Optimal Responding as a Catalyst for Creativity, Neuroplasticity, and Healing: Insights from the Optimal Response Initiative (ORI)

USAF Veteran, Clinical Psychologist Author, Optimal Response Initiative (ORI) Programs and Workbooks ORI Website: DrKristinaSeymour.com Columbia, South Carolina January 9, 2026

Abstract

Chronic challenges such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), persistent pain, depression, and life transitions often trap individuals in survival-mode reactivity, leading to mental fatigue, emotional exhaustion, and diminished creative capacity. This paper explores how deliberate, optimal responding—pausing in the space between stimulus and response to choose intentional, values-aligned actions—ignites creativity, reduces mental fatigue, and supports neuroplasticity for improved pain management. Drawing on Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy and contemporary neuroscience, the discussion highlights songwriting as a powerful application, particularly through Operation Song, where veterans and families transform traumatic narratives into healing art. Practical implications and a call to action are provided for individuals seeking to thrive amid adversity.

Introduction

The Optimal Response Initiative (ORI) is grounded in Viktor Frankl’s (1959/2006) assertion that “between stimulus and response there is a space” in which lies our power to choose our response—and in that choice lies our growth and freedom (p. 66). When individuals default to automatic survival responses (fight, flight, freeze, or fawn) in the face of chronic stressors—whether PTSD symptoms, persistent pain, depression, caregiving demands, or major life transitions—the prefrontal cortex becomes hijacked by threat detection, creativity shuts down, and mental fatigue accumulates (Gross, 2015; van der Kolk, 2014).

Conversely, training oneself to pause and select an optimal response—one that is deliberate, compassionate, and aligned with personal values—lowers cortisol, creates mental bandwidth, and re-engages the brain’s creative networks (Kaimal et al., 2016). This paper examines how optimal responding sparks creativity, reduces mental fatigue, supports neuroplasticity for pain modulation, and finds powerful expression in songwriting programs such as Operation Song.

Optimal Responding and Creativity

Survival mode prioritizes rapid threat detection, suppressing divergent thinking and innovation (Fujisawa & Kosaka, 2018). Optimal responding interrupts this by activating the parasympathetic nervous system and reducing cortisol, thereby preserving prefrontal cortex function and enabling creative flow states (Chermahini & Hommel, 2010).

Creative arts interventions, including music and songwriting, consistently demonstrate stress reduction and improved emotional regulation, with over 80% of reviewed studies showing positive effects (van der Vennet & Serice, 2012; Kaimal et al., 2016). By reframing challenges as opportunities for meaning-making, optimal responding transforms mental fatigue into creative energy.

Neuroplasticity and Pain Management

Chronic pain perpetuates a vicious cycle: pain triggers stress, stress heightens pain sensitivity through central sensitization, and the brain rewires to amplify threat signals (Moseley & Butler, 2015). Optimal responding—incorporating breathwork, self-compassion, movement, and creative expression—shifts the autonomic nervous system toward parasympathetic dominance, supporting neuroplastic changes in pain-processing regions (Dobek et al., 2014).

Music engagement activates multiple neural networks (amygdala, hippocampus, motor cortex), promoting neuroplasticity that reduces pain perception, modulates cortical/subcortical pain pathways, and triggers endorphin and oxytocin release (Feneberg et al., 2021). These physiological shifts offer measurable, lasting relief for chronic pain warriors.

Songwriting as Optimal Responding: The Operation Song Model

Operation Song pairs veterans, service members, and families with professional songwriters to transform personal stories—often traumatic—into original songs. No prior musical experience is required; only openness to sharing.

Participants move from avoidance and suppression (common in PTSD) to active, creative expression, embodying optimal responding: they face the pain (stimulus), pause to gather emotional intel, and choose to shape it into art (response). Research on therapeutic songwriting for veterans reports reductions in PTSD symptoms by up to 33%, depression by 22%, and significant improvements in quality of life (Baker et al., 2015; Hirschberg & Sylvia, n.d.).

Songwriting provides narrative coherence to fragmented memories, releases dopamine and serotonin, and supports neuroplastic reconnection of emotional and memory networks (Seymour, 2023). For many, the result is a profound shift: from “what happened to me” to “what I can create from it,” reducing isolation, rebuilding identity, and fostering resilience.

Conclusion

Optimal responding is not merely coping—it is a catalyst for creativity, mental clarity, and physical healing. By leveraging the space between stimulus and response, individuals can interrupt survival loops, engage neuroplasticity, and transform chronic challenges into opportunities for growth. Programs like Operation Song demonstrate this in action: turning pain into purpose through song.

Call to Action If you are navigating chronic pain, PTSD, depression, life transitions, or caregiving, begin today. Review your ORI Thriving Tools, explore a curated playlist that feels like a lifeline, or contact Operation Song to find out how you can join the OS Army – bringing them back one song at a time”. It is possibly to optimally respond and turn your story into song. One breath, one choice, one note at a time—you can respond optimally and thrive.

References

Baker, F. A., Metcalf, O., Varker, T., & O’Donnell, M. (2015). A therapeutic songwriting intervention for veterans with PTSD: A randomized controlled trial. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 24(3), 215–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/08098131.2014.971871

Chermahini, S. A., & Hommel, B. (2010). The (b)link between creativity and dopamine: Spontaneous eye blink rates predict and dissociate divergent and convergent thinking. Cognition, 115(3), 458–468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2010.03.007

Dobek, C. E., Beynon, M. E., Bosma, R. L., & Stroman, P. W. (2014). Music modulation of pain perception and pain-related activity in the brain, spinal cord, and brainstem. The Journal of Pain, 15(10), 1057–1068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2014.07.006

Feneberg, A. C., Nater, U. M., & Ehlert, U. (2021). Music interventions for pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 645595. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645595

Frankl, V. E. (2006). Man's search for meaning. Beacon Press. (Original work published 1959)

Fujisawa, T. X., & Kosaka, H. (2018). Meditative practices and creativity: A review. Mindfulness, 9(6), 1681–1692. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0933-5

Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Conceptual and empirical foundations. In J. J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (2nd ed., pp. 3–20). Guilford Press.

Hirschberg, J., & Sylvia, M. (n.d.). SongwritingWith:Soldiers program outcomes. Retrieved from https://songwritingwithsoldiers.org

Kaimal, G., Ray, K., & Muniz, J. (2016). Reduction of cortisol levels and participants’ responses following art making. Art Therapy, 33(2), 74–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2016.1166832

Moseley, G. L., & Butler, D. S. (2015). The explain pain handbook: Protectometer. Noigroup Publications.

Seymour, K. (2023). Music as narrative coherence in veteran recovery. Journal of Military and Veteran Health. (In press; ORI program documentation available at DrKristinaSeymour.com)

van der Vennet, R., & Serice, S. (2012). Creative arts therapies for stress management: A review. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 39(5), 456–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2012.07.001

van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking.