If you’ve owned a small handheld game system, or known someone who does, you’ve seen the small games that promise to improve your brain function by having you do basic exercises and play simple games on a daily basis. These games work on the theory of neuroplasticity; exercises such as this can theoretically inspire your brain to create new and better interactions among the neurons, and thereby assist you to think faster and better.

But the real question – what everyone who sees these games tends to think first – is, do they even work? Can it really improve your brain’s function to do some simple little games poking at a screen and some buttons?

Unsurprisingly, the answer is yes – neuroplasticity exercises, while they may seem to have little connection to higher brain function, actually do help teach the brain how to improve and adapt the basic functions that underlie all higher thought processes.

It seems ridiculous, to many of us, that watching someone play a digital shell game with fake boxes can have any real effect… but this is, in fact, a real neuroplasticity exercise that can teach your brain to respond more effectively to changing circumstances.

From hand and eye coordination to communication and emotional maturity, neuroplasticity exercises of various types serve like the drills sports coaches use to improve athletic performance. The brain is constantly improving itself, and enhancing its ability to efficiently perform the processes you call upon it to master… so deliberate training and effort does, indeed, improve those functions.

Whether you’re learning to achieve better activation of your central nervous system for athletic performance, or cultivating rapid decision-making for professional benefit, or simply learning how to respond appropriately in uncomfortable social scenarios – neuroplasticity exercises can help you achieve your goals more rapidly, and with greater success.

There are few people in the world who could not benefit from a better understanding of themselves. While it is certainly not enough to begin practicing any sort of therapy on others, a personal program of cognitive behavioral therapy training can help us understand better why we think how we think and do as we do.

When studying cognitive behavioral therapy training, it is important to understand that this is an entire family of therapeutic methods and beliefs, not a single unique method – there are several schools of thought and formal theories around CBT, and the process of learning your own way around it will likely touch on several of them.

The fundamental core of cognitive behavioral therapy is simply the notion that you can decide how you respond to what you think… that you are in charge of your body, no matter what your brain may do, and that even when your brain reacts strangely or undesirably – it is only a part of your brain which is “misbehaving,” and another part can correct the behavior before you respond to it.

In essence, rather than simply do the first thing that comes to mind, you think a little longer before you act – predicting what is likely to happen, and comparing that to your experience and history. One of the more common mistakes people make is to predict a result when they have no history or experience that bears out the prediction.

With time, and effort, you can learn to make better and faster predictions… and, knowing the likely results of your actions, choose an approach that will improve those results. While cognitive behavioral therapy training on your own will never replace the attention of a competent professional, minor issues can be easily resolved with a little work.

For any number of reasons, whether it’s a lack of insurance or simply a lack of trust for the psychiatric community, sufferers of depression may not have ready access to the usual medications and therapy sessions that help others maintain a reasonable and balanced life.

There are many basic cognitive therapy techniques, however, which can be used in a self-directed fashion – and provide that little extra edge that can keep your life on track and productive.

Most of us are aware of a technique called “affirmations,” which involves writing down the things you wish to make manifest in your life, maintaining your focus and desire for these things until they actually occur. A similar cognitive therapy technique is to simply write down what you actually find manifesting in your life – to record your thoughts and beliefs, not to maintain focus, but to develop awareness.

One danger to watch out for when using cognitive therapy techniques without the guidance and support of a medical professional is that most of us, to some degree, will distort and alter our memories of events. It is important to know that your own memory… no matter how vivid… cannot necessarily be trusted, and this possibility should be considered carefully.

Ideally, we can rely on others to help us understand what our memories have altered or distorted, so we can identify the patterns in those distortions and account for them. If this is not an option, vigilance is the only response.

Once you become aware of the things you are thinking which make your life more difficult, it is a simple matter to question them. Many beliefs are not rational, but based upon emotion. With a little thought and consideration, these thoughts can be identified, and new behaviors introduced to respond to them.

When most of us are faced with depression, whether it’s a friend, a family member, or ourselves, the first approach most professionals will take is the pharmaceutical route.

To be sure, there are a great many antidepressants available, and many are very effective… but for those of us who prefer not to use such medications, or have found them ineffective, cognitive therapy for depression can be an excellent substitute.

Even when medications are working well, we may also benefit greatly from some added cognitive therapy, for depression is a many-faceted issue that often needs to be addressed from several angles.

While the prevailing notion among many psychiatrists and mental health professionals is that depression is caused by faulty brain chemistry, the brain is not entirely out of our control. By understanding the thought processes that impact our happiness, we can learn – quite deliberately – how to avoid those processes and lead better lives.

Cognitive therapy for depression is not magic, nor is it an archaic approach; self-awareness, in all its forms, can only improve and enrich our lives. It can be likened to the old joke about the visit to a doctor: “Doctor, it hurts when I do this.”

“Well, don’t do that!”

Once you begin to achieve an awareness of the thoughts and beliefs that are leading you to feel depression, you can actively avoid those thoughts and beliefs. Cognitive therapy for depression is nothing more or less than an education in the way your own brain operates, and which thoughts and beliefs “hurt” – making you depressed.

An understanding of why we are depressed, and how we can overcome those impulses and instincts that lead us to unproductive behavior, often proves to be the missing factor that leads us to happier and more fulfilling lives.

Cognitive behavioral therapy refers to a therapy discipline that involves aspects of both behavioral and cognitive therapy. The therapy may include a variety of approaches and systems all designed to do more or less the same thing: challenge the patient’s views (which are distorted and thus leading to debilitating behaviors) and help them learn ways to cope with stress. Cognitive behavioral therapy attempts to go beyond the simple coping mechanism education of most clinics; doctors are more interested in helping the patient conquer their fears rather than avoid precarious situations or medicate patients.

What are some commonly suggested techniques for CBT? Gradual exposure therapy involves slowly and methodically exposing the patient to well known fears. Systematic desensitization is along the same vein, but often deals more with simulated situations and the thought processes of the patient.

Other techniques used in CBT may include having the patient keep a diary of feelings and events, questioning beliefs that are unreasonable, and experimenting with new defense mechanisms, as well as new reactions to stress. In addition to these techniques, cognitive behavioral therapy might also include having the patient keep up relaxation exercises and even learn some distraction techniques for coping.

This form of therapy has proven to be very effective in treating some personality disorders including generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder. Some in the medical community have even suggested it is far more effective than pharmacological treatments in the long term. Cognitive behavioral therapy is effective treatment against most types of disorders, provided drugs or alcohol do not alter the person’s state of mind to unnatural levels. This also applies to other cases in which external elements play a large part.

Neuroplasticity sounds like a very complicated issue. It is defined as the altering of neurons and the organization and reorganization of neural networks. The idea was first introduced by a man named Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a pioneer of the neuron doctrine, and ironically, a man who wouldn’t see his idea commonly accepted until half a century later. That aside, the concept of neuroplasticity is fairly easy to grasp.

Part of understanding this concept is accepting what earlier scientific beliefs suggested. Years ago, doctors stubbornly believed that a mature brain (an adult) never had the capacity for change. Yes, the brain could evolve, or so we thought, but there were strict limitations upon what changes were possible. That suggested to our forefathers of science that people had a limited intelligence, a limited amount of personal fulfillment and a limited level of mental sanity. It seemed logical, since scientists did see evidence that mental decline occurs with age. Furthermore, they observed that the brain was easily damaged by stroke or brain disease. Sounds logical, right?

Then something extraordinary happened—simply put, they observed the brain start to rebuild itself, when necessary. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize itself into proper and greater function, even after something like brain trauma. Neuroplasticity also suggests to us that because the neurons in the brain have the ability to form new connections, alter wiring that is incorrect and eliminate old wiring, the brain is very capable of change and even of continuous growth.

Scientists are now stating that it’s very possible that an adult brain has the ability to adapt to both external and internal experiences. That means not only could a person recover from brain trauma; but he or she also has the capacity to change what he or she thinks about, what values they cherish and even what hobbies they enjoy.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has been proven efficacious for a large population of Americans who suffer from personality disorders. It has proven to be effective in the treatment of substance abuse, social anxiety disorder and posttraumatic stress, along with a variety of other disorders. This form of therapy is known to be a progressive one, and goal-oriented. This discipline focuses on setting and achieving goals in the patient’s life. Furthermore, many doctors believe it is the single most effective treatment for alleviating symptoms of social anxiety disorder.

The main goal in this type of therapy is to challenge the patient’s firmly entrenched viewpoints that cause negative and debilitating behavior. If a doctor or therapist is able to change a person’s reaction to anxiety-promoting stress, then the patient could be helped to relax and perhaps learn better coping mechanisms. It’s all a matter of showing the patient that in reality, their thought processes—at least the way in which they experience things—are not actually happening. Thus, this revelation will help them to accept the fact that a change is needed.

When you attempt to help someone with social anxiety disorder, you do not try to logically communicate with them. Rather, you are appealing to their emotions and their first-reaction responses. Therefore, something more intensive than just a heart-to-heart conversation may be needed in order to change negative behavior.

