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.

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.

"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.

The last fifteen years have produced an explosion of research on the neurobiology of attachment. This research, which explores the ways in which affect regulation play key roles in determining the structure and function of the developing brain and mind, has led to a revolution in the way that parent-child relationships are viewed. Although these insights have informed psychiatry as well as cognitive and psychoanalytic psychology, their application to social work practice, education, and research has been lacking. Here for the first time ever, social work educators Jeffrey Applegate and Janet Shapiro demystify neurobiology and present it anew with the social work audience specifically in mind. Social workers, by virtue of their work with at-risk children and families, occupy a unique position from which to employ this new research in prevention and intervention. This lack of education about neurobiology has unfortunately fostered misconceptions among social workers that these theories are too academic and thus