The Healing Power of Emotion: Affective Neuroscience, Development & Clinical Practice (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)

This book is not simply about emotion. It is about the primacy of affect (emotion) and its relationship to the development of psychopathology. The key factor for me was the conclusion that emotional insight must occur prior to intellectual insight. My understanding is that the cognitive paradigm has it exactly in the reverse. In other words, that intellectual insight must occur prior to emotional insight. I believe that this distinction is relevant, in part, because the literature and research presented in this book appears to be a response to the "black-box" approach of cognitive-behavioral theories. These theories propose that emotional disorders can be rationally displaced by higher order emotions simply by "willing" or replacing one thought with another. Without considering the inter-relationship of brain functioning with clinical interventions, it's very possible that the clinician will ignore pre-verbal aspects of personality. McGilchrist writes in, "The Master and His Emissary", that "For us as humans there are two fundamentally opposed realities, two different modes of experience; that each is of ultimate importance in bringing about the recognition of the human world; and that their difference is rooted in the bi-hemispheric structure of the brain. It follows that the hemispheres need to co-operate, but I believe they are in fact involved in a sort of power struggle" (McGilchrist,2009, p.3). The struggle for dominance is what, "The Healing Power of Emotion", describes from an neuro-scientific and operational point of view. If you have assumed that text books are all dry and boring, I invite you to think again. The healing invoked, in "The Healing Power of Emotion", is in its emphasis on the "human" in "human communication. From a phenomenological point of view, "Social Engagement Behaviors" described by Fosha, Siegel, and Solomon require an ability to "inhibit defense systems (by the social engagement system") in order for satisfying reciprocal interaction to occur. At last, past, present, and future co-mingle in this remarkable series of studies on the brain, the mind, the personality, and its need for harmony and coherence in the sub-cortical arena.

This is far and away the most integrated, substantiated,and thoughtful book I have read about human behavior in years. After DSM111 was introduced we as clinicians learned to look at a symptom in a clinical way. Sadly, many symptoms are shared between diagnostic catagories. We wanted something that would be clear, bridge the gap between the behaviorists, analysts, jungians and family systems. It was useful, especially to the insurance companiies but also clinicians who had to look thoughtfully at the symptom picture. What I found lacking was the integration I find in The Healing Power of Emotions:Affective Neuroscience, Development and Clinican Practice. It emphasizes the interpersonal impact beautifully. It is extremely well written, each chapter striking a different tone but in its whole helps us look at people as they really are, complex, not a mere balance of letters and numbers. It reads beautifully and each of the authors is well known and respected in their field. A real find! Its emphasis on attachment and emotion is critical as we look at people dealing with sexual abuse, trauma, and our troops coming home with a different persective. Our colleague group is taking one chapter at a time to discuss when we are finished with our 'emergent' clinical issues. Reading it together gives us other eyes to see through and makes for a tremendous session on critical thinking! Katharine A Lofgren, LICSW NH

I loved this book. It is an extraordinary 5 star buffet of articles by cutting edge neurobiology researchers and psychotherapy clinicians, a who's who in the field. Both the articles on the brain and psychotherapy are consumately well written, and clinical articles have great case illustrations. The psychotherapies described here are moving beyond exploration of pathologies to the transformative experiences where joy, new energy, and delight become possible; that and helping people regulate their dysregulated nervous system. This book is a weaving together of two disciplines that demonstrate what this new frontier looks like. If you have one book to buy --- make it this one. Judi Goodman, LICSW Lexington, MA

Comprehensive piece of work that inspires us in the field of therapy to remain alert, aware, attuned to the clinical experience and inter subjective world between client and therapist, especially when cognitive behavioral approaches seem to have more popularity and influence in the culture of today. It brings all the best and the latest work in the field of neuroscience and psychotherapy together into an integrated body of profound insights and applications.

The book is a fascinating collection of papers--all connected, yet each with its own distinct flavor reflecting the unique expertise of the individual author. As a clinician who does not have a neuroscience background, I found the book both accessible and highly relevant to clinical practice. I have read these authors separately so am thrilled the meta perspective presented explicitly in the introduction, as well as the weaving together of the concepts that occurs throughout the chapters.

Though current and sometimes applicable, I found it challenging to read at times--very good data, but if you're not readily familiar with the brain structures being discussed, understanding the applicability of the science was a stretch. I would have liked some concrete examples of how to use the research in a therapeutic setting.~WSB, clinical psychologist

This work is absolutely the cutting edge interface of neuroscience and clinical practice. Each chapter is a lucid blend of emotionally and intellectually accessible presentations by pioneers in the field of the clinical applications of developmental neuroscience. The entirety of the work holds together as a composition of hope and promise for the science of the art of healing.

This is by far the most complex and varied book on attachment, the developmental stages of brain function and emotion that I have read so far. It it held together by the editing of the eminent neuroscientist Daniel Siegal. It is one of those 'once a decade' books that I recommend to supervises, students and colleagues as central to a good psychotherapists library

An excellent, important book.