Two common techniques used in cognitive behavioral therapy involve gradual exposure and systematic desensitization. The first of these involves a doctor or therapist confronting a patient with one of their most feared stimuli. When dealing with social anxiety, for instance, this fear may simply be speaking in front of a large number of people. The doctor does force this confrontation, but ensures that it takes place in an organized, sensitive and highly supervised manner, so as not to overwhelm the patient. The second of these involves simulating the actual experiences and dealing with the emotions.

Cognitive behavior therapy is a discipline of psychology that seeks to help people cope with dysfunctional emotions. Unlike other types of open-ended therapy, cognitive behavior therapy is goal-oriented and systematic. This type of therapy is often used for mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, substance abuse and eating disorders. In addition, the therapy has been proven effective for some of the population in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, OCD, depression and even specific disorders like bulimia nervosa.

Because of the efficacy of CBT, it is often times a very brief experience, unlike some other forms of therapy that can go on for months on end. CBT may be individually based or based inside of a group. Recently, more effort has been made to use CBT for reforming criminals in correctional settings. In these instances, therapists attempt to reeducate criminal offenders on cognitive skills and coping mechanisms that will help reduce criminal behavior.

In this process, therapists/doctors will be identifying and monitoring a patient’s thoughts and beliefs. (These will be discernible through a series of tests) The goal is to determine how these beliefs are related to the debilitating behavior, such as alcohol abuse, criminal behavior or so on. Cognitive behavior therapy was created in the 1960s in an effort to merge the best of behavioral therapy results with that of cognitive therapy. While these two disciplines had very different origins, they found common ground when focusing on treatment.

There are two main components to analyze in this discipline and they are also the two main theories at work: cognitive and behavioral. If you suffer from social anxiety disorder but do not want to explore the option of medication, then cognitive behavior therapy is an excellent alternative. In fact, it is currently considered the most effective form of treating social anxiety disorder, far more efficacious just medication alone.

Neuroplasticity refers to the altering of neurons and the organization (or reorganization) of networks and pathways. Essentially, neuroplasticity refers to the “plasticity” of the brain. The brain is made of nerve cells (called neurons and glial cells) and they all interconnect in such intricate ways that even everything we know as the Internet cannot compare.

We have recently discovered that the brain has the potential to change and grow in knowledge, because it has the ability to remove connections, add connections or even create new cells. (A recent discovery; as it was once thought that only newborns and young children had this capacity) All of this is strong evidence that the brain can retain its adaptive flexibility, regenerative capacity, and excellent efficiency throughout a person’s life.

This indicates to many that neuroplasticity could mean a world without mental illness. Scientists speculate that with further research we may be able to discover more effective treatments for brain damage (regardless of whether the damage is from trauma or cognitive decline, as with age or disease). Further research may also mean more help to people living with personality disorders or cognitive disabilities. Some have even boldly suggested this could mean the ability to change an entire person’s personality. For example, “curing” the person of racism, prejudice, criminal behavior or even general “stupidity.” Furthermore, people could be reeducated. Lost skills could easily be relearned. The decline of abilities could be delayed or even reversed. In short, the age old argument of “I’m too old to change” could be proven a lie.

The possibilities are endless and thus many people are very excited about the future. We have been indoctrinated to believe that a person’s mind is just so; always mindful of our limitations, but never truly aware of our unlimited potential!

Neuroplasticity is a term used to describe a particular brain function, namely, the brain’s ability to change and adapt. This means the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by generating new neurons and forming new pathways and networks. The process also changes what areas control which functions. Why does neuroplasticity occur? It occurs in direct response to stimuli.

Why is this significant? Scientists and doctors used to believe that a mature human brain could never change and that it was in a “fixed” state. Therefore, the ability to learn new tasks was once considered very limited. That meant that people only had so much control over their level of intelligence, level of happiness, and level of mental stability. That seemed to go hand-in-hand with the idea that mental decline occurs with age, and after episodes of stroke or brain disease.

However, the new theories surrounding neuroplasticity (and supposedly proven by neuroplasticity) suggest that the adult brain remains flexible for a long period of time, beyond what was once believed to be limitations. Neuroplasticity proves a few things without question: that the brain has the ability to reorganize itself even after trauma and injury; and that the brain can continuously grow, forming new connections, changing faulty wiring and eliminating old wiring when necessary.

There is also speculation in medical and scientific communities that suggest that the brain can adapt not only to external experiences (as in correcting injuries that accumulate) but also that it can adapt or change according to internal thoughts. That means that theoretically, a person could change what they think about, the activities they enjoy and even the values that define them as a person. If the physical structure changes, and if new neural pathways are being formed, that means anything is possible.