The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy: Healing the Social Brain (The Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) - Hardcover

Cozolino, Louis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393706427 ISBN 13: 9780393706420

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010

Synopsis

How the brain's architecture is related to the problems, passions, and aspirations of human beings.

In contrast to this view, recent theoretical advances in brain imaging have revealed that the brain is an organ continually built and re-built by one's experience. We are now beginning to learn that many forms of psychotherapy, developed in the absence of any scientific understanding of the brain, are supported by neuroscientific findings. In fact, it could be argued that to be an effective psychotherapist these days it is essential to have some basic understanding of neuroscience. Louis Cozolino's The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy, Second Edition is the perfect place to start.

In a beautifully written and accessible synthesis, Cozolino illustrates how the brain's architecture is related to the problems, passions, and aspirations of human beings. As the book so elegantly argues, all forms of psychotherapy--from psychoanalysis to behavioral interventions--are successful to the extent to which they enhance change in relevant neural circuits.

Beginning with an overview of the intersecting fields of neuroscience and psychotherapy, this book delves into the brain's inner workings, from basic neuronal building blocks to complex systems of memory, language, and the organization of experience. It continues by explaining the development and organization of the healthy brain and the unhealthy brain. Common problems such as anxiety, trauma, and codependency are discussed from a scientific and clinical perspective. Throughout the book, the science behind the brain's working is applied to day-to-day experience and clinical practice.

Written for psychotherapists and others interested in the relationship between brain and behavior, this book encourages us to consider the brain when attempting to understand human development, mental illness, and psychological health. Fully and thoroughly updated with the many neuroscientific developments that have happened in the eight years since the publication of the first edition, this revision to the bestselling book belongs on the shelf of all practitioners.

About this title

About the Author:

Louis Cozolino, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Pepperdine University and a private practitioner. He is the author of The Healthy Aging Brain, The Neuroscience of Human Relationships, The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy, and The Making of a Therapist. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Review:

“If Kandel brought the viewpoint of a Nobel Prize neuroscientist, Cozolino delivers the informed perspective and integrative thinking of a master clinician in this updated edition....This beautifully written book is indispensable for anyone involved in the fields of mental health or public policy.”
- Psychiatric Times

“In his revised edition, Cozolino artfully traverses the gap between clinical practice and the emerging literature in neuroscience. By cleverly juxtaposing clinical examples with brain research, he demystifies psychiatric disorders and places them within an easy-to-understand neuroscience framework. Readers will come away knowing just how and why psychotherapeutic processes have a positive impact on the nervous system.”
- Stephen W. Porges, PhD, Director, Brain-Body Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago

“A master clinician, outstanding teacher, and avid interpreter of a burgeoning literature, Dr. Cozolino is a welcome guide to this fascinating intersection of talk therapy, developmental psychology, anatomy, and neuroplasticity. In a reprise of his outstanding first edition, Dr. Cozolino brings readers up to date with this essential revision. Ten years of updates and a great deal of polishing will more than reward the returning reader or curious newcomer.”
- John D. Wynn, MD, Medical Director, Division of PsychoOncology, Swedish Cancer Institute, and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine

“Cozolino is a brilliant writer and wonderful story teller....Regardless of the level of neuroscience a psychotherapist wishes to add to their expertise I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The book also will be a valuable addition to the bookshelves of neuroscientists themselves, clinicians, policy makers and especially public mental health workers.”
- Metapsychology Online Reviews

“[E]xcellent....Psychotherapists and physicians alike could benefit from absorbing the challenges posed by the author, particularly his wish to see the psychotherapy of the future integrated with neurology.”
- Dr. Bryan Knight, Hypnosis Depot

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0393706427
• ISBN 13: 9780393706420
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 480