PSYCHOTHERAPY GROUP PLAN
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
Psychotherapy Group Plan
Neuroplasticity and Prayer
How God changes the brain through prayer
Submitted to
Ratha Zeidan-Lukacs
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
EDCO 711-D01
By
Rhonda Lee Wright
July 6, 2025
Abstract
The brain is a unique mechanism created by the Almighty God. He structured the human
brain and the human mind to work in sync with one another for creation to have the ability to
intellectualize, rationalize, and organize itself for the physical well-being of the human body as
an organism. For life, a life-sustaining ability to live within the domains of the ecological system.
This paper is an in-depth discussion on how the brain can restructure itself for the adaptability
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of human life. According to “Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory, there are several
systems which include: the Microsystem, Mesosystem, Ecosystem, Macrosystem, and
Chronosystem”. The five systems address how a person is influenced by their environment,
which provides for family, school, culture, and community. The neurological factors are
influenced by all surrounding factors and shape how an individual perceives and develops their
worldview. Those who struggle with depression, anxiety, PTSD, or other mental health issues
being able to restructure their neuroplastic messages and neural signals through a therapeutic
modality will help the individual become grounded, focused, and spiritually whole.
Psychotherapy Group Plan
Introduction
Scientists have researched the human brain for centuries, and researchers have been
boggled by the brain's complexity and its organizational structure. Over the years, scientific
studies have had to adjust their findings and results on how the human brain is in sync and
conjunction with the human body and internal organs. The brain can release biological
chemicals for an individual's medical issues. To ensure health, balance, and stability, for
instance, the common cold, for which there is no known cure. The brain can send messages to
the white blood cells, prompting them to produce antibodies that will fight off the virus and
remove bacteria through the body's cells and pores. Scientists have explored various methods
to understand the human brain. They have explored different areas, such as the Occipital lobe,
the area where the brain controls vision. Scientists have used a therapy, according to Alexandra
D. Crosswell (2024), called the “electroencephalography (EEG) a non-invasive and relatively
inexpensive method for assessing neurophysiological and cognitive functions. There is a limited
number of studies that explore the potential of extracting information about color perception
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from EEG signals. Studies experimented with EEG signals to identify the brain’s responses to
colored stimuli, using the power spectral density (PSD), a functional connectivity method, and
also investigated the EEG effective connectivity network” (Nieminen, 2022). This
psychoeducation group has discussed how the brain can restructure itself and change its
neuroplasticity.
Topic Overview
What is this group about?
The group is specifically designed for those who have neurodivergent issues, such as and
limited to: ADHD, autism, sensory processing struggles, learning disabilities, depression,
substance abuse, and anxiety-related neurodivergence. Through psychotherapy and
psychoeducation, the individual will learn skills to better understand how the brain has a natural
ability to change and restructure itself.
Why is it appropriate for psychotherapy, not just education?
The group will explore how repeated thoughts, behaviors, and the environment can
shape the neural wiring of the brain. Through intentional practice, an individual can, through
education and therapy, reorganize the neuropathways. Group members will spend 6 hours a
week in session with a trained therapist who will teach and engage with individuals through
worship and prayer. Group members will learn how to use scripture as a form of internal
communication. Proverbs 18:21 “ The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who
love it will eat its fruit.” (New International Version) Group members will also study and practice
nutritional and sleep wellbeing. The neurodivergent group will support clients in evidence-
based techniques:
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CBT, DBT, mindfulness, cognitive restructuring, somatic regulation, and pattern interruption.
Using certain techniques will promote neuroplastic change that will give group members a
sense of self-control without the use of medication.
