Becoming Aware Through Internal Exploration: Understanding Psychotherapy on Conceptual and Neurobiological Levels.

IF 8.4 1区心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Perspectives on Psychological Science Pub Date : 2025-10-23 DOI:10.1177/17456916251378430

Nick Kabrel,Jaan Aru

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Becoming aware of previously unrecognized aspects of one's psychological and behavioral challenges is one of the central mechanisms of positive psychotherapeutic change. Yet the specific neurocognitive processes that underlie new realizations remain poorly understood. What must occur in one's mind and brain for awareness to emerge? Here, we present a novel, detailed, process-based framework for understanding how new awareness arises during psychotherapeutic dialogue. Central to this framework are the concepts of "mental navigation" and "cognitive map expansion," which we explain at both the conceptual and neuroscientific levels. Namely, individuals construct internal world models in the form of cognitive maps. Mental-health difficulties may reflect maps that are overly rigid or narrow. Therapeutic change may thus involve expanding these maps by mentally navigating beyond their current boundaries and forming new trajectories in the conceptual and neural activity space. We conclude by exploring clinical-practice implications as well as offering directions for empirically validating this model.

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通过内部探索获得意识：从概念和神经生物学层面理解心理治疗。

意识到以前未被认识到的心理和行为方面的挑战是积极的心理治疗改变的核心机制之一。然而，新认识背后的具体神经认知过程仍然知之甚少。一个人的思想和大脑中必须发生什么才能产生觉知？在这里，我们提出了一个新颖的，详细的，基于过程的框架来理解在心理治疗对话中如何产生新的意识。这个框架的核心是“心理导航”和“认知地图扩展”的概念，我们在概念和神经科学的层面上对它们进行了解释。即，个体以认知地图的形式构建内部世界模型。心理健康问题可能反映出地图过于死板或狭窄。因此，治疗上的改变可能包括通过心理导航超越当前的边界，在概念和神经活动空间中形成新的轨迹来扩展这些地图。最后，我们探讨了临床实践的影响，并为实证验证该模型提供了方向。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Perspectives on Psychological Science PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

22.70

自引率

4.00%

发文量

111

期刊介绍： Perspectives on Psychological Science is a journal that publishes a diverse range of articles and reports in the field of psychology. The journal includes broad integrative reviews, overviews of research programs, meta-analyses, theoretical statements, book reviews, and articles on various topics such as the philosophy of science and opinion pieces about major issues in the field. It also features autobiographical reflections of senior members of the field, occasional humorous essays and sketches, and even has a section for invited and submitted articles. The impact of the journal can be seen through the reverberation of a 2009 article on correlative analyses commonly used in neuroimaging studies, which still influences the field. Additionally, a recent special issue of Perspectives, featuring prominent researchers discussing the "Next Big Questions in Psychology," is shaping the future trajectory of the discipline. Perspectives on Psychological Science provides metrics that showcase the performance of the journal. However, the Association for Psychological Science, of which the journal is a signatory of DORA, recommends against using journal-based metrics for assessing individual scientist contributions, such as for hiring, promotion, or funding decisions. Therefore, the metrics provided by Perspectives on Psychological Science should only be used by those interested in evaluating the journal itself.