ability to access and confront charged material. However, when the needle rises in response to a particular word or concept, this indicates withdrawal; it indicates in most cases that the client does not wish to take responsibility for this area of address.
If the client is able to view the material, some of the suppressed emotional charge is released, causing a fall in resistance. This happens instantly and means that the material is accessible to the client. However the mental defenses may kick in and cause a backing off or resistance to the material, because its content may be hard to face with equanimity. This stops the release of charge and the resistance may then rise. The material is still accessible but the client is fighting against it.
A rise, then, relates to material which is being confronted but is also fought against. If viewed directly, the contents may overwhelm the client, and the client moves away from it in fear, which causes a high emotional arousal and fall in resistance, followed by a blocking off of the material and subsequent rise in resistance and suppression of the experience. This is what might happen outside the safety and guiding control of a therapist. But if the material is discharged gradually and safely by appropriate therapeutic techniques, the client becomes able to move toward the material, confronting and experiencing it openly, and gradually letting go of his defenses against it. The release of charge - energy previously used in suppression - increases arousal and there is a fall in resistance that is experienced pleasurably. The client is able to integrate the experience and so is not fighting it or fleeing from it but rather going towards it.
End of excerpt
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