Neurobiology in Psychology: Why Memory Reconsolidation Matters
Memory reconsolidation, a type of neuroplasticity we understand through the study of neurobiology in psychotherapy, is how our work takes effect and helps counseling clients change their thought patterns and behaviors. This is an important concept to grasp when learning how neurobiology works with psychology clients.
The good news for therapists is that the implicit memory system—the area of your brain that utilizes prior experiences to remember things without thinking about them—can change, defying a long-held scientific assumption that deeply held patterns of activity are unchanging!
Can you change implicit memory using neuroplasticity in psychotherapy?
This memory reconsolidation may be purposefully produced in our therapy sessions; it works by putting clients into a certain brain state and employing a certain sequence of events so that the brain unlearns what is no longer useful and rewires with new, flexible, and adaptable learnings.
The main objective of most therapies is “meaning modification,” whether that means altering the meaning of traumatic experiences or of present-day problems. Understanding the process of memory reconsolidation greatly improves your ability to plan your treatment sessions since meaning is kept differently in each layer of the brain and certain levels may hinder other layers from making permanent alterations.
Jules Shore, in her cutting edge therapist training course Experiential Therapy Techniques , discusses a highly particular method of assisting clients in changing their brains by connecting with the neural networks that store meaning in the course session titled Tracking Neural Networks.
Join Juliane Taylor Shore for a FREE 90-minute webinar
Experiential Therapy Techniques: A Neurobiological Approach to Self-Compassion Therapy
During the webinar, you will learn:
A practice to increase self-compassion towards yourself as you do your work so you can both embody and benefit from self-acceptance.
The neurobiological difference between empathy and compassion so you keep use them judiciously in practice.
How to set up experiential practices so clients can discover and experience self-compassion.
How long does it take to learn neurobiology for psychology?
The good news is that you can start working with neuroplasticity in psychotherapy sessions immediately upon studying it. The neurobiology-informed therapy techniques taught by Jules Shore are easto learn, easy to share with your clients, and produces incredibly efficient results.
It takes a relatively short amount of time to learn the basics of neurobiology for psychology. With just a few hours of study and practice, you can be well on your way to incorporating neurobiology into your therapy sessions. Doing so can lead to profound positive changes in your clients’ lives, allowing them to gain greater insight into their behavior and thought patterns, improve their mental and emotional health, and make significant progress on the road to recovery.
