Think of PTSD as the conditioned response to stimuli.
Instead of “happiness” it’s “panic, anxiety, etc”
Instead of “bell” it’s a bunch of other triggering stimuli associated with violent partners/family
Counselors want to replace those negative pathways with positive ones. They want to recondition the brain to have better responses to the stimuli that trigger negative behavior.
Because it’s so simple, it applies to psychology (including for humans) very broadly. Remove the context of dog and food and bell.
event -> reward -> response
becomes
event -> response
And being able to predict or control behavior (responses) without providing value (rewards) is a powerful concept.
Edit: instead of ‘without providing value’, I should have phrased that to be more generic.
Yea but why do counselors try to use it for battered women syndrom?
Think of PTSD as the conditioned response to stimuli.
Instead of “happiness” it’s “panic, anxiety, etc”
Instead of “bell” it’s a bunch of other triggering stimuli associated with violent partners/family
Counselors want to replace those negative pathways with positive ones. They want to recondition the brain to have better responses to the stimuli that trigger negative behavior.