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Neuroscience the Newest Force in Counseling and Psychotherapy

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Neuroscience the Newest Force in Counseling and Psychotherapy Chapter 2 Neuroscience The Newest Force in Counseling and Psychotherapy CHAPTER GOALS The chapter is designed to 1. extend your understanding of what neuroscience is and its relevance to the ongo- ing evolution of counseling and psychotherapy; 2. discuss the resistance that some mental health professionals have to the new neu- roscience force that is emerging in the field and specific factors that contribute to this resistance; 3. expand your knowledge of basic aspects of neuroscience, including your under- standing of neurotransmitters and different brain parts; 4. increase your awareness of the ways that neurotransmitters and different brain parts are linked to various cognitive, emotional, psychological, and behavioral reactions people manifest in their lives; 5. broaden your thinking about the different counseling/psychotherapy skills and interventions that complement the optimal functioning of various neurotransmit- ters and different brain systems; and 6. increase your understanding as to how helping strategies that are based on neu- roscientific research findings complement an integral approach to counseling and psychotherapy. 49 50—PART I ◆ AN INTEGRAL APPROACH TO COUNSELING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY **VIGNETTE #2 impact on her standing in the company. In an effort to do something about these problems, Sachi is a 28-year-old, single female of Sachi has sought help by scheduling an Japanese descent. She moved to the United appointment with a counselor in the compa- States from Japan a year ago as a result of a ny’s Employee Assistance Program. job advancement that was offered by the large We will refer to Sachi’s case at different corporation where she is employed. Sachi’s points in this chapter to highlight various con- career move has resulted in advancements in cepts associated with neuroscience and its her income and professional status within the relevance to counseling and therapy theories company where she is employed. However, and practices. A description of the four quad- these career benefits have come at a cost: She rants that compose the integral theory is pre- is feeling increasingly depressed as a result of sented as a resource below. This resource is being isolated from family members and included at the beginning of the chapter to friends in Japan, and she is also experiencing help you acquire a deeper understanding of the elevated levels of generalized anxiety. The integral approach to counseling and psycho- increasing anxiety Sachi is experiencing in therapy that is discussed throughout this book. combination with more frequent depressed moods is leading to a circular problem, as it ** contributes to Sachi’s growing concern that AN INTEGRAL APPROACH her work performance may suffer as a result TO COUNSELING AND of these problems and possibly have a negative PSYCHOTHERAPY The Individual Perceptions and Meaning The Behavioral/Physical/Neurological Quadrant Making Quadrant Clients’ behaviors and physical/biological/ Clients’ interior psychological processes neurological factors that are of relevance to (e.g., conscious, subconscious, unconscious) counseling and therapy practices and outcomes and subjective constructions of life experiences The Cultural Community Quadrant The Societal/Professional Quadrant Cultural and community factors as they impact Societal and professional factors as they impact clients’ mental health and the process and clients’ mental health as well as counseling and outcomes of counseling and therapy therapy practices and outcomes **INTRODUCTION work. Although there is growing awareness of this exciting new force in the mental health pro- Mental health practitioners are becoming fessions, many practitioners lack the training that increasingly aware of the neuroscientific revolu- would enable them to more fully understand the tion that is unfolding in the fields of counseling, relevance of neuroscience to counseling and education, psychiatry, psychology, and social psychotherapy theories and practices. Chapter 2 ◆ Neuroscience—51 Various issues related to neuroscience were The research focus and techniques used by presented in Chapter 1. This was done to neuroscientists have also expanded enor- mously, from biophysical and molecular stud- a. provide a general overview of what neu- ies of individual nerve cells to a broad range roscience is, of new imaging techniques that are used to b. acknowledge that this field is the newest study perceptual, motor, cognitive, and psy- force making a substantial impact on the chological reactions and brain functioning. work mental health practitioners do in The preceding chapter also generally the field, and describes a number of basic neuroscience concepts. These include discussing what neu- c. explain how this new force fits into the rons, neuroplasticity, and mirror neurons are Behavioral/Physical/Neurological Quadrant and how they impact human functioning. that complements the integral approach Those discussions remind us that the brain is to counseling and therapy discussed in essentially composed of billions of neurons this book. that transmit even more electronic-chemical To build on the information presented in signals in the brain that affect the way people Chapter 1, we discuss additional issues of rel- think, feel, and behave (Ndabahaliye, 2002). evance to neuroscience as a vital component The term neuroplasticity was also defined in an integral approach to counseling/therapy. in Chapter 1. In describing the meaning of Consequently, we begin this chapter by reiter- this important concept, it was pointed out that ating the definition of neuroscience. As defined in Chapter 1, Up until the late 1990s, professional and laypersons alike believed that people were Neuroscience is essentially the scientific born with a given number of neurons in the study of the nervous system. Traditionally, brain. It was generally accepted that, while neuroscience has been seen as a branch of neurons could “die” due to brain injury, biology. However, it is currently viewed disease, and exposure to toxic chemicals as an interdisciplinary science that incorpo- entering the brain; new neurons could not rates knowledge from many other disci- be reproduced. This widely held belief plines, such as psychology, computer sci- about brain chemistry has been found to be ence, mathematics, physics, philosophy, and irrefutably false as a result of research con- medicine. ducted by neuroscientists during the late 1990s and early 21st century. The brain’s As a result of the interdisciplinary nature ability to reproduce new neurons and reor- of this field, the scope of neuroscience has ganize itself by forming new neural con- broadened to include the study of the molecu- nections throughout life is referred to as lar, developmental, structural, functional, neuroplasticity (Begley, 2007). evolutionary, computational, medical, and psychological aspects of the nervous system There are different ways in which research- in general and brain functioning in particular. ers have noted neuroplasticity to occur. One 52—PART I ◆ AN INTEGRAL APPROACH TO COUNSELING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY way involves the manner in which existing (Mirescu, Peters, Noiman, & Gould, 2006), neurons contribute to the production of new and physical exercise (van Praag, Shubert, neurons to compensate for injury, disease, and Zhao, & Gage, 2005). In short, the researchers exposure to toxic environmental conditions listed above provide evidence that explains (including environmental pollutants, poverty, how and why new learning activities, adequate violence, and other forms of oppression and sleep, and regular exercise contribute to the social injustice). generation of new neurons and/or the healthy maintenance of existing neural networks. Neuroplasticity also occurs as a result of Of particular relevance to this chapter is the intraneural chemical adjustments that neu- understanding of two additional basic points. rons make in response to new situations and First, from a neuroscientific perspective, it is experiences that characterize peoples’ lives. important to understand that the process of Recent research findings have verified that counseling and psychotherapy depends on neuroplasticity is enhanced when people clients’ natural biological propensity for are engaged in repetitive behaviors, such as neuroplasticity and neurogenesis. This is so routinely practicing a musical instrument; because positive counseling and therapy out- exposed to enriched environments, such as comes result in the generation of new neurons the enriched environments that are created in and neural networks that affect various changes many preschool programs; and exposed to in the brain that underlie clients’ sense of new, novel, supportive, and challenging psychological well-being or distress. activities, including counseling and psycho- Second, the types of changes clients hope therapy (Cozolino, 2002, 2010a, 2010b). to achieve in counseling and therapy are fos- tered by the neurological alterations that prac- The last statement in the definition of neuro- titioners stimulate by using various theoreti- plasticity underscores the basic biological fact cal principles, skills, and interventions that that counseling and therapy represent unique are increasingly known to stimulate the gen- experiences that can lead to the generation of eration and optimal release of various neu- new neurons and neural wiring that greatly rotransmitters that promote changes in cli- affect how people think, feel, and behave. The ents’ neural wiring and brain functioning.
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