How To Make Therapy Effective
This something essential: the fact that our inner life — our moods, fears, and capacity for change — can’t be understood in isolation from the body that sustains it. While therapy often emphasizes psychological mechanisms like fear extinction and neuroplasticity, that work can be hamstrung if we ignore the biological substrate on which it depends. Consider the following: Hormones: Dysregulation of cortisol, thyroid hormones, sex hormones, or neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine can destabilize mood and cognitive function. They can make it far harder to unlearn fear, or even to engage in therapy effectively. Nutrients: Deficiencies in B vitamins, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, or omega-3 fatty acids compromise neurotransmitter production, brain plasticity, and can drive inflammation. These deficiencies don’t just make us feel worse — they reduce the brain’s capacity to change. Methylation: This is a basic cellular process, constantly at work, governing DNA repair, detoxificat...