Page 14 - Boca Club News - November '22

Page 14, Boca Club News
Case Studies:

Navigating the Nervous System

By Elyce Kiperman-Gordon, MS, promotion. However, he is feeling overwhelmed with the his phone and computer.
LCMHC, NCC, owner of The pressure and is isolating himself more and more to cope The goal was to use polyvagal techniques to establish
Feeling Expert®, an evidence-based with the outside stressors. He knows his behaviors are a baseline for Chris to remember how it feels to not be so
and holistic psychotherapy practice, impacting his health. anxious. Many people who are stressed or dealing with
located in Boca Raton. She is a During our conversations, Chris noted his frustration anxiety lose sight of their own normal, calm and safe state.
Board Certified, licensed Clinical levels would easily go from 0-60 in a minute. He stated We started him with breathing exercises that work on
Mental Health Counselor, offering that the most important thing to him was being successful the vagus nerve, which helps regulate stress, to reconnect
a range of therapeutic approaches both at work and at home. High achievers can frequently him to his natural resting state and allow him to become
to treat anxiety, depression, trauma, overwork themselves, and are unaware of the impact it has aware of his calm state. Recognizing the physical
and relationship issues. Elyce is an Internal Family on their mental and physical health. Chris wasn’t listening sensations in our bodies aids in the mapping of our nervous
Systems Specialist (IFS) and a Certified International to the physical and mental symptoms he was experiencing, system and the development of new neural pathways for
Integral Sound Healing Therapist. She can be reached like digestion issues, racing heart, tightness in the chest, safety and connection in relationships. Chris learned to
at (844) CAN-HEAL or Elyce@TheFeelingExpert.com. lack of focus, and now bursts of frustration and, most listen to his body and become more aware of the state of
Disclaimer: Names and identifying characteristics have recently, panic attacks. being he was in at the time. This allowed him to build the
been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. When a person is stressed, the part of the brain often capacity to regulate his system and prevent such potential
The Patient: Chris, a 38-year-old male, came to me called the emotional brain sends signals to alert the risks in the future.
with the intention of reducing his stress at work. He sympathetic nervous system to respond to the perceived When we were able to get Chris back into a safe state, he
recently received a promotion and now works in a high- threat. This is the part of the autonomic nervous system that was able to access higher cortical functions, bring his body
pressure environment with many new challenges. Since is designed to prepare you to respond quickly, known as the back out of the shutdown phase, and refocus his cognitive
he took on the role, he has been constantly stressed, “fight or flight or stress response.” Chris’s nervous system abilities. As he gained more skills around his nervous
having panic attacks, and unable to concentrate or focus. was affected by the acute stress-related symptoms, keeping system, we then moved into cognitive behavioral therapy
He is a high achiever and a hard worker, and the new role him in an aroused state of being and affecting the way he (CBT) techniques. CBT engages specific techniques to
makes him question his abilities. He has been anxious and was responding. If there is no threat, the other part of the target unhelpful thoughts, feelings and behaviors that are
frustrated at times, and quickly “flips out” and “checks autonomic nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous known to trigger and produce high levels of anxiety.
out” by scrolling on his phone or computer to distract system, slows down the stress response to a relaxed state Chris had some underlying beliefs that were driving
himself and isolate. Usually, he enjoys being with others, of being. When one of these systems is working harder his anxiety and stress symptoms. “I am a failure when I
but lately he wants to be alone, and it has been affecting than the other, not allowing the other one to counteract it, can’t do things perfectly,” for example. This belief may
his relationship with his wife. His primary objective was the nervous system can become dysregulated. then lead to feelings and behaviors that result in negative
to find a way to better deal with stress and anxiety. The Treatment: Chris was stressed, worried and outcomes, reinforcing a negative cycle. He was able to
The Diagnosis: Chris was able to express to me how panicked. When someone presents with high stress and challenge his unhelpful thoughts and behavioral patterns
much he enjoys his new job and recognizes that it is an anxiety levels, I incorporate a clinical application of the and assist him in creating new, more helpful ways of
