A601 Neuroscience in Everyday Practice

Strange as it may seem, the evolutionary processes that give our brains their unparalleled powers of comprehension, invention, and social interconnection, also include “design flaws” that make us vulnerable to the psychological ills we see in our offices every day. In this Telecourse, you’ll learn about the clinical relevance of the brain’s complex evolutionary history and its often contradictory capacities for responsiveness, learning, and adaptation. You’ll discover how an understanding of the brain can shift your clinical perspective on conditions like phobias, traumas, psychopathy, borderline personality disorder, and others, leading to more coherent and precise interventions. You’ll also sharpen your therapeutic ability to help clients rewire their neural circuits, integrating the more primitive and the more recently evolved levels of their brains.

Meet The Instructor

Louis Cozolino, Ph.D., is the author of four books, The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy, The Making of a Therapist, The Neuroscience of Human Relationships, and The Healthy Aging Brain, all published by W.W. Norton. He’s a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles and professor of psychology at Pepperdine University.

Course Contents

Session 1: The Evolutionary Necessity of Psychotherapy: A look at the compromises and design flaws in the human brain that led to the emergence and longevity of psychotherapy

Session 2: The Structures and Functions of the Social Brain: The Social Synapse, the Three Messenger Systems, and Neural Plasticity • An exploration of the neural systems which allow us to attain and sustain attachment throughout life

Session 3: Building an Internalized Mother: We’ll look at the question “How does early nurturance become part of our brains and bodies? (Or put more poetically, “How does love become flesh?”)

Session 4: Stress, Relationships, and Brain Change: The role of arousal, stress, and trauma in illness and health

Session 5: Disorders of the Social Brain: A look at social phobia, autism, psychopathy, and borderline personality disorder from the perspective of social neuroscience

Session 6: The Psychotherapist as Neuroscientist: A discussion of how our knowledge of neuroscience can be applied to out work in ways that can enhance and expand client care.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the basics of social neuroscience.
2. Recognize the importance of brain function to the process of psychotherapy.
3. Learn to utilize the principles of social neuroscience in the treatment and education of clients.

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