What is it?

Neuroplasticity (aka neural plasticity) is the more recent discovery by scientists that our brains can change! We have neural pathways in our brain that control how we think, what we can do, habits, patterns of behavior, etc. For many years in science, it was believed that once the brain was formed, that was it, no changing! However, with scientific advances, we’re finding more and more, the vast ways that our brains can change throughout the whole of our lifespans. And, in fact, we can be the authors of those changes when we want to be.

What does this mean?

This means that we can change a lot about ourselves. Who we are is partially a product of our genetics, but to a large degree it is also how our environment and our responses to our environment. Wired in patterns of thinking and being that became who we are. But knowing that we can actually change our brain (Physically! For example, people who rigorously practice mindfulness meditation can increase brain mass!) empowers us to shape who we are into who and how we want to be. This is great news for therapy! As we work in therapy to change thoughts and behaviors to support mental health and therapy goals, these can become new ways of being and operating in the world. 

How do we rewire our brains?

What we practice grows stronger. Every time we think a thought, say a thing, make a choice a certain way, etc., we are reinforcing the neural pathways that make us that way. So, when we want to change, we *simply* start thinking the thoughts we want to think, saying the things we want to say, behaving how we want to be. Of course, it is not exactly simple and can actually be very hard to do at first. This is because the neural pathways of how we have always done things are like deep, well-worn grooves on the road: automatic, easy, and pulling us in with gravity force. But, as we practice these new ways of being, slowly, we are making new “grooves in the road,” until those are well-worn and comfortable and automatic as well. A new neural pathway is born and then eventually made primary.

Think about when you’re told a habit takes 20 days to make (the number of days in actuality depends, there is no magic number or days or weeks). It is not automatic at first, but as you keep making yourself do the habit, it becomes more and more so. That is you rewiring your brain to make the thing you’re practicing a habit or the automatic way of being. 

The beginning is the hardest. It takes the will to change and then being effective about it. Often we forget to do or think the things we want to do to change. “What could help me remember to do this thing?” you ask yourself. We don’t have parents anymore constantly reminding us to do things certain ways (Say thank you. Wash your hands. Make eye contact with the person you’re talking to), so we have to be creative to find ways to help ourselves remember. Post it notes, reminders in phones, a daily log etc. Also, having a mindfulness practice helps us to be more aware and mindful during the day, which helps us to remember to do the things we want to do. 

Example:

Note: This is a fictitious and simplified example that is written to highlight nueroplasticity.

Jordan came to therapy due to anger issues. The pattern was, something would happen to set him off (fight with wife, etc), and he would begin to yell. He did not want to do this, but it felt like he had no control (his brain was wired to automatically let loose his anger when prompted). Jordan worked with his therapist to begin to make a plan for how he could relate differently with stimuli that prompted yelling in him. He wanted to stay calm. 

He began to practice mindfulness and started exercising to start off with. These gave him more of a calm baseline to work with. Both these things felt very hard to do at first, but after a month of making himself do them, it began to feel more and more natural to keep going at it (first rewiring to do things that are supportive to his ultimate goal). 

He and his therapist also began to discuss an alternate script for reacting the way he did when angry. They decided on him walking out of the room, doing deep breathing, then journaling about what was making him feel angry and the way he wanted to behave instead of yelling. The first week he did this 0 times. A plan was made for his phone to remind him 3 times a day of the plan; when he woke up, lunch time, and before bed and for him to spend five minutes a day picturing himself reacting with the identified plan to stimuli that would typically lead to anger. The next week he did it twice. Each time he would positively reinforce himself for this by putting some money into a jar that he was going to use to buy himself a new bike when he got enough money in the jar.  As he continued to try to be mindful and practice this plan, it became more and more automatic. He would slip up from time to time, but eventually he did not need daily reminders on his phone. And then eventually he didn’t need to walk out of the room, as the neural pathway of staying calm became more primary, he was able to simply take a deep breath and take a moment to think about how he wanted to respond, and then do so.

Tips:

1. Positive reinforcement helps the development of a neural pathway.

2. Fun and play also help quicker development of new neural pathways. 

3. With changes that feel too hard to change or to remember to change, visualization can be helpful. Studies have shown that just picturing things such as practicing basketball or the piano in the mind has almost the same result as actually doing the practice! So spend time picturing yourself doing the thing that would be too hard at that point to actually change again and again and when the time comes, you may find it a lot easier to make the change you wanted to.

Reference:

Doidge, N. (2008). The brain that changes itself. Penguin Books.