CC16 Topical Panel 01 - Neuroscience - Helen Fisher, PhD, Pat Love, EdD, and Stan Tatkin, PsyD

Description:

Educational Objectives:

1. To describe the use of brief therapy techniques in specific clinical situations.  

*Sessions may be edited for content and to preserve confidentiality*

Outline:

Panel Introduction and Focus

• 2016 Erickson Foundation Couples Conference features a neuroscience panel with Stan Tatkin, Pat Love, and Helen Fisher.

• Helen Fisher’s keynote emphasized clinical tools and personality-based insights.

• Panel opens with focus on individual differences and personality patterns.

Personality and Perfume Study

• Stan Tatkin shares story about matching his wife’s perfume to her estrogen type via Helen Fisher’s test.

• Fisher explains her research linking perfume preferences to dominant brain systems—16 out of 18 matched.

• Discussion touches on the anterior insula’s role in emotions and attachment.

• Pat Love highlights how atypical hormone-dominant individuals are often misunderstood (e.g., estrogen-dominant men).

Relationship and Therapy Challenges

• Cultural expectations make high-testosterone and high-estrogen couples feel pressure or shame.

• Importance of adapting to a partner’s neurobiological profile in therapy.

• Brain areas like the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex influence sexual function and intimacy.

Romantic Love, Sex, and Dopamine

• Scheduling sex is recommended to maintain health and connection.

• Dopamine plays a key role in female orgasm and sustaining romantic love.

• Separating sex drive, romantic love, and attachment helps reduce anxiety in therapy.

• Long-term eroticism can be rekindled through novelty, like vacations.

Neuroscience Insights on Love

• Romantic love persists beyond reproductive years for bonding benefits.

• Presence and attention are crucial for sustaining novelty and connection.

• In-person interaction is vital—online connections lack full attachment cues.

• Birth control pills may influence mate selection by altering hormonal responses.

Addiction and Desire in Relationships

• Addiction and romantic craving share neurological mechanisms.

• Understanding craving helps therapists work with desire issues in couples.

• Novelty and scheduled intimacy can reignite romantic feelings and connection.

Outlook and Closing

• Longer pre-commitment periods are improving marriage success rates.

• Thorough partner understanding before marriage reduces divorce risk.

• Fisher’s research is available to the public in her books.

• Panel concludes by stressing the need to tailor therapy to individual differences and neurobiology.