Low Arousal Approach Dr. Andrew McDonnell

“When we start to think about human behaviour, there is a clear word of caution; simple explanations will not get us very far in the process. To give you a good example of the complexities of understanding human behaviour, just consider how we understand the weather. At present we cannot fully predict weather patterns as we simply do not have knowledge of all the variables and factors which affect the weather. Nonetheless we can predict weather patterns to a reasonable degree of certainty. We can say that it is likely to rain…. Of course it is useful to predict weather patterns, but we need to accept when we have reached the limits of understanding. The same goes for understanding and predicting behaviour. “

                                                     The Reflective Journey- A Practitioner’s Guide to Low Arousal Approach

                                                       (McDonnell, 2019 pg. 13)

• “In my experience, far too often people view behaviour of concern as though they are observing fish in an aquarium. They are watching how these beings behave as detached observers…. We are not observers- we are active participants in the change process. The positive message is that by altering our own behaviour we may be able to reduce both our own stress and the stress level of the people we are supporting.”

(McDonnell, 2019 pg. 37)