This recording will connect complicated science and biological concepts to your clinical treatment of anxiety, trauma, stress, depression and substance abuse!
Sherrie All – Neuroscience and the Modern Clinician, Connect Science, Research
Have you ever been asked why therapy works? What are the actual mechanisms of change when working with clients suffering from anxiety, trauma, stress, depression and substance use disorders?
Neuroscience is providing incredible insights into the workings of our brains and helping us to answer age old questions about the connection between our biology and our mental health. While modern understandings of concepts like neuroplasticity help us to explain that change is truly possible, neuroscience also helps us to begin to see why and how techniques might improve emotion regulation, concentration, the ability to restructure unhelpful thoughts, and engage in healthier behaviors.
This recording will connect complicated science and biological concepts to your clinical treatment of anxiety, trauma, stress, depression and substance abuse!
Through captivating and thought-provoking lecture our instructor will show you why neuroscience matters to therapy, make the latest research accessible and user-friendly, and clearly link it to your clinical work.
More than just the neurobiological “whats and whys” of various disorders, you’ll also learn the hows of actual treatment …
How to engage your clients with understandable explanations of the link between mental health disorders and biology.
How to draw on multiple modalities, adjunctive treatments and approaches including Cognitive Therapy, Attachment, Mindfulness, Behavioral Activation, and Positive Psychology.
How to employ practical and adaptable tools with top-down, bottom-up, and horizontal methods.
Leave this recording understanding the neuroscience behind why therapy works and connect it to the practical approaches you can use with clients in your everyday practice!
Communicate how an understanding of neurological processes can inform mental health professionals’ choice of therapeutic technique.
Implement in-session psycho-educational techniques to make the neurobiology of mental health conditions understandable for clients thereby improving the potential for motivation and engagement in therapy.
Establish how neural pathways are related to mental health disorders, and connect this information to the utilization of therapeutic interventions to reduce stress and manage addiction.
Assess how research on the mechanisms of the brain that detect and respond to threats has enhanced our understanding of anxiety disorders in which altered threat processing is a factor.
Characterize the role of memory in trauma and communicate how memory malleability impacts the treatment of clients with traumatic memories.
Articulate how mindfulness can be used as an adjunctive approach in cognitive-behavioral treatment plans to help manage symptoms of depression.
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How Neuroscience Can Enhance Therapy:
What (and Why) Clinicians Need to Know About the Nervous System
Brain basics – structure and function
12 structures you need to know
How the brain organizes
Key pathways involved in common disorders
Pain pathway
Reward pathway
Fear-stress pathway
Default Mode and Task Mode Networks
Impact of relationships on our nervous system
Mirror neurons
Oxytocin
Simple explanations and 3-D brain model for clients
How neurobiology can help you to determine treatment methods and set goals
”Our brains” and objectivity in therapy
Limitations of “brain-based” approaches
Neuroplasticity and the Potential for Change
Hype vs. the “two-way” street of brain plasticity
Physical vs. functional change – structural or at the synapse
The strength of connections
Timeframes for change
How neuroplasticity can help you foster change
Explaining neuroplasticity to clients
Treatment Strategies and Interventions for Common Disorders (And the Neuroscience Behind Them)
Anxiety
The neural bases of threat processing
Key CBT concepts and techniques
Combining cognitive work with:
Mindful awareness of emotions
Get physical – how using the body can ease anxiety symptoms
Breathing exercises and relaxation training
Depression
The depressed brain – structural and functional
The neural interrelationships of depression and anxiety
Behavioral activation – get active!
Mindfulness as an adjunctive approach
Compassion, gratitude and depressive symptoms
Trauma
Malleability of memory: implications for trauma treatment
How childhood trauma changes the developmental trajectory of the brain
Polyvagal Theory, trauma and the body – the research
Imagery techniques – imaginal exposure
Grounding and interoception
Stress
How stress impacts the nervous system
The adverse effects of long-term stress exposure
The role of the stress/fear pathway
CBT-based coping skills for stressful situations
Substance Use Disorders
Brain areas involved in addiction
Pleasure and pain pathways
Prefrontal connections and judgement
How addiction can change the brain
Motivational Interviewing
Contingency management
The Limitations of Neuroscientific Research and Potential Treatment Risks
fMRI imaging – blood flow vs. neuronal activity
How only looking at brain activations produces an incomplete picture
Neuroscientific studies, sample size, and validity
Animal research – directly applicable to humans?
Psychotherapeutic techniques – specific limitations and risks