extremely competitive environment. Chris wants to remain polyvagal theory to address the nervous system regulation thinking and behaving.
in the position. He is exceptionally proud of the fact that first. Polyvagal theory helps to identify three shifts in the Results: Chris and I had many sessions together. It
he is the youngest person to ever be at this level with the nervous system that produce three states of being: rest and didn’t take long for him to develop the ability to recognize
company. He is driven, strives for perfection, and intends digest (social and safe), fight or flight (mobilization), and his triggers, address the situation immediately, and use the
to advance in his career. Ordinarily easy-going, he finds freeze (immobilization). calming techniques before they manifested physically. He
this new role is much more stressful, which he is then Despite the fact that Chris was not in a life-threatening found ways to take ownership of what was happening to
bringing home with him. He realized his new position was situation, his sympathetic nervous system perceived his his body so he could regulate his emotions and responses
creating reactions that were not healthy, and he didn’t feel stress and anxiety reactions as dangerous and threatening to stress. He found he was much more resilient at work
he was being himself. and remained on a heightened alert. If you are constantly to the daily challenges, and he stayed grounded without
Growing up, Chris had parents who were very in fight-flight, you won’t be able to recognize or detect having to dissociate from his surroundings to feel relief.
supportive of his ambitions and encouraged him to succeed safety any longer. You will continue to find more ways Once Chris was able to manage his bodily responses,
at everything he attempted. As an adult, his tendency is to protect yourself, like becoming anxious, panicking, or his panic attacks subsided, he wasn’t getting bursts of
still towards perfectionism in all his pursuits. Hard work becoming angry and frustrated. Consequently, you shut anger, and he was calm when he arrived home. He was
and winning motivate him to do even more. The more down, and then you can’t concentrate or focus. That is able to reconnect with his wife and feel safe interacting
he works, the more he gets the raise, the bonus and the what was happening to Chris as he approached his work. with her, instead of connecting with his electronic devices.
He would shift into the fight or flight response, and he From there, we were able to progress to the next stages of
would become stressed, frustrated, anxious and panicked, working with him on his perfectionism traits and his core
Legal from page 12 causing him to become dysregulated. Additionally, his beliefs around success. These blended approaches helped
thoughts about failing contributed to the activation of his him to connect and socialize more with others while also
To get around the due on sale clause many parties nervous system shifting into shutdown, explaining why he deepening and expanding his connection to himself in
try to use transfers, such as contracts for deed or was “checking out” and wanted to be alone or hide away ways he never knew existed.
installment sales contracts. In these cases, the title
states vested in the seller until a certain future event
occurs. These types of transfers could also trigger a
due on sale clause though they are more likely to be
undetected by a lender since title remain of record in
the seller.
Since a contract of sale creates a beneficial interest
in a buyer, even a lease purchase agreement could
constitute a violation of the due on sale clause, though
title remains vested in the seller. Under a long-term
lease purchase, the buyer obtains possession and
makes monthly lease payments to the seller, who
continues to hold legal title to the property and makes
the mortgage payments to the lender. The parties can
even agree to a transfer of the mortgage interest tax
deduction, which would benefit some buyers.
A transfer to your own revocable trust is an
exception to the due on sale clause. 12 USC §1701j-3
regulates restrictions on due on sale clauses, including
a transfer to your trust. Changing beneficiaries of said
trust could also trigger a potential violation of the due
on sale clause, but would be difficult for a lender to
detect as long as the monthly payments continue to
be made by the original borrower.
The risk for buyers in assuming mortgages of
record is that the lender will foreclose, forcing the
buyer to have to refinance quickly to save the property.
In cases where the seller continues to make monthly
payments, the buyer also runs the risk that they will
keep the money instead of paying the lender, resulting
in a default. Careful consideration of all the risks
and having the ability to quickly refinance is key to
entering into any transaction where a mortgage will
be assumed as part of the purchase.