Show Notes


Episode 20. The Resilience & Healing of our Brains with Sofia Carozza

Episode 20. The Resilience & Healing of our Brains with Sofia Carozza

This Whole Life podcast episode 20 icon Resilience Healing of our Brains Sofia Carozza

"Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison..."
~ 2 Corinthians 4:16-17


The last 50 years have seen incredible development in neurobiology and our understanding of the human brain. Yet we, as people of faith, know that humans are so much more than just a "brain in a body"; in fact, we are a deep and mysterious unity of mind, body, soul, brain, and even our relationships. How can we better know ourselves and our place in God's plan by better understanding our brains?

Join this fascinating conversation with Sofia Carozza, a neuroscientist and theologian. Pat & Sofia discuss mental health and healing, especially with regards to childhood adversity (experiences of violence, neglect, poverty, serious illness, etc.). These difficult circumstances in childhood can affect the very structures of our brain, but one's path is not determined by those experiences; rather, we can know healing and restoration through profoundly simple means like healthy relationships grounded on love!

Sofia Carozza is a Marshall Scholar at the University of Cambridge, where she is completing a PhD at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. In her research, she is seeking to understand how early experiences of adversity shape the biological and psychological development of children. Sofia completed undergraduate studies in neuroscience and theology at the University of Notre Dame where she was the valedictorian of the Class of 2019, and she has an MPhil in basic and translational neuroscience from the University of Cambridge. Sofia is also the co-host of
The Pilgrim Soul, an engaging and insightful podcast.

Show Notes

  • Sofia’s call to understand childhood adversity and brain development through her experience of suffering & resurrection in Paraguay

  • Childhood adversity, through either direct threat or deprivation, can affect the structures and the psychology of the brain

  • At the same time, these effects are not present in all children who face adversity at young age

  • And, even more importantly, our understanding of neuroplasticity (the brain’s continual process of change and development throughout the entire lifespan) now shows us ways that the brain can create more healthy structures and neural patterns throughout life

  • This kind of healing can come from remarkably simple means: loving relationships, attention to one’s bodily and mental health, prayer and meditation, etc.

    • The story of Naaman the Syrian as an example of miraculous healing through relatively simple means (2 Kings 5:1-14)

That Hideous Strength
by C.S. Lewis

Sofia’s Valedictory Address at the
University of Notre Dame’s
2019 Commencement ceremony

Challenge By Choice

Invite the Lord to glorify a wound in your life

  • Enter into a time of prayer with the passage of Thomas’ encounter with the Resurrected Christ (John 20:24-29) and the Seven Core Wounds (see above)

  • Ask the Lord to identify a wound that is motivating any unhealthy and unhelpful thoughts and actions

  • Then, invite the Lord to touch and redeem that place of woundedness

    • Not merely to remove or eliminate the wound, but to glorify it (like Christ’s own glorified wounds) that you might know even greater restoration and meaning through it