Los Angeles Institute for Restorative Practices Research
Right-brain practices aim to positively influence the valence and impact of opposing and/or maladaptive behavior. Valence refers to whether the thoughts, feelings, or behaviors are negative, neutral, or positive towards the violation or harm. Positive valence is linked to pleasant feelings such as happiness, excitement, or joy. Negative valence is associated with unpleasant emotions such as sadness, anger, or fear.
Strength refers to the intensity and intrusiveness of the thoughts, feelings, or behaviors, and it can vary due to factors such as the perceived harm caused by the incident. Engaging in a Right-Brain to Right-Brain restorative conversation supports the individual in building self-awareness to transform their adverse responses by altering the valence from negative to either neutral or positive or changing both the valence and strength of the reactions.
Right Brain Restorative Practices is a modality within the Restorative Justice spectrum that emphasizes addressing emotions often overlooked during conflict, burnout, or negative institutional culture and climate. By focusing on these core aspects of human connection and communication, this approach fosters a more supportive environment. When emotional needs are properly addressed, it paves the way for enhanced student creativity, self-expression, and alignment. This method promotes a more holistic and emotionally intelligent approach to conflict resolution and personal growth, particularly in educational settings.
Helping individuals heal or process an event via restorative practices solicits information from specific brain regions, specifically domains that respond to danger or a perceived threat. As restorative practitioners, the quality of our understanding and awareness of our client's history is critical to explore. The complexity of every emotional and cognitive block that surfaces is where the real magic and true healing can unfold. Recalling what happened for many can become a grievous and transformative process when the pain and trauma are connected to their narrative.
When two individuals engage in a verbal dispute, many themes begin to surface. There is a moment during which non-verbal communications shift and parties may perceive one another as a threat. By the receiver, this phenomenon activates certain procedural sensations, memories, and visceral processing. The act of conflict and the reaction in our brain centralizes in the right hemisphere "the right brain" different from the left hemisphere which has different but profound responsibilities. The right brain is responsible for unconscious emotional and relational functions (Schore, 2009a). Furthermore, the right brain has the most robust connection to the body. The right brain houses the right side of the amygdala, whose central focus is negative emotions and sounding the alarm system of the body. At the onset of conflict, our brain cortisol levels rise causing us to dysregulate within a matter of seconds. Anger builds up quickly while blood and glucose rush to the brain and body
Emotions are the highest order of direct expression of bioregulation in complex organisms (Damasio, 1998). Our brain is a mature organ, and it is responsible for storing all our emotional history. It is stored in regions from which procedural reactions derive (Shores, 2010). Conflicts or interpersonal situations inevitably trigger or activate, to some extent, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress axis. This situation elicits a sudden increase of energy-expanding sympathetic elements of the individual's autonomic nervous system (ANS) and results in a significantly elevated heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration. This situation assumes the posture of somatic expressions during a dysregulated hypermetabolic psychobiological state of fear or terror. Depending on the individual’s emotional awareness, the somatic expressions may vary from passive, moderate, or extreme.
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College and University campuses across the country are beginning to understand that restorative practices have great potential for handling student misconduct and policy violations. There is a growing interest in implementing restorative practices programming for colleges and universities.
When young graduating adults matriculate to higher ed, multiple themes arise that require a different type of awareness. For a vast majority of students that leave small community charter schools or institution with a small student body have voiced feeling a culture shock, as K-12 schools are moving towards building a robust school culture where community, fair process, student voice, and access are at its forefront.
Brain research in the field of affect regulation has centralized their research on the notion that self-regulation requires a process to mature, modulate appropriately, and develop. The brain does not reached its full capacity until; for male reaching that point is age 26 and for females reach that level at age 24.
Daniela Sieff, 2015
The restorative alliance is a synchronization of emotional communication (Right-Brain to Right-Brain communication). The alliance begins by witnessing without judgment, which allows an individual (receiver) to take the risk in opening up, in essence, developing a vulnerable co-regulating relationship. Establishing an acute relationship that can foster safety is crucial before the defense mechanism surfaces during the restorative encounter. Right-brain processes are dominant during a moment of emotional vulnerability or interpersonal conflict. These experiences are crucial components in establishing the restorative alliance and reestablishing trust.