Kemal Basaranoglu, Hatice Karaer Unaldi, Ozlem Komitoglu Yaman
The Journal of Neurobehavioral Sciences - 2025;12(3):98-105
Neuroplasticity is a fundamental neuroscientific principle demonstrating that the brain can be structurally and functionally reshaped throughout life via experience, learning, and repetition. This concept plays a critical role in understanding the potential for change at the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral levels. Coaching, on the other hand, is a goal-oriented developmental process that enables individuals to question their current thought patterns, enhance self-awareness, and develop cognitive flexibility. This literature-based review highlights how elements known to facilitate neuroplasticity-such as attention, emotional arousal, relational interaction, and experiential repetition-are inherently present in the coaching process. It is argued that coaching conversations provide a fertile ground for neuroplastic change, facilitating the formation of new synaptic connections, the weakening of outdated neural pathways, and the restructuring of cognitive maps. In this regard, coaching is proposed not only as a psychosocial intervention but also as a practice with the potential to induce change at the neurobiological level. This study aims to establish a theoretical framework for the intersection between coaching and neuroplasticity, while also offering a foundation for future experimental research in this field.
