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A101 The Clinical Applications of Interpersonal Neurobiology

Learn how an understanding of "interpersonal neurobiology"—the neural processes connecting one brain to another—can help you work more effectively as a therapist. Using the insights of research in neurobiology and psychology, you'll learn what therapists can do to facilitate neural integration and emotional transformation in the consulting room. Dan Siegel demonstrates how understanding the deeply social nature of the brain is no less important than integrating the other "systems" your clients bring into therapy—family of origin, spouse and children, and cultural, ethnic, and social background.

Meet The Instructor

Daniel Siegel, MD is an associate clinical professor at UCLA and author of The Developing Mind, a pioneering book about the neurobiology of human emotion and interpersonal connection. His most recent book, Parenting from the Inside Out, provides a practical guide to what the latest findings of neuroscience can teach us about how best to raise children.

Course Contents

Session 1: Basic Principles of Interpersonal Neurobiology • Brain to brain: The making of mind through human relationship • Mechanisms of memory • Information processing and perception • Neural schema and the co-construction of the stories of our lives

Session 2: Emotion and Interpersonal Experience • Emotion as the fundamental language of the brain • Self-soothing and self-regulation as the primary goal of therapy • Complexity theory, self-organization and well-being • Interpersonal communication

Session 3: The Role of Narratives in Human Development • How the brain learns to "make sense" of experience • Attachment relationships and brain development • Interpersonal narrative and neural connections • Therapy as reparative attachment

Session 4: Neural Integration and Interpersonal Relationships • How the brain integrates and organizes via relationship • Brain disintegration and psychological disassociation • Interpersonal communication, neural integration, and the core self

Session 5: Mindsight: Seeing the Mind of Self and Other • Distinguishing between the mind of the self and of others • Compassion, reflective dialogue, and brain integration • Neurobiology of empathy and the mirror neuron system

Session 6: Bridging the Gap Between the Brain and the Mind • Practical applications of theoretical neurobiology • Brain-to-brain connection in the consulting room

Learning Objectives

1. Contrast the "single-skull" model of the brain with the viewpoint of interpersonal neurobiology.
2. Describe the major components of the human brain and their related functions, using the "palm-of- your-hand" approach.
3. Demonstrate the ability to explain a range of typical therapeutic presenting problems in neurobiological terms.
4. Explain the relevance of such concepts as attachment relationship, complexity theory, mind-sight, self-regulation, and neural integration to the goals and processes of psychotherapy.
5. List at least five different practical interventions to use in psychotherapy based on an enhanced understanding of interpersonal neurobiology.