Dr. Paul Conti

On the surface of it, it makes no sense.

But then if we think, well, how does our brains actually function, right?

We're sort of trained, at least in Western society, I think, to think of ourselves as logical creatures, right?

That like, oh, we're logical and ultimately everything in us can just boil down to logic.

which is completely not true.

The limbic system, right?

The emotion system, so to speak, inside of us always trumps logic, right?

If you think about, does it ever make sense to run into a burning building?

I mean, logic says no, right?

But if someone you love is in the burning building, people run right in, right?

Because the limbic system says yes.

So when logic and emotion come head to head,

emotion wins all the time.

And the limbic system does not care about the clock or the calendar.

So how I would relate that to the repetition compulsion is when people are repeating, what they're trying to do is to make things right.

With the idea that if we can repeat the situation and make it right, it will fix everything.

Which makes perfect sense if we think, well, where is that concept coming from?

It's coming from the emotional part of the brain that wants relief from suffering of the trauma and does not understand the clock or the calendar.

So if I can solve something now, I will also solve something in the past.

Which is why I can't tell you how many times I've sat with someone and said, we're starting to do therapy.