Research on neuroplasticity
Neuroscience is a relatively new area of study, dating back to the 20th century, within
Western civilization. According to Brazier (2018), “Studies have concluded that the earliest
mentions of the brain date back to the Egyptians, approximately (circa 1700), using the
hieroglyph as a visual object to be understood as described by a surgical papyrus named Edwin
Smith (1700 BC)” (p. 3). The Americans, Egyptians, Greeks, French, Germans, and Italians have
all researched the brain in humans and animals. “Pierre Paul Broca (1824-1880) was a French
physician, surgeon, and anatomist. He worked with patients who had brain damage. He
concluded that different regions in the brain were involved in specific functions. The brain area
where Broca focused was on the brain's function of speech” ( p. 2). “1873, Gamillo Golgi, an
Italian physician and physicist, measured the speed at which nerve cells produced electrical
impulses. Early in the 20th century, Santiago Ramon y Cajal, a Spanish pathologist, histologist,
and neuroscientist, hypothesized that the neurons are independent nerve cell units” (p. 4).
Medical research prompted those who studied behaviors to investigate the psychological
functions of the brain.
All psychologists have concluded that the central nervous system affects how behaviors
are developed, through the neural impulses and messages sent from the CNS. Researchers
discussed and studied “Cognitive, computational, cultural, development, molecular and cellular,
neuro-engineering, neuroimaging, neuroinformatics, neurolinguistic, and neurophysiology,
neuroscience” (p.5). Andrew Newberg, a leading neuroscientist, studied how religion and the
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brain change through prayer and worship. According to Newberg (2009), “ We might also ask
what areas of the brain appear associated with what types of experiences of the divine. In prior
works, I outlined several basic brain functions that might relate to religious and spiritual
concepts. These brain functions, speaking broadly, include holistic, reductionistic, causal,
abstractive, binary, willful, emotional value, and existential functions.
Each of these functions can be generally attributed to different brain areas” (p. 21). God
( Adonai) is the example or template for the human brain and mindset, as the Lord stated in
Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image” (New International Version). Andrew Newberg
has taken science and religion and connected them to bring the Almighty God, the creator of
the
Universe and all things Glory.
Differentiation of Psychotherapy and Psychoeducation
Psychotherapy and psychoeducation are a cohesive unit to be used in conjunction with
supporting individuals on their journey to wholeness. The difference between the two is that
psychotherapy uses evidence-based research methodologies to support individuals with a
formal, structured process facilitated by trained professionals who help individuals recognize
their thoughts, behaviors, feelings, and patterns. Psychotherapy addresses an individual's inner
conflicts, past and current traumas, unconscious thoughts, environmental conflicts, and
relationship dynamics.
Psychotherapy involves long-term individualized therapy sessions. Psychoeducation is
more group-focused, where individuals are placed in a structured group with specific
therapeutic modalities such as “Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy,
emotionally focused therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and humanistic therapy.” According to
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Silvia E. Kober et.al (2023), “Spiritual practice, such as prayer or meditation, is associated with
focusing attention on internal states and self-awareness processes” (p. 1). Therapists who are
providing psychotherapy during individual sessions would do well to recommend that their
clients attend a psychoeducational group where clients can share and process emotional
content with others who are working towards the same goals.
Group Composition
This group has been formed to address those who struggle with substance abuse,
depression, and anxiety. The focus of the neurodivergent group is to support individuals who
are seeking help with managing depression and anxiety as a result of substance abuse. Group
members will learn and develop coping skills through prayer, worship, and applying scripture to
their daily lives. The group demographics will consist of adults between the ages of 18-120
years old and will be comprised of individuals from all ethnic backgrounds and socioeconomic
statuses.
Group members must be able to attend in person at least 3 times a week and virtually
two times a week. Researchers have concluded, “In cognitive wellness, a brain can perform all
the mental processes that are collectively known as cognition. Moreover, cognitive health, the
capacity for reorganization or synaptic plasticity, is involved in response to age-related
neurophysiological and structural changes (Mapstone et al., 2020). Subsequently, to promote
cognitive health as a primary goal, a clinical approach from neuropsychology has emerged,” J.
Angel Rodriguez (2021). It is through this emergence that those who are having to take
medication can regulate their neurocognitive restructuring. Researchers have found that
spending 12 minutes a day can help the brain send messages from the “gamma-aminobutyric
acid (GABA) receptors, which are the primary inhibitory neurotransmitters in the central
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nervous system” (Linehan, 1994). The GABA neurotransmitter can send messages that either
inhibit or reduce excitability in the CNS.
