But how does therapy work?
Specifically, what does therapy do to your brain to help you?
The Neuroscience Behind Therapy
We are actively building our brains from the moment we are born.
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The neurons in our brain begin to form neural pathways, or well-traveled roads in our minds.
Theres a saying in the neuroscience world explaining thisneurons that fire together, wire together.
Sometimes, these pathways turn out to not be the best things for our mental health.
This is where therapy can help.
This ability is known asneuroplasticity.
How Does Therapy Fit In?
Our neural pathways are affected by facing challenges and participating in new activities.
This has taught you that beingassertiveand sticking up for yourself will always lead to something incredibly unpleasant.
Your brain created a neural pathway that reinforced this cause-and-effect; speaking up means punishment.
You no longer have to consciously make this connectionit is a defined course in your mind.
In therapy, you’re free to learn to recognize that this course exists.
And by recognizing this, you might start to take steps to change it.
After exposure to CBT, that reactivity in the brains of those with social anxiety had noticeably decreased.
A 2019 article in the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience reported on adult neuroplasticity as a treatment for depression.
Practicing conscious recognition of these patterns eventually leads to the ability to instinctively act differently in those situations.
Neuroplasticity is also the goal of more here-and-now therapeutic approaches, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT.
Malhotra S, Sahoo S.Rebuilding the brain with psychotherapy.
Transl Psychiatry 6, e727 (2016).
doi:10.1038/tp.2015.218
Albert PR.Adult neuroplasticity: A new cure for major depression?J Psychiatry Neurosci.
2019 Mar 1;44(3):147-150. doi: 10.1503/jpn.190072
