What is Remapping?
Understanding Neuroplasticity and Neural Pathways
When we talk about remapping ourselves, we’re talking about neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to change. This isn’t just poetic language. It’s a biological truth. Our brains are not fixed. They’re dynamic, adaptable, and responsive to experience.
What Are Neural Pathways?
Neural pathways are the networks of neurons (brain cells) that communicate with each other to carry out everything we do—thinking, feeling, moving, remembering, reacting. These pathways are formed through repetition and experience. The more often we think a thought, feel an emotion, or perform a behavior, the stronger that pathway becomes.
Think of neural pathways like trails in a forest. The more you walk a trail, the clearer and easier it becomes to follow. If you stop walking it, the trail fades. If you start walking a new path, it slowly becomes more defined.
What Is Neuroplasticity?
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to create, strengthen, weaken, or reroute these pathways. It’s how we learn new skills, recover from trauma, change habits, and heal from addiction or emotional pain.
There are two main types:
Structural plasticity: The brain physically changes—new connections form, old ones fade.
Functional plasticity: The brain reroutes functions from damaged areas to healthy ones.
How Do We Engage Neuroplasticity?
We engage neuroplasticity through intentional practice. Every time we:
Interrupt a negative thought
Choose a different behavior
Sit with a difficult emotion instead of reacting
Reflect on our values
Connect with others in a new way
…we’re helping the brain build new trails.
Over time, I’ve worked with or studied several psychological approaches that support this remapping. I’m sure there are more that fit into the same basis for change as these, but these are the ones that I know best. Each one offers tools for rewiring thought patterns, emotional responses, and behaviors. Here are some modalities I think of often, and how they align with the science of neuroplasticity. Where some folks may have experienced opposition between modalities, I hope more folks see how they have so much in common. And, like any type of recovery, I hope people find what works for them…and work it.
Twelve Step Facilitation (TSF)
TSF emphasizes spiritual awakening, accountability, and connection. Through practices like personal inventory, amends, and service, it encourages reflection and behavioral change.
Remapping in action: Replacing isolation and secrecy with connection and honesty strengthens new relational circuits.
SMART Recovery
SMART is grounded in self-management and rational thinking. It uses tools like the ABC model and urges surfing to help people respond differently to cravings and triggers.
Remapping in action: Practicing alternative responses to urges builds new pathways for impulse control and emotional regulation.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
DBT teaches mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. It’s especially helpful for people who experience intense emotions or relational instability.
Remapping in action: Learning to pause, name emotions, and choose skillful responses rewires reactive circuits into reflective ones.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT helps people identify and challenge distorted thinking and replace it with more accurate, helpful thoughts. It’s one of the most researched and effective modalities for depression, anxiety, and substance use.
Remapping in action: Repeated cognitive restructuring literally rewires how the brain interprets and responds to life events.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT teaches psychological flexibility—the ability to accept difficult thoughts and feelings while committing to values-based action.
Remapping in action: Practicing acceptance and values alignment strengthens circuits for resilience and purpose, even in the presence of pain.
Why This Matters
Each of these modalities offers a different doorway into change. Some are spiritual, some are cognitive, some are relational. But they all share a belief in the possibility of transformation—and they all work by engaging the brain’s capacity to learn, adapt, and grow.
In my own journey, I’ve used these tools to remap pathways shaped by trauma, addiction, caregiving stress, and underemployment. I’ve seen how repeated practice—whether it’s naming a feeling, calling a sponsor, or choosing a value-aligned action—can shift the terrain of my mind.
Neuroplasticity isn’t just a clinical term. It’s a hopeful one. It means we’re not stuck. We’re not broken. We’re in motion.
What Happens When We Successfully Remap Neural Pathways?
If neuroplasticity is the process, then remapping is the outcome. It’s what happens when we consistently choose thoughts, behaviors, and emotional responses that serve us—when we interrupt old patterns and reinforce new ones. Over time, these choices become habits. Habits become traits. And traits become part of our identity.
From Habit to Trait to Identity
A habit is a behavior repeated often enough that it becomes automatic. It’s the brain’s way of conserving energy—once a pattern is learned, it doesn’t require conscious effort to repeat. But when a habit is practiced consistently and across different contexts, it can become so ingrained that it forms a part of your character, influencing your attitudes, behaviors, and how you respond to situations without deliberate thought.
This is where traits come in. Traits are the more stable, long-term patterns of thought and behavior that habits help to build and reinforce. For example, someone who repeatedly practices emotional regulation through DBT may develop the trait of patience. Someone who consistently chooses honesty in recovery may develop the trait of integrity. These traits are not fixed at birth—they are shaped by experience, intention, and repetition.
Over time, traits begin to shape identity. Not just how we act, but how we see ourselves. “I am someone who shows up.” “I am someone who tells the truth.” “I am someone who can handle discomfort.” These identity statements reflect the deep neural remapping that has taken place. They are not affirmations—they are lived realities.
Recovery
In the context of addiction or compulsive behavior, remapping neural pathways means breaking the loop—the automatic connection between a trigger and a destructive response. Recovery isn’t just abstaining; it’s building new pathways that support regulation, connection, and purpose. It’s learning to respond to pain or stress with tools instead of substances. With support instead of secrecy.
Recovery becomes possible when the brain learns that safety, relief, and meaning can come from new sources.
Remission
For those living with depression, anxiety, or trauma-related conditions, remapping can lead to remission—a state where symptoms no longer dominate daily life. This doesn’t mean the past disappears. It means the brain no longer defaults to fear, hopelessness, or hypervigilance. It means new pathways—ones built through therapy, mindfulness, movement, and connection—can override the old ones.
Remission is not passive. It’s earned through repetition, reflection, and resilience.
Wellness
Wellness is the broader horizon. It’s not just the absence of illness—it’s the presence of vitality, clarity, and alignment. When we remap ourselves toward wellness, we’re choosing to live in ways that reflect our values, honor our needs, and support our relationships. We’re building neural pathways that reinforce joy, curiosity, and compassion.
Wellness is the result of thousands of small choices that shape the brain toward balance and integration.
Healing and Integration
To heal is to integrate. It’s to take what was fragmented—memories, emotions, identities—and bring them into coherence. Remapping neural pathways allows us to put things behind us not by forgetting, but by transforming how we relate to them. The trauma doesn’t vanish, but its grip loosens. The shame doesn’t define us. The fear doesn’t drive us.
Healing is the moment when the past no longer dictates the present. It’s when the brain has learned a new way to be.
If Nothing Else, Let It Bring Peace
If nothing else, what remapping ourselves can bring is peace.
Not perfection. Not constant joy. Not a life free of challenge. But peace—the kind that comes from knowing we are no longer at war with ourselves.
When we begin to shift our neural pathways away from thoughts, behaviors, and feelings that don’t serve us, we start to experience a different kind of day. One where we wake up and feel good about who we are. One where we move through the hours with a sense of steadiness, even when things are hard. One where we go to sleep without the weight of shame or regret pressing down on us. One where we feel “normal,” whatever that is. Where we don’t always think about what’s “wrong” with us.
This is the heart of Remapping Myself. Not just healing, but becoming. Not just surviving, but living with integrity and ease.