The Brain Direction Method as the solution to burnout

The Brain Direction Method as the solution to burnout

Stress and burnout are serious workplace challenges, with negative consequences for both employees and organizations. Constant stress leads to poorer performance, can affect health and lead to a negative work atmosphere. It's time to take this seriously! But how? In our latest Anders Denken Podcast, stress and burnout coach Ynco de Jong talks about the Brain Direction Method©.

According to stress and burnout coach Ynco de Jong, it is quite difficult to tackle stress with a "delta plan. Many organizations want to, but don't know how. And that makes sense, because stress has little to do with the collective and everything to do with the individual. Each person has unique patterns, which can produce stress. Perhaps you are a perfectionist, you want to belong or you are afraid to say no. Then such a pattern can recur over and over again. If that happens at work, you can count on that person falling over at some point.'

• Want to learn more about stress and the individual? Listen to the Different Thinking Podcast!

The Brain Direction Method©

Ynco also experienced this himself. About eighteen years ago, he suffered a burnout. 'In my own quest to get out of that burnout, I tried various approaches. They were all methods that did not solve the cause and that frustrated me enormously. In my search for a way to get over my burnout, I then found the Brain Direction Method©.'

Psychosomatic versus neurosomatic approach

'Most approaches to dealing with burnout take a psychosomatic approach,' Ynco continues. 'Then you start working with behavior and thought patterns to influence how people feel. And you practice techniques like mindfulness to experience less stress. However, the neurosomatic perspective of the Brain Direction Method© assumes that the basic blockage causing stress is at the level of the brain.'

This approach, according to Ynco, involves a specific questioning technique that uses re-experiencing. 'This is how we reach the point at which the blockage occurred; a point of loss of control, with negative physiology attached. The brain stores that event and the feeling associated with it separately, with the result that this negative physiology is activated on occasion. If that happens frequently or violently, the body goes into a stress reaction, when there is really no context for it. That takes a lot of energy, which can eventually lead to burnout symptoms.

I am not allowed to be myself

Thanks to the Brain Direction Method©, Ynco also discovered the point at which his blockage, or conviction of not being good enough, occurred. 'I'm left-handed, but I wasn't allowed to be, so I was given the ruler over my fingers. From that came the conviction "I'm not allowed to be myself." Every time I was criticized for my performance, my body reacted just as violently as when I was hit with the ruler. By working with the subconscious, that blockage dissolved, eliminating the stress reaction. This helped me cope better with stressful situations and provided a lasting solution to my burnout.

• Want to know more about the Brain Direction Method©? Listen to the Anders Denken Podcast!