Changing Minds in Therapy: Emotion, Attachment, Trauma, and Neurobiology

by Margaret Wilkinson

Overview

Addresses the flurry of questions about the practical application of neuroscience in clinical treatment.

Recent advances in research in the fields of attachment, trauma, and the neurobiology of emotion have shown that mind, brain, and body are inextricably linked. This new research has revolutionized our understanding of the process of change in psychotherapy and in life, and raised a flurry of questions about the practical application of neuroscience in clinical treatment, particularly with those who have experienced early relational trauma and neglect. What insight does neuroscience offer to our clinical understanding of early life experiences? Can we use the plasticity of the brain to aid in therapeutic change? If so, how?

Changing Minds in Therapy explores the dynamics of brain-mind change, translating insights from these new fields of study into practical tips for therapists to use in the consulting room. Drawing from a wide range of clinical approaches and deftly integrating the scholarly with the practical, Margaret Wilkinson presents contemporary neuroscience, as well as attachment and trauma theories, in an accessible way, illuminating the many ways in which cutting edge research may inform clinical practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393705614
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	04/12/2010
Series:	Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Margaret Wilkinson maintains a private practice in North Derbyshire, England. She lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

"[Wilkinson] is writing about the most cutting-edge neurobiological research alongside the basic psychotherapy process...uses her own moving case material to clarify the theory.... This book is packed with ideas and information connecting up theories that have been around for years, confirming them with examples of neurobiological research.… A rich and important book."

Therapy Today

"Changing Minds in Therapy is innovative and richly informative. Relating brain, mind and body, in an eminently, accessible account, Wilkinson brings complex theory to life. Thorough research evidence, combined with dramatic case histories, demonstrates how the impact of early trauma may be mediated through attachment and attunement in psychotherapy. This book offers an illuminating, engaging and ultimately, optimistic narrative. I highly recommend; it is an important contribution to the literature."

Professor Joy Schaverien

"Wilkinson provides us with a much needed and masterly synthesis of psychodynamic psychotherapy with the latest findings from neuroscience, especially on affect, attachment, and trauma. Skillfully guiding the reader through complex, contemporary research, she applies the results with clear, vivid clinical examples demonstrating how to make the science come alive in treatment. Her expert integration of contemporary Jungian models of the human psyche makes this book a rare contribution to the broader field."

Joe Cambray

"[A] fertile resource for any therapist wanting to better understand the application of neuroscientific advances of clinical practice...This book includes lively case examples, ensuring it offers an accessible conceptual framework relevant to a range of mental health professionals. [H]opeful, exciting book with cogent argument for the future of a dynamic psychotherapy occupying a pivotal position at the interface of the affective and the cognitive."

Healthcare Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal (UK)

"I would encourage every psychotherapist to read it… [T]his is a masterly volume, which is better supported from the scientific literature than many of its competitor volumes. That is only to be expected from an author who has already made significant contributions to evaluating and disseminating perspectives on the therapeutic relevance of neuroscience. It is a fascinating and masterly interweaving of the two disciplines. So, if you read only one book on the interface of therapy with neurobiology during your career, then let it be this one."

European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counseling

"[F]ascinating….Wilkinson offers a novel and compelling explanation of psychotherapeutic change. Combining therapeutic acumen with a neurologist’s grasp of physiological functions, she convincingly demonstrates how and why psychotherapy manages to change the lives of some clients."

PsycCritiques

"Scientific reflection is accompanied with clinical illustrations, which makes this book – despite the complexity of the subject – highly readable. In many respects this book is a classic in the field of post-Jungian literature."

eJungian.com

"Spinoza contended that mind and body are two manifestations of one substance. He recognized that brain and mind are embedded in a body; that brain, mind, and body are continuously affected by each other, as well as by the material and social environment in which they exist, and that acting individuals affect their niches in turn. It has taken the humanities literally ages to realize this essential entanglement and to appreciate that human experience, thought, and behavior can neither be understood nor changed without a deep comprehension of affect. A powerful eye-opener regarding these revived and increasingly researched insights, Wilkinson’s work builds on the most important contemporary scientific and clinical efforts to gain a better understanding of relations between parts and wholes."

Ellert Nijenhuis

"[F]ascinating….good book for clinicians who desire a deeper understanding of the neurobiology involved."

American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry Newsletter

"This book is well worth the effort it requires to engage meaningfully with the material presented. I found the descriptions of the clinical cases and the discussions of the drawings to be particularly engaging and interesting.  "

MANTIS