Setting and Structure
Group members will meet in a structured environment located within a business office
and group room, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays for psychotherapy. Virtually on
Tuesdays and Fridays, they will meet in a private room in their home in accordance with the
State of Texas rules and regulations of compliance with HIPAA and the 42CFR.
Goals of the Group
The goals of the group are for group members to titrate off of medication and abstain
from all mind and mood-altering substances. Group members will develop growth through
spiritual practices that involve scripture readings, worship, prayer, and fasting. A second goal for
group members would be to understand how the human body is able to heal itself through
spiritual practices. All believers are called to worship God in spirit and truth. “1 Thessalonians
1:5-17 instructs believers to rejoice, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances.
For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. (NIV) An article written by D.N.P. (2018) addresses
the area affected by intimate communion with a Deity. The author acknowledges the biological
chemicals the brain produces for the body and an individual’s emotional state and well-being (p.
4). Through this group, individuals will be able to connect and find comfort in building a
community of others who are seeking and developing the same goals once the group has
adjourned.
Group Member Guidelines
Group members will attend a closed group for 16 weeks in person and online. The group
members will be required to complete bibliography assignments weekly, i.e., reading scripture,
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the cognitive distortions workbook, and other assignments that will be provided by the
facilitator. Group members will commit to being on time for the group, which will begin at 6 pm,
promptly beginning with mediation upon arrival. Group members will be given a pen, a
notebook, and a clipboard for in-group work for discussion, and psychoeducation.
Group Leader Role and Function
The group leader will determine their role as the group develops and progresses over the
16 weeks. At the beginning of the group, the leader will provide clear instructions and
expectations by setting boundaries, rules, and guidelines. The group leader’s beginning position
would be that of an authoritative leadership style, with a vision given to them by the Lord Jesus
Christ on how to lead His people into a new way of living and a new lifestyle. This leadership
style is in alignment with Acts 5:16-23.
Biblical Integration
Acts 5:12-20 “12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And
all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them,
even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and
women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the
sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall
on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem,
bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed. 17 Then
the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were
filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the
night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in
the temple courts, he said, “and tell the people all about this new life” (biblegateway.com).
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Therapists who enter the field of mental health have had some form of experience with family,
community, or personal engagement.
counselors and providing professional services to individuals are called to this field of
helping people and showing them how to live a new way of life. Having mental health issues is a
form of imprisonment and can become a life sentence if one does not seek help through
professional counseling, pastoral counseling, and self-help groups. The Bible never mentions a
disciple going alone into the field to evangelize or to win souls. Jesus commanded them to have
support and connection to a community. This chapter addresses how the Lord mentored the
disciples as a cohesive team to share the gospel with others, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, who
has come to give eternal life, living in the presence of Adonai. ( J. Angel Rodriguez, 2021, p. 20).
Those counselors who work with substance abuse, trauma, military, domestic violence,
homelessness, etc., many counselors and therapists have experience in these disciplines, where
they may feel they can identify with individuals who are suffering and want to support and help
them to avoid some of the pain the counselor or therapist has experienced.
Conclusion
This paper has discussed a structured group plan that addresses neurodivergent
reconstruction through prayer and meditation. This paper has discussed the difference between
psychotherapy and psychoeducation during individual sessions and group therapy. Group
members will gain an individualized personalized plan to apply the CBT/DBT and psychodynamic
therapy models in their everyday lives. The group has discussed goals, accomplishments, wins,
and successes, along with what has not worked for the group members.
References
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Contemplative Practices Combat Stress and Enhance the Body’s Restorative Capacity.
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Alireza Khadir, M. M. (2023). Brain activity characteristic of RGB stimulus: an EEG study.
Scientific Reports, 1-15.
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Stem Research Journal , 1-6.
Brazier, S. S. (2018). What is neuroscience? Medical News Today, 7.
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NewBerg, A. (2009, January 1). National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from NIH:
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