Relational Child, Relational Brain: Development and Therapy in Childhood and Adolescence

Volume II in the Evolution of Gestalt series, Relational Child, Relational Brain continues the development of the paradigm shift that places human development in a field that is deeply complex and fundamentally one of interconnection, taking us away from the limiting view of us as separate individuals.

It builds on the foundation of contemporary views of relational neurodevelopment and the profound influence of relationship on brain growth. It shows how, particularly in the first two years of life, but continuing across the whole of childhood and adolescence into early adulthood, the relational field is the context of child development. The focus then broadens out to examine the intersubjective influence of community, culture, and social and physical support. Backed by neurobiological and related research, it offers many examples of relational Gestalt practice with children, adolescents, and their families, with stories of loss, trauma, isolation, and other adversities.

Not just an invaluable resource for child and adolescent therapists, Relational Child, Relational Brain goes beyond the Esalen Study Conference from which it emerged and is a further invitation and challenge to apply relational Gestalt practice as a coherent and effective way forward in the troubled world of today.

Robert G. Lee, Ph.D., is a faculty member for the Advanced Child and Adolescent Program at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, Ohio, USA, and a visiting faculty member of a number of Gestalt training programs worldwide. An editor at Gestalt Press, he is the author of The Voice of Shame (1996), The Values of Connection (2004), and The Secret Language of Intimacy (2008). He maintains a private practice in Newton, Massachusetts, USA

Neil Harris, M.A., is a Consultant Child Psychiatrist for Family Futures Consortium, London, UK, and works with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service on Guernsey in the Channel Islands. He maintains a private psychotherapy and supervision practice in Bransgore, Dorset, UK