The neuroscience of how DBT, IFS, and Meditation Keep You in the Race!

Imagine you are in a car race, and your brain as a dynamic pit crew. To keep things running smoothly, each part is expertly trained at it’s unique role. Meditation steps in as the chief mechanic, orchestrating and optimizing the entire team’s performance, transforming your racing thoughts from chaotic to seamless.

Let's get to know the crew!

First up is the Prefrontal Cortex. This is a team member known for strategic thinking and smart decisions. It’s like the focus-driven lead engineer, who ensures every decision is sharp and precise. With meditation, this crucial team player gains a boost, allowing you to maintain focus, make wise choices, and resist impulsive behaviors (Tang et al., 2015).

Next, we have the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC), the emotional regulator and adaptive problem-solver. Think of this part as the tactician of the crew, maintaining emotional balance and refining responses. Meditation helps the ACC perform at its peak, ensuring smooth handling of emotional curves and building mental resilience (Tang, Hölzel, & Posner, 2015).

Then there’s the Amygdala, the crew’s alert system—the alarm bell that signals stress and danger. While essential for quick reactions, an overactive amygdala can drain energy and cause unnecessary distress. Here, meditation acts like a calming presence, reassuring the alarmist so it doesn’t go off at every minor bump (Hölzel et al., 2011).

The Hippocampus, your memory keeper, functions like the record keeper of the pit crew, organizing information and tracking performance. Meditation strengthens this part, enhancing emotional resilience and aiding in better memory management (Luders et al., 2009).

And let’s not forget the Insula, the crew’s body awareness expert. This member of the team monitors the vehicle’s internal status, your body and emotions. Through meditation, the Insula becomes more attuned, enabling you to pick up on subtle cues and stay connected to how you’re really feeling (Fox et al., 2016).

With meditation as the chief mechanic, each of these parts of your brain’s pit crew is kept in optimal condition. The result? A team that works together in harmony for better focus, reduced stress, heightened self-awareness, and enhanced neuroplasticity. It’s the ultimate team-building retreat for your brain, ready to keep you on track. Now, you’re primed and ready to roll into therapy, but what kind of therapy?

Two therapeutic approaches that work remarkably well together are Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS). IFS is a type of psychotherapy that empowers individuals to manage their complex inner parts, fostering healthy internal communication (Schwartz, 2020). DBT is a cognitive-behavioral therapy that helps individuals regulate intense emotions and improve interpersonal relationships (Linehan, 2015). One important skill in DBT is balancing acceptance with change. So, how do we make this work? While DBT offers a wide range of skills to practice acceptance and change, IFS encourages individuals to integrate these skills effectively. Think of DBT as the car and IFS as the driver. Together, they ensure that you’re not just moving the car—you’re steering it.

Both DBT and IFS create a powerful foundation for personal growth and balance. To optimize them, use meditation. Returning to the metaphor of the car: if DBT is the car and IFS is the driver, then meditation is the chief mechanic. This is primarily due to how it tunes up both the mind and the brain. Let’s clarify: the mind is not the brain, and the brain is not the mind, yet they are deeply connected. The good news is that we can control and strengthen our minds, and our brains, especially through meditation—our mental pitstop. BUT whether you call it ‘mindfulness,’ ‘finding your Zen,’ or ‘the art of sitting and doing nothing,’ there’s one thing we can all agree on—it’s way more challenging than it looks! Yet the evidence is clear: meditation supports your cognitive process (Tang, Hölzel, & Posner, 2015).

You may wonder, how do you meditate? There are many meditation practices, but the best one for the brain is the one you can stick with, a gentle ritual that grounds you, strengthens your focus, and brings peace to your thoughts. Here’s a hint: practice Mindfulness Meditation! You can do it anywhere and anytime; hitting the mental gym is easier than you think. Simply pay attention to what you’re doing, and when your attention wanders, bring it back. This meditation is so simple, it’s hard—mainly because we’re all a bit rebellious. Don’t believe me? Just check out the statistics on gym membership usage. It’s estimated that around 30% of Americans with gym memberships never use them, and only about 18% go consistently (BarBend, 2023). This highlights the broader issue of maintaining commitment to beneficial habits, even when they seem simple. But to the 18% who keep attending the mental gym—kudos to you! You’re working toward a sharper mind and a better brain. But now we’ve gotten off track.

In truth, meditation can be paired with any therapeutic approach, so why these three? Consider meditation, DBT, and IFS as the ultimate road trip trio. DBT is the car that gives you all the necessary tools and safety features for a smooth ride, while IFS is the driver, helping you navigate with compassion and clarity. And meditation? That’s the chief mechanic, keeping everything optimally functioning and ready for the therapeutic journey ahead. Together, they ensure you’re not just idling but cruising with confidence and control. So, buckle up, because with these three, you’re on the road to a more balanced, mindful, and joyful destination!

References

BarBend. (2023). Gym membership statistics. https://barbend.com/gym-membership-statistics/

Fox, K. C., Dixon, M. L., Nijeboer, S., Girn, M., Floman, J. L., Lifshitz, M., Ellamil, M., Sedlmeier, P., & Christoff, K. (2016). Functional neuroanatomy of meditation: A review and meta-analysis of 78 functional neuroimaging investigations. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 65, 208–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.03.021

Hölzel, B. K., Carmody, J., Evans, K. C., Hoge, E. A., Dusek, J. A., Morgan, L., ... & Lazar, S. W. (2011). Stress reduction correlates with structural changes in the amygdala. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 5(1), 11-17. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsp034

Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT skills training manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

Luders, E., Toga, A. W., Lepore, N., & Gaser, C. (2009). The underlying anatomical correlates of long-term meditation: Larger hippocampal and frontal volumes of gray matter. NeuroImage, 45(3), 672-678. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.12.061

Schwartz, R. (2020). Internal family systems therapy (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

Tang, Y. Y., Holzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4), 213-225. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3916