What if the same brain systems that drive addiction could also point the way toward healing? In a recent video created for King’s College / The Collaborative Library, I created a short video ‘Lay Summary’ of a systematic review on Cue Exposure Therapy (CET) for cocaine craving. A Lay Summary is designed to make complex scientific research accessible and meaningful to everyone — from healthcare professionals and organisations to the general public and those seeking treatment, and importantly also to us as Counsellors and Psychotherapists. The video, titled “Rewiring Cocaine Cravings,” explores recent neuroscience and addiction research in a way that connects scientific understanding with real-world experience and practical therapy application.
CET is a clinical approach that works by gently and repeatedly exposing individuals to the triggers that usually lead to cravings – images, smells, even virtual environments without actually using the substance. The aim? To retrain the brain so that the old wiring (“cue = craving”) begins to loosen its grip. While this technique is rooted in behavioural neuroscience, its implications ripple far wider into trauma work, integrative therapy and the spiritual healing journey.
In the narrated video summary (watch it above), we walk through the key findings from Brobbin et al. (2025), who reviewed over 200 studies to assess what kinds of cues were used in CET trials. Some were basic such as pictures or short audio clips. Others, more immersive: virtual reality, personalised scripts, and environments resembling real-world drug settings. The review also highlighted a gap: many studies failed to describe these cues in enough detail to be replicated.
So why is this relevant to therapy work, particularly integrative and transpersonal approaches?
Because craving isn’t exclusive to substance use. In psychotherapy, we often work with unconscious triggers: a facial expression that echoes childhood neglect, a smell that opens the door to grief, a memory that derails regulation. CET provides a science-backed example of how specific triggers, when safely met with awareness, can be re-patterned.
This is where neuroscience and integrative psychotherapy meet:
Not to pathologise experience but to understand the map of the nervous system.
Not to override symptoms but to explore how and why they arise.
Not to dismiss craving as weakness but to meet it as a signal.
In the courses we run at www.spiritualpsychotherapy.com, including the Diploma in Integrative and Spiritual Psychotherapy, we weave this kind of material into a broader framework. Whether through somatic work, parts therapy or working with archetypes and dreams, our goal is always integration. CET is just one example of how therapeutic presence, repetition, and safety can gradually override deeply entrenched patterns.
Key takeaways from the CET video:
- Cravings are often triggered automatically by cues in the environment -not just by withdrawal.
- CET aims to retrain the brain’s response by exposing people to these cues without using.
- The more immersive and personalised the cues, the more powerful the potential therapy.
Many studies lacked detail on their cue design limiting progress.
By highlighting this, we see that good therapy, like good science, isn’t just about insight. It’s also about clarity, process and method.
If this kind of brain-based, compassion-informed therapy approach interests you, feel free to explore the training programmes we offer. Or simply take the video as food for thought: a brief window into the evolving relationship between science and soul.
Blue Marsden