A lot of the hopelessness around “schizophrenia” has to do with beliefs that it is rooted in brain differences and so cannot be “talked away.” One way of fighting this notion is to talk about neuroplasticity, or how the brain changes itself with experience. As you change how you think and act, your brain changes, and if the changes are positive, the brain changes can be too. One of the studies to illustrate this most clearly is just now being released: it happened right here in my hometown of Eugene Oregon. See below. Note that one of the brain areas positively affected was one that has been identified as playing a role in “schizophrenia.”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100816155000.htm
