Cognitive-behavioral therapy models are evolving to take into account the impact of physiological responses on client distress and the secondary role of conscious cognitions and beliefs in perpetuating distress and dysfunction. This article presents an accessible and practical description of a neuroscience-informed cognitive-behavior therapy model, in the hope that readers will learn how to apply this model in practice.

Despite the growing momentum to infuse neuroscience into counseling, neuroscience-related publications are relatively scant in flagship counseling journals. In response, this January 2017 edition of the Journal of Mental Health Counseling introduces a new section entitled “Neurocounseling” that will remedy this gap in the literature. This article provides a rationale for the creation of the Neurocounseling section that includes a discussion of current trends in research initiatives, the evolution of the term neurocounseling, and the existing neuroscience-related publications in flagship counseling journals. Additionally, this article outlines the vision for the Neurocounseling section that will aid readers as they conceptualize and conduct neurocounseling research as well as prepare manuscripts for publication.

Wilkinson (2018) opened an important dialogue about the role of neuroscience in counseling. In this article, the authors extend this dialogue with additional literature to show that neuroscience has meaningfully informed counseling practice and is compatible with humanistic principles.

The field of neuroscience has influenced revisions to conventional models of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In the mental health counseling field, a conceptual model of neuroscience-informed cognitive-behavior therapy (n-CBT) was first published in the Journal of Mental Health Counseling in 2015. The present article reviews findings from the first six months of a year-long pilot study that examined counselor and client use and perceptions of n-CBT following application in clinical practice settings. Counselors reported successful alleviation of client symptomatology with n-CBT, particularly anxiety and depressive disorders. Counselors and clients also held similar and consistently high perceptions of n-CBT's credibility and the likelihood of improvement when using the model.

This article presents summative findings from a 12-month multiphase mixed-methods pilot study examining counselor and client perceptions of neuroscience-informed cognitive-behavior therapy (nCBT) following clinical application. Results from the first 6 months of the study indicated that the counselor's and client's beliefs about the credibility and effectiveness of nCBT (i.e., expectancy) remained stable from pretreatment to 6 months into treatment. The fourth phase of data collection at the 12-month interval followed an explanatory sequential process whereby the qualitative data were connected to earlier merged quantitative data to better understand initial findings from the first 6 months of the study. Results indicate that counselors' initial comprehension and familiarity with the model, counselor–client trust, counselor delivery and suggestion, and client willingness to practice outside of session were key components to the development of counselor and client belief (expectancy) in the model. Implications for nCBT theory development and application are discussed.