"The research summarized here offers new insights about the crucial role that relationships play in human development and in professional helping efforts. To set the stage for this inquiry, the authors introduce fundamentals of brain structure, development, and function. This introduction is intended as a primer and proceeds from the assumption that many readers are relatively unfamiliar with the field of brain science."--BOOK JACKET.

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Demystifying neurobiology and presenting it anew for the social-work audience. The art and science of relationship are at the core of clinical social work. Research in neurobiology adds a new layer to our understanding of the protective benefits of relationship and specifically, to our understanding of the neurobiology of attachment and early brain development. This second edition of Neurobiology for Clinical Social Work explores the application of recent research in neuroscience to prevention and intervention in multiple systems, settings, and areas such as the neurobiology of stress and the stress response system, the impact of early adversity and toxic stress on brain development, early childhood and adolescent brain development, and the application of this science to prevention and intervention in areas such as child welfare and juvenile justice. Social workers collaborate with individuals, families, communities, and groups that experience adversity, and at times, traumatic stressors. Research in neuroscience adds to our models of risk and resilience; informing our understanding of the processes by which adversity and trauma impact multiple indicators of wellbeing across time. Social workers can use this knowledge to inform their work and to support the neuroprotective benefit of relationship in the lives of individuals, families, and communities. This text provides essential information for cutting-edge social work practice.

Over the past 30 years, findings in the neurosciences have grown exponentially and have provided a profound understanding of the link between behavior and biology. Although the Social Work community has long taken pride in using a bio-psycho-social-spiritual (BPSS) framework in conceptualization and intervention, the biological aspect of this BPSS framework has been sorely missing. Neuroscience and Social Work Practice provides the critical missing link. Introducing the latest neuroscience research, it gives practitioners essential data—in an easily accessible form—with which to take on the challenges of increasingly complex human problems and diagnoses. Key Features Takes readers on a "tour of the brain" and makes dense scientific material more engaging Provides a framework for how human service professionals can understand and implement neuroscience clinical data with the use of the Transactional Model Uses case vignettes to explain how neuroscience findings have been applied to specific practice situations Offers a deeper understanding of the links between neuroscience research and social work in such areas as trauma, attachment, psychotherapy, substance abuse, and the effects of psychotropic medications Intended Audience This cutting-edge text is indispensable for practitioners in the human services field and is an essential supplement for upper-level undergraduate or graduate students of courses in Human Behavior in the Social Environment and Social Work Direct Practice as well as courses on Interpersonal Practice with Individuals, Children, and Families.

An edited collection from some of the most influential writers in mental health. Books in the Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology have collectively sold close to 1 million copies and contributed to a revolution in cutting-edge mental health care. An interpersonal neurobiology of human development enables us to understand that the structure and function of the mind and brain are shaped by experiences, especially those involving emotional relationships. Here, the three series editors have enlisted some of the most widely read IPNB authors to reflect on the impact of IPNB on their clinical practice and offer words of wisdom to the hundreds of thousands of IPNB-informed clinicians around the world. Topics include: Dan Hill on dysregulation and impaired states of consciousness; Bonnie Badenoch on therapeutic presence; Kathy Steele on motivational systems in complex trauma.

How the brain's architecture is related to the problems, passions, and aspirations of human beings. In contrast to this view, recent theoretical advances in brain imaging have revealed that the brain is an organ continually built and re-built by one's experience. We are now beginning to learn that many forms of psychotherapy, developed in the absence of any scientific understanding of the brain, are supported by neuroscientific findings. In fact, it could be argued that to be an effective psychotherapist these days it is essential to have some basic understanding of neuroscience. Louis Cozolino's The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy, Second Edition is the perfect place to start. In a beautifully written and accessible synthesis, Cozolino illustrates how the brain's architecture is related to the problems, passions, and aspirations of human beings. As the book so elegantly argues, all forms of psychotherapy--from psychoanalysis to behavioral interventions--are successful to the extent to which they enhance change in relevant neural circuits. Beginning with an overview of the intersecting fields of neuroscience and psychotherapy, this book delves into the brain's inner workings, from basic neuronal building blocks to complex systems of memory, language, and the organization of experience. It continues by explaining the development and organization of the healthy brain and the unhealthy brain. Common problems such as anxiety, trauma, and codependency are discussed from a scientific and clinical perspective. Throughout the book, the science behind the brain's working is applied to day-to-day experience and clinical practice. Written for psychotherapists and others interested in the relationship between brain and behavior, this book encourages us to consider the brain when attempting to understand human development, mental illness, and psychological health. Fully and thoroughly updated with the many neuroscientific developments that have happened in the eight years since the publication of the first edition, this revision to the bestselling book belongs on the shelf of all practitioners.

Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice traces the development of relational ideas from their origin in object relations and self psychology to their evolution in current relational, intersubjectivity, and attachment theory. Relational treatment emphasizes openness and collaboration between client and therapist, mutual impact, the client's subjectivity, and the therapist's empathy, genuineness, and use of the self in therapeutic interaction. The approach treats the relationship and dialogue between client and therapist as crucial to the change process and shows how the therapeutic relationship can be used to help clients and therapists bridge differences, examine similarities, overcome impasses, and manage enactments. The relational emphasis on the subjective experience of both client and therapist is beautifully illustrated throughout this book as the authors draw from their clinical work with clients from diverse backgrounds, including gay and lesbian clients, immigrants, and clients of color. They demonstrate how relational principles and techniques can be applied to multiple problems in social work practice& mdash;for example, life crises and transitions, physical and sexual abuse, mental disorders, drug addiction, and the loss of a loved one. The authors also discuss the integration of relational constructs in short-term treatment and with families and groups. This volume opens with a historical perspective on the role of relational thinking in social work and the evolution of relational theory. It presents an overview of the key concepts in relational theory and its application throughout the treatment process with diverse clients and in different practice modalities. The book concludes with a discussion of the challenges in learning and teaching new theoretical and practice paradigms, particularly in creating a more mutual exchange in the classroom and during supervision.