Psychotherapy Presentation

Neuroscience presents great challenges and opportunities for psychotherapy. This article proposes recommendations and avenues for practice. Neurological knowledge is being employed in psychotherapy in three broad ways. First, it is used to explain and justify existing practices in psychotherapy, (e.g., the neuropsychoanalysis of Mark Solms). Second, neural localization studies are used to devise novel treatments for therapy-resistant conditions (e.g., Jeffrey M. Schwartz’s work on obsessivecompulsive disorder). Third, the fact of neuroplasticity is used for both psychoeducation and as an overarching principle guiding therapy (e.g., the neuropsychotherapy of Klaus Grawe). Today everyone is aware of the stupendous growth in knowledge of the brain enabled by technological and scientific developments. In psychotherapy, not surprisingly, there are several efforts to develop theory and practice alongside these advances. In this paper I consider three such developments in psychotherapy: neuropsychoanalysis, neurolocalisation, neuroplasticity.