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The Psychotherapist's Essential Guide to the Brain
The Psychotherapist’s Essential Guide to the Brain is a 147 page full-colour illustrated guide for psychotherapists describing the most relevant brain science for today’s mental health professionals. Taken from the best of the series published in The Neuropsychotherapist, and completely revised, this book represents an easy to read guide for anyone working in the mental health arena.
In February 2016, The Neuropsychotherapist, a magazine devoted to informing mental health professionals about the neuroscience of psychotherapy, introduced a regular column on the brain for the practising clinician. The column proved popular because it interpreted relevant facts from a large body of technical knowledge in language accessible to the non-scientist. In view of the positive readership response, it was decided to compile all instalments of The Psychotherapist’s Essential Guide to the Brain together with new material into a stand-alone volume that might become a handy addition to the psychotherapist’s bookshelf.
Why learn about the brain? Surely a therapist has a range of therapies and techniques at his or her disposal that can be effectively implemented without a degree in neurobiology. Certainly some would argue that the application of techniques and the experiential learning of what works and what doesn’t is the path to take. But is this the best approach, in light of the knowledge that is now available to us? Does a medical doctor familiarize him or herself with only the symptoms and not the cause and mechanisms of an illness?
“There is, I believe, much to be gained by understanding at least the fundamentals of brain function that play a critical role in our mental well-being,” says author Matthew Dahlitz, psychotherapist and Editor-in-Chief of The Neuropsychotherapist.
Freud, some will be surprised to learn, began his career as a neurobiologist, studying the nerves of crayfish with a view to forming an objective science of mental states based on neuroscientific research. Later he altered direction into psychoanalysis—research was not paying the bills, and the neuroscience of the day avoided the difficult subject of subjective experience and focused on the “nuts and bolts” of brain function. Now, with a greater understanding of both the subjective experience of the mind and the objective activities of the brain, the two disciplines of psychoanalysis and neuroscience can not only inform one another but integrate to provide a more mature and holistic understanding of mental well-being.
“It is my hope that this book will open your mind and encourage you to take a more holistic perspective than ever before,” says the author. “As therapists we are privileged to live in a time when breakthroughs in the neurobiological sciences are both confirming and informing vital aspects of psychotherapeutic practice, breaking down traditional barriers and stimulating multidisciplinary approaches that will ultimately revolutionize how we think about mental health.”
For the psychotherapist this book may well form an important step along the way to acquiring the best tools and knowledge available in the quest for real change and lasting well-being for their clients.
In February 2016, The Neuropsychotherapist, a magazine devoted to informing mental health professionals about the neuroscience of psychotherapy, introduced a regular column on the brain for the practising clinician. The column proved popular because it interpreted relevant facts from a large body of technical knowledge in language accessible to the non-scientist. In view of the positive readership response, it was decided to compile all instalments of The Psychotherapist’s Essential Guide to the Brain together with new material into a stand-alone volume that might become a handy addition to the psychotherapist’s bookshelf.
Why learn about the brain? Surely a therapist has a range of therapies and techniques at his or her disposal that can be effectively implemented without a degree in neurobiology. Certainly some would argue that the application of techniques and the experiential learning of what works and what doesn’t is the path to take. But is this the best approach, in light of the knowledge that is now available to us? Does a medical doctor familiarize him or herself with only the symptoms and not the cause and mechanisms of an illness?
“There is, I believe, much to be gained by understanding at least the fundamentals of brain function that play a critical role in our mental well-being,” says author Matthew Dahlitz, psychotherapist and Editor-in-Chief of The Neuropsychotherapist.
Freud, some will be surprised to learn, began his career as a neurobiologist, studying the nerves of crayfish with a view to forming an objective science of mental states based on neuroscientific research. Later he altered direction into psychoanalysis—research was not paying the bills, and the neuroscience of the day avoided the difficult subject of subjective experience and focused on the “nuts and bolts” of brain function. Now, with a greater understanding of both the subjective experience of the mind and the objective activities of the brain, the two disciplines of psychoanalysis and neuroscience can not only inform one another but integrate to provide a more mature and holistic understanding of mental well-being.
“It is my hope that this book will open your mind and encourage you to take a more holistic perspective than ever before,” says the author. “As therapists we are privileged to live in a time when breakthroughs in the neurobiological sciences are both confirming and informing vital aspects of psychotherapeutic practice, breaking down traditional barriers and stimulating multidisciplinary approaches that will ultimately revolutionize how we think about mental health.”
