January/February 2014

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Editor's Note

Rich Simon

More and more therapists have begun wondering how far all our impressive-sounding talk about the brain has gone in improving therapy’s effectiveness. After all, dropping stray neuroscience factoids into therapy sessions doesn’t equal “brain-based” therapy. So we’ve decided to ask some challenging questions about our profession’s infatuation with the brain: when all is said and done, has brain science actually lived up to its promise for psychotherapy? What specific clinical advances, if any, have been guided or encouraged by knowing more about neuroscience?

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An illustration of a person standing on a brain looking at an arrow in the background

The Next Big Step

What’s Ahead in Psychotherapy’s Fascination with Brain Science?

Rick Hanson

Labeling behavior in fancy neurophysiological terms can make what we do sound more scientifically rigorous than the notoriously fuzzy language of psychotherapy, but how clinically useful is this brain language anyway? Read More
An illustration of a persons face emerging from the head of another

The Great Deception

We’re Less in Control Than We Think

Brent Atkinson

Most of us put much too much faith in the power of our conscious minds to bring about lasting change. Instead of looking up the higher branches of consciousness, we should be looking down into the nervous system settings that generate impulses and inclinations. Read More
A phrenology diagram

Beyond Phrenology

Let’s Look at How the Brain Really Works

Mary Sykes Wylie

If therapists are going to bring genuine insights—not just soundbites—from neuroscience into the practice of therapy, they need the nuanced, sophisticated understanding of the brain that gifted explicators like Stephen Porges and Norman Doidge offer. Read More
Hands holding each other

What Is This Thing Called Love?

A Whole New Way of Looking at It

Barbara Fredrickson

More than any other positive emotion, love resides within connections. It extends beyond personal boundaries to characterize the vibe that pulsates between and among people. It can even energize whole social networks or inspire a crowd to get up and dance. Read More

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