A great scientist and physician of the early 20th Century once said, “The brain is a world consisting of a number of unexplored continents and great stretches of unknown territory.” That man was Santiago Ramón y Cajal, considered by many to be the founder of modern neuroscience.
Many people are intimidated by the term “neuroscience” itself, as though it were still something out of an episode of Star Trek or the X-Files. However, neuroscience dates back almost 100 years. It has permeated greater society for our entire lives; we just aren’t always focused on it.
The Development of Neuroscience
Perhaps Santiago Ramón y Cajal is not as well known because his discoveries in neuroscience opened the floodgates to a seemingly endless world of discovery: the human mind. Much innovation in neuroscience has occurred since Cajal’s discovery, and he has almost been buried by the wealth of innovation and innovators that have come since.
Discoveries are happening in the world of neuroscience all of the time. Here at Clearview Girls Academy, we utilize those discoveries in the therapies we use to help our students recover from the myriad of mental health issues they may be struggling with.
Neuroscience doesn’t have to be an intimidating concept any longer. At Clearview Girls Academy, we want to show you just how miraculous and exciting neuroscience can be in the world of recovery. We also want to show you how we at Clearview Girls Academy utilize neuroscience in some of our individualized treatment plans.
Gaining a Better Understanding of Neuroscience
Here is “neuroscience” in a distillation. It is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as simply “[A]ny or all of the sciences, such as neurochemistry and experimental psychology, which deal with the structure or function of the nervous system and brain.” Here is neuroscience distilled down even more. It’s the study of the brain and nervous system. There’s nothing “out there” about that. It’s just another modality of science.
Here at Clearview Girls Academy, we believe that neuroscience can be integral in helping our students recover from many of the issues they are dealing with. Why is that? Take, for example, what the Child Institute of Health and Human Development (NIH) had to say regarding why neuroscience is essential. The NIH states that “[T]he nervous system not only works to produce thoughts, emotions, and behavior, but also controls important body functions, like breathing.”
Let’s process that seemingly simple explanation for a moment. The study of neuroscience can touch on how we think, feel, and act. At Clearview Girls Academy, helping our students healthily reframe how they think, feel, and act is our primary purpose.
Understanding How Neuroscience Can Help Aid in Recovery
The NIH also explains how neuroscience “[C]an help researchers find ways to prevent or treat problems that affect the brain, nervous system, and body.” Again this addresses our primary purpose of helping our students succeed.
One of the very innovative ways in which Clearview Girls Academy uses neuroscience is in our neurofeedback therapy. This is a therapy we use to help give our students self-control over their brain functions by giving them certain “biofeedback” in real-time to see how their brain reacts to certain stimuli.
Over time this therapy allows our students to understand that they can control the desired way they wish to feel. For example, this may be a state of serenity or avoidance of anger.
To us, we feel that being able to take charge of your thought patterns is truly a miracle of science. Plus, we have seen it work for many students. We feel honored and blessed to be able to offer our students these neuroscience-based therapies. However, science is not the only aspect of recovery here at Clearview Girls Academy.
How Clearview Girls Academy Blends Science and Faith for a Greater Recovery
One of modern history’s most brilliant scientific minds, Albert Einstein, said in his 1954 essay Science and Religion that “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” Many people do not know that one of the world’s most well-known scientists was also a very religious man.
That is the same type of spirit and balance we like to bring to our students. We want them to be excited about God and science. The two do not cancel each other out. Instead, they expound upon one another to create a beautiful intersecting Venn diagram of recovery.
We want to utilize all of the tools at our disposal to help your daughter recover. Neuroscience is one of those tools we use to help your daughter become the young woman she was always meant to be. As Santiago Ramón y Cajal once said, “Every [woman] if [she] so desires becomes sculptor of [her] own brain.”
Neuroscience can be a daunting subject before we gain some insight into what it is and what it can offer. However, once those discoveries are made, neuroscience is often considered a godsend. At Clearview Girls Academy, we blend neuroscience concepts into our individualized programs that include various therapies, natural exploration, and spiritual growth. We feel that this individualized planning is beneficial for the focused attention that we believe our students deserve. If your daughter is struggling with mental health, we implore you not to let anything get in the way of her recovery, especially something as minimal as not understanding a concept like “neuroscience.” It will come. For more information, contact Clearview Girls Academy at (888) 796-5484.
