Andrew Sercombe explains
Never heard of it? Unsurprising. This stunning field combines the studies of genetics, psychology and neurobiology and is very new.
Warning: This is neurological high tech! Here is a longer description — and a fairly heavy one, if you’re new to this stuff! …
Multisensory Intervention Neuro-Epigenetic Modulation (M.I.N.E.M.)
‘Neuro-Epigenetics’ is the study of genes and genetics in relation to changes in the brain and nervous system where a lot of your neurons turn out to be!
For decades no one thought that your life experiences and behaviour could cross over into the biological neuro-epigenetic structures you have, but there is increasing evidence that that might be the case.
The Installation of Behavioural Change through MINEM
Here is what top researchers Candace Renee Lewis and Michael Foster Olive pointed out in 2015:
“The idea that experiences may change epigenetic markers in germ cells, and thus the epigenetic makeup that is passed on to future generations, is nothing short of ground-breaking. Research in this field is very new and only starting to uncover the possibilities… Clearly, the possible long-term, perhaps transgenerational, effects of altering neuronal gene regulation via psychotherapeutic interventions necessitate further investigation.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25003947/:
And to quote Mitchell Liester and Erin Sullivan (Cogent Psychology, 2019)”
“Psychotherapy is another non-pharmaceutical option for inducing epigenetic changes leading to improved mental health (Jimenez et al., 2018; Yehuda et al., 2013). This discovery lead Stahl (2012) to refer to psychotherapy as “the new epigenetic drug.”” (see below)
Multisensory Intervention Neuro-Epigenetic Modulation (MINEM)
For the past decade or so I have personally been employing and continue to develop highly effective multisensory interventions to bring about deep lasting shifts in behaviour, unaware that these resonate with ongoing current cutting-edge research! Through deliberately created internal and external auditory, visual and kinaesthetic interventions, both myself and my colleagues in Powerchange (www.powerchange.com) have been able to ‘switch off’ and modulate deeply rooted mental health issues and support the ensuing installation of significant and ‘permanent’ behavioural change.
Language stimulates the production of multiple chemical reactions in the human brain (an example would be aggressive shouting that we know alters brain structure), so we began by using words, intonation and conversation to bring about change – Linguo-Epigenetic Modulation (LEM) – then we were finding from feedback that the experiences of our clients were in fact multi-sensory. Adding visual (both internal and external) stimulation, and kinaesthetic (internal and external) interventions significantly increased the change-inducing impact
Initially we worked with short 2-hour interventions but soon found that although these were effective for some, for others a series of four, perhaps five, 2-hour sessions over six to eight weeks had a stronger consolidating outcome. This is now the norm, with brief monthly ‘top-ups’ available but not essential, yet even this extension is a far cry from the many hours, months and years often involved in ‘traditional’ psychotherapy.
Of course, because of the lack of research into the psychotherapeutic non-drug use of MINEM, such work continues to sponsor questions, not least from us. We are constantly trying out different MINEM interventions with clients from broad backgrounds of psychological and other needs, and continue to consider the expansion of the approach into as yet unexplored and undeveloped areas. It’s very rewarding for both our clients and ourselves.
Do the traumas experienced in early life for instance, particularly the first two or three years, actually change a person’s genetic make-up? Researchers are finding increasing evidence that they might do. What are the implications of such change?
Can the damage of earlier traumatic life experiences be reversed, or perhaps even replaced by something better?
Yes! We know from our experience it can. It is a salutary and exciting concept, and as in all healthy scientific research there are more questions than answers, but using MINEM as a working label for the multi-sensory interventions experienced by our clients supports the empirical evidence that profound and permanent neurological shifts DO occur.
Feedback shows that such deep-brain modulation can have a stunning beneficial effect on the long-term future of a significant proportion of clients.
Welcome to the world of MINEM! Just like using your mobile phone, you don’t need to understand how it works to enjoy the benefits. Truth is, no one can be 100% sure how, but it does!
Just enjoy.