Background: Polarisation of biological and psychosocial aspects of psychiatry has promoted a form of Cartesian dualism. Current knowledge of the interaction between biology and psychology makes it possible to consider a truly integrative approach to treatment.
Aims: The aim of this overview is to consider conceptual models of how psychotherapy may affect the brain.
Method: The literature discussing the mutual influence of genes and environment is surveyed. Relevant data involving the influence of psychotherapy on the brain are also reviewed.
Results: Research findings suggest that the brain responds to environmental influence through the alteration of gene expression; that psychotherapy has specific measurable effects on the brain; and that implicit memory may be modified by psychotherapeutic interventions.
Conclusions: Advances in neuroscience research have led to a more sophisticated understanding of how psychotherapy may affect brain functioning. These developments point the way towards a new era of psychotherapy research and practice in which specific modes of psychotherapy can be designed to target specific sites of brain functioning.