A201 The Brain-Savvy Clinician: A Practical Approach

Interpersonal neurobiology can not only deepen our understanding of the core self-regulatory processes underlying mental health, but offer a practical model to guide our moment-to-moment interventions in the consulting room. We know from neuroscience that the therapeutic relationship promotes lasting change because it alters the connections in the client's brain. Focusing on typical presenting issues, such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and couples conflict, this course will demonstrate ways therapists can use clients' relationships to promote more stable, adaptive, flexible and energizing brain functioning. Through concrete examples, participants will learn practical applications of interpersonal neurobiology in the consulting room.

Meet The Instructor

Daniel Siegel, M.D., is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA and the author of The Developing Mind and Parenting from the Inside Out

Course Contents

Each session will focus on a specific clinical presenting issue, such as depression, anxiety, trauma, and couples conflict, and explore how interpersonal neurobiology offers practical guidelines for assessment and treatment.

Learning Objectives

1. Describe correlation between neural connections and memory, emotional regulation, and sense of self
2. Analyze the complexity of the client's self-organizing system
3. Define vertical and horizontal integration
4. Plan interventions to improve client's integrative capacity
5. Demonstrate use of therapeutic relationship to alter client's synaptic connections