The “Brain Matters” series returned to Wright State University once again with the installment of “Self and Others”.
This session was presented by Paul Hershberger, Ph.D., who is a clinical health psychologist and director of behavioral science for the Family Medicine Residency Program.
While all of these sessions are based upon building a better understanding of how the brain functions, this session focused on the importance of the daily interactions that take place in various types of relationships.
The analogy used for the presentation was a movie, showing how everyone is the star of their own film; this also means that this can affect the way certain situations are perceived.
“Because what I’m familiar with is my movie and my storyline, my automatic tendency is to assume that everybody else is experiencing the same movie. When indeed, they are not,” Hershberger said. “Or at least my tendency is to assume, because I’m the star of my movie, it’s easy to assume there is at least some focus on me.”
Hershberger used this example of movies to help explain the vast difference a shift in perspective can make in a person’s life, because it is so unique to each individual. Perspective is a key factor to communication, especially for it to be effective.
In addition to sharing information about perspective, topics such as listening skills and different types of social support given in relationships were discussed.
“When we think of social support, we are usually thinking about emotional support, people who are only there for us emotionally, when there are more than one way to support someone,” Hershberger said.
In addition to emotional support, there is instrumental social support, which is doings something for someone else. Informational support is also important, because it involves giving someone advice or guidance.
“Looking at these different categories, most of us in our relationships are not equally good at all three of these,” Hershberger said. “One of the things that can trouble relationships sometimes is that one party is looking for a certain kind of support and that may not be a strength of that other person.”
Having the knowledge of understanding the different types of social support that a person can give vastly improves the quality of a relationships.
These sessions will continue to be offered on the second Thursday of every month from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Wright State University Physicians Health Center in Classroom 1. For more information, contact Elizabeth McCarter at (937)-245-7213.
