Research
Why do psychological symptoms feel so powerful — even when we consciously know better?
Through clinical observation, brain imaging research, and experimental studies, I developed what is now called Dual-Brain Psychology (DBP) — a model suggesting that the two hemispheres of the brain can represent different emotional “selves.” In many people, one hemisphere may carry unresolved early trauma, fear, or emotional pain, while the other carries a more mature, resilient perspective.
This helps explain why someone may know they are safe — yet still feel panic.
Why someone may want to stop drinking — yet feel compelled to continue. Why depression can feel like a separate force inside the mind.
Over the years, this model has been explored through:
Clinical case studies
Brain imaging (fMRI) research
Studies of lateralized visual stimulation
Development of hemispheric-based therapeutic tools
Ongoing research into noninvasive brain stimulation
More recently, my research has expanded into broader questions about how experience itself affects the brain — and whether meaning and subjectivity may play a more active role in biology than traditionally recognized.
This work bridges psychiatry, neuroscience, and emerging ideas about how the brain generates lived experience.
The articles linked below represent both clinical findings and theoretical explorations. Some are directly applicable to treatment. Others address deeper scientific questions about consciousness, memory, trauma, and the nature of experience.
Together, they reflect a lifetime of research driven by one goal:
To understand how the mind heals — and how suffering can be transformed.
Research and Ongoing Work
Scientific breakthroughs
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Fredric Schiffer, MD
30 Lincoln St, Newton Highlands, MA 02461
+1 (781) 405-8800
fred.schiffermed@gmail.com