For the psychotherapist this book may well form an important step along the way to acquiring the best tools and knowledge available in the quest for real change and lasting well-being for their clients.
158 pages, Paperback
Published September 11, 2017
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34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 6, 2017
Beautifully illustrated and filled with cutting edge understanding of the interface of brain, body, mind, mental illness and psychotherapy, I can highly recommend this book.
I feel I am pretty well versed in neurobiology and yet this book had much to teach me, from the "default mode" in the brain to the complexities of approach and avoidance and the circuits at play in depression and OCD, I feel I have deepened my understandings of the neurological underpinnings of mental illness and how to engage these in psychotherapy. For the most part this book still remains the kind of reading that only "brain geeks" can truly love, that being said, brain amateurs who strive to become brain geeks will find the beautiful illustrations and clear explanations very useful guides on their path.
I feel I am pretty well versed in neurobiology and yet this book had much to teach me, from the "default mode" in the brain to the complexities of approach and avoidance and the circuits at play in depression and OCD, I feel I have deepened my understandings of the neurological underpinnings of mental illness and how to engage these in psychotherapy. For the most part this book still remains the kind of reading that only "brain geeks" can truly love, that being said, brain amateurs who strive to become brain geeks will find the beautiful illustrations and clear explanations very useful guides on their path.
April 13, 2021
I found this disappointing and lacking. Though there was helpful information, it felt like I was reading a high school paper and not a professionally written book. The illustrations were ofttimes distracting and random, taking away from want was already minimal content. As a student in a clinical mental health counseling program, I got this book to get a better idea of neurobiology and its relevancy to mental health and it failed to give me any sort of further information. It almost was like a Wikipedia article and at some points, some of the science presentation seemed like the author wasn't familiar with it so it poorly written. There were several parts in the first few chapters that I found myself getting more confused from what I already learned in other reading. Overall, this is just okay but I would not recommend it.
October 20, 2024
Unlike a lot of other books in this genre re neuroscience and psychotherapy this book is very well illustrated. My main misgiving is with the whole approach which is essentially deterministic and reductionist. The author drowns the reader with facts rather than providing proper explanations, the end result at least for me was eye glazing confusion having to constantly reread to remember all the facts thrown at me. To make matters worse the author is in the habit of bringing in terminology and abbreviations without properly introducing them.
My impression is that this is a book for those psychotherapists who couldn't make it to medical school and become psychiatrists. Striving for social status and the disavowal of envy are powerful motivators that such 'psychotherapists' mostly choose to ignore, something that doesn't show up on a CAT scan.
For those who wish to read an alternative to this book I recommend 'The Human Brain; Neuroscience, Neuropsychology, Neuropsychiatry, Mind. Primer, Overview Introduction. 2nd edition' by R. Joseph Ph.D.. This is more comprehensive, detailed and fully explained than this book though it covers many of the same areas.
I have rarely come across a book that I have found to so tedious and loathsome as this one. The author claims that knowing the intricacies of brain activity of people suffering from conditions like chronic anxiety and PTSD will make psychotherapists more empathetic for their suffering. Perhaps if the author was actually able to properly explain the sort of vicious circles relating to the self reinforcing response between physiology and subvocal cognition that maintains these conditions that might be the case but unfortunately he doesn't, I doubt if the author even knows about these interactions. If this is the future of psychotherapy all I can say is that there's been a terrible deterioration.
My impression is that this is a book for those psychotherapists who couldn't make it to medical school and become psychiatrists. Striving for social status and the disavowal of envy are powerful motivators that such 'psychotherapists' mostly choose to ignore, something that doesn't show up on a CAT scan.
For those who wish to read an alternative to this book I recommend 'The Human Brain; Neuroscience, Neuropsychology, Neuropsychiatry, Mind. Primer, Overview Introduction. 2nd edition' by R. Joseph Ph.D.. This is more comprehensive, detailed and fully explained than this book though it covers many of the same areas.
I have rarely come across a book that I have found to so tedious and loathsome as this one. The author claims that knowing the intricacies of brain activity of people suffering from conditions like chronic anxiety and PTSD will make psychotherapists more empathetic for their suffering. Perhaps if the author was actually able to properly explain the sort of vicious circles relating to the self reinforcing response between physiology and subvocal cognition that maintains these conditions that might be the case but unfortunately he doesn't, I doubt if the author even knows about these interactions. If this is the future of psychotherapy all I can say is that there's been a terrible deterioration.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews