The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy

Description

When trauma, anxiety, and depression take root, they don’t just live in the mind—they reshape the brain itself. For clinicians, the stakes are high: without understanding these changes, therapy risks missing its mark, leaving clients stuck in cycles of fear, shame, and disconnection.

The good news is that neuroscience now offers a roadmap. This course invites you to explore brain-based strategies that empower you to meet clients where their pain lives—in both body and mind—and guide them toward genuine recovery.

Dr. Jennifer Sweeton, Psy.D., a neuroscientist-turned-clinical psychologist and internationally recognized trauma expert, brings decades of research and clinical practice to this training. A #1 best-selling author and developer of Neural Desensitization and Integration Training (NDIT), Dr. Sweeton has taught more than 15,000 clinicians worldwide to apply neuroscience in psychotherapy.

Her approach in this course blends clarity and accessibility: you don’t need to be a neuroscientist to apply these insights. Through practical explanations, brain-based frameworks, and step-by-step techniques, you’ll see how to translate cutting-edge science into tools that work with your clients immediately.

Topics include brain regions most impacted by trauma, anxiety, and depression (amygdala, hippocampus, insula, cingulate, and prefrontal cortex), how psychotherapy activates change at the neurological level, why bottom-up, top-down, and horizontal interventions matter, and how the therapeutic alliance itself is grounded in neurobiology. You’ll also learn specific practices—from relaxation training and grounding skills to cognitive restructuring and exposure therapy—that directly target brain health.

Key Takeaways:

• Trauma Treatment Roadmap: Understand and apply the five-step framework that guides evidence-informed trauma care.

• Brain Alterations Demystified: Recognize how trauma, anxiety, and depression disrupt brain functioning—and how these disruptions manifest in clients’ lives.

• Brain-Changing Techniques: Gain practical interventions you can immediately integrate to help clients regulate, recover, and rebuild.

Why this course?

• Neuroscience made practical: Complex brain science is distilled into straightforward, clinically useful insights.

• Taught by a global trauma authority: Learn directly from Dr. Sweeton, one of today’s most respected voices at the intersection of neuroscience and psychotherapy.

• Elevate your clinical impact: Equip yourself with tools that go beyond symptom management, helping clients achieve lasting brain and body change.

Learning Objectives:

• State the five steps of the Trauma Treatment Roadmap.

• Describe brain alterations that occur from anxiety, trauma, and depression.

• Practice brain-changing techniques that can help clients recover from anxiety, depression, and trauma.

Every therapeutic encounter is an opportunity to help clients rewire their brains toward health and resilience. By understanding how the brain responds to suffering—and how it heals—you’ll expand your capacity to deliver transformative care.

Enroll today in The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy and discover how brain-based strategies can change not only your practice, but also the lives of the people you serve.

Format and Access

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Instruction consists of 2 hours of video instruction and a post-test.

Course Details

Availability: 

From the time of registration, you have six months to access the coursework.

Who Should Attend: 

This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching Methods: 

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.

How to Attend: 

Course access and completion instructions.

Instructor and Disclosures

Instructor

About Jennifer Sweeton, Psy.D.

Originally trained as a neuroscientist, Dr. Jennifer Sweeton is a clinical and forensic psychologist, Amazon #1 best-selling author in clinical psychology, and internationally-recognized expert on trauma and the neuroscience of mental health. She is the author of the Trauma Treatment Toolbox (PESI Publishing), Train Your Brain Card Deck (PESI Publishing and Media), Eight Key Brain Areas of Mental Health and Illness (W. W. Norton & Company), and the forthcoming Traumatic Stress Recovery Workbook (New Harbinger Publications, Inc).

Dr. Sweeton completed her doctoral training at the Stanford University School of Medicine, the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, and the National Center for PTSD. Additionally, she holds a master’s degree in personality psychology (with an emphasis in affective neuroscience) from Stanford University, and studied behavioral genetics and psychopathology at Harvard University. She is a JD Candidate (class of 2024) at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.

Dr. Sweeton resides in the greater Kansas City area, where she owns a group private practice, Kansas City Mental Health Associates. She is the founder and co-owner of a nationwide continuing education company, OnlineCECredits.com, which offers high-quality courses to over 15,000 licensed mental health providers. Dr. Sweeton holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, and is a former President of the Greater Kansas City Psychological Association and the Oklahoma Psychological Association.

Dr. Sweeton offers coaching, consultation, trauma-focused psychotherapy, and forensic assessment services to clients worldwide. She is the developer of Neural Desensitization and Integration Training (NDIT), an evidence-informed, module-based psychotherapy for PTSD. Referred to as a “world-renowned trauma treatment expert” by PESI, Dr. Sweeton has trained more than 15,000 mental health professionals in all 50 US states and over 20 countries.

Disclosure Statement: 

The instructor for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

Credit Hours:

This course consists of 2 continuing education hours of credit.

Counselors:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. 

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Mental Health Counselors. #MHC-0048.

Marriage and Family Therapists: 

Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations.  You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0135, effective May 8, 2025.

Social Workers:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 2 clinical continuing education credits.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Social Workers #SW-0435.

Addiction Professionals:

This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

Psychologists:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0128.

Art Therapists: 

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.

Other Professionals:

This course qualifies for 180 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations.  Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

This is a non-interactive, self-study course.

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement