How Neuroscience-Based Therapy Uses Two Brain Pathways for Healing

How Neuroscience-Based Therapy Uses Two Brain Pathways for Healing

Your clients need both safety and growth—and now science shows your brain may be wired for both.

As therapists, we've long known that healing happens in the balance between stability and change. Clients need to feel grounded enough to stay present, yet flexible enough to try new ways of being. 

Now, groundbreaking 2025 research from the University of Pittsburgh in Scientific Advances supports what Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) has taught for years: the brain itself is designed with this balance built in.

The Discovery That Changes Everything

In the lab, this balance shows up in the very structure of the synapse itself, the junction where brain cells communicate. 

Researchers studying mouse visual cortex found something remarkable: neurons use distinct functional modes of transmission at separate sites within the same cell, a discovery that challenges decades of assumptions.

Scientists used to think all synaptic activity—both the brain's steady "background hum" and its responsive "learning sparks"—came from the same transmission sites. But this research revealed something remarkable:  different synaptic sites support spontaneous vs. evoked transmission, and these modes can develop along different timelines.

The Stability System (Spontaneous Transmission Sites):

• Maintains steady, consistent neural activity
• Keeps circuits stable and provides continuity
• Functions like a reliable baseline that keeps us grounded

The Change System (Evoked Transmission Sites):

• Fires during new learning and experiences
• Activates when we connect with others or adapt to challenges
• Works like sparks of electricity that create growth

Although this study was conducted in developing mouse cortex, it offers a powerful metaphor: the brain contains both continuity and adaptability within the same structure.

Why This Matters for Your Practice

This discovery resonates with what IPNB practitioners have observed clinically: integration requires both stability and change working in concert.

It echoes Dan Siegel’s River of Integration—where one bank represents chaos (instability) and the other rigidity (overstability). True mental health flows between them.

When clients feel too unstable, they can’t access growth. When they’re too rigid, they can’t change. Health lives in that dynamic middle.

In therapeutic work:

·         Safety supports stability: Predictable rhythms, grounding, and attunement help clients feel secure enough to stay present.

·         Attunement invites change: New relational experiences and emotional engagement stimulate neural rewiring.

·         Integration happens when both are supported: Clients can hold steady while exploring new ways of being.

This research doesn’t yet prove these mechanisms in human therapy—but it beautifully aligns with what we see in practice and gives us a neurobiological metaphor for why integration heals.

Putting It into Practice

Understanding these two modes gives you a neurobiological roadmap for session planning--one that balances safety and growth.

The magic happens when you consciously weave both together. Consider this session flow:

Opening (Stability Focus): "Let's start by noticing your feet on the floor and taking three breaths together. This is your safe space."

Middle (Change Focus): "Now that you're grounded, let's explore that difficult conversation differently. What would it look like if you responded from curiosity instead of defensiveness?"

Integration (Both Pathways): "Notice how you can hold both—feeling steady in your body while considering this new possibility. This is your brain's natural capacity for growth within safety."

The Bigger Picture

Science continues evolving, but this study offers inspiring validation: your nervous system holds both steadiness and change as essential forces of adaptation.

Like a river flowing over rocks, we are healthiest when we can hold steady and flow forward at the same time. 

When you create safe, attuned therapeutic relationships, you’re activating your clients’ natural change pathways. And when you anchor sessions in grounding practices, you’re strengthening the stability foundation that makes change possible.

Bring This Science into Your Practice

Your brain’s dual modes aren’t just theory—they offer a way to visualize how healing unfolds between safety and exploration.