Queries and Controversies

In this article, Hilton Terrell responds to the question “What should we make of recent research on how the brain causes certain problems, and how psychotherapy changes the brain?” Terrell argues that neuroscience has made great strides in refining its analyses of the brain and detecting patterns of brain activity that correspond to different diagnostic syndromes and different treatments, including psychotherapy. He maintains that, because the brain is the organ chiefly identified with our behavior, it would be quite amazing if no patterns corresponded to different behaviors. He argues that medicine is again revealing its proclivity toward molecular and physiologic reductionism. He concludes that the important question is whether psychotherapy is beneficial in teaching people to love God and neighbor.