What is Neuropsychotherapy?

Neuropsychotherapy is a therapeutic approach that combines psychotherapy and neurobiology. The approach treats concerns by looking at connections between the brain, the body, experiences, and the environment.

It considers the neural processes involved and how they can dictate thoughts, emotions, information processing, social interactions, and behaviour.

How Does it Work?

Every experience and interaction you have has the possibility of altering how your brain is wired. We are constantly making associations and learning.

For example, if you get stuck in an elevator and have a very scary experience, your brain will associate elevators with fear and other negative emotions.

Due to this association created by neuron connections in your brain, you will feel that same fear and negative emotions when you have to ride an elevator in the future. A phenomenon that has been termed the neurons that fire together, wire together.

Neuropsychotherapy targets the neural networks responsible for the processing of life experiences and works to reshape them when there is an issue.

The human brain has a high level of plasticity meaning that the connections between our neurons can be strengthened, weakened, or altered.

Neuropsychotherapy is a multidisciplinary approach in which the therapist considers four aspects:

• The client´s brain – This involves the neuroscience aspect of Neuropsychotherapy that looks at brain structure, brain pathways, neurotransmitters, and memory
• therapeutic relationship with the client – Promoting a positive and meaningful relationship between the client and the mental health professional
• The integration of the client´s left and right brain hemispheres – Focusing on the connection between the mind and the body and increasing awareness and mindfulness to promote the healthy processing of sensory information
• The client´s emotional state – Mostly focusing on improving the client´s resiliency which involves working on aspects like interpersonal relationships, emotional intelligence, cognition, physical health, temperament, and attachments

Concerns Treated with Neuropsychotherapy

Some concerns treated with Neuropsychotherapy include:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Phobias
• Negative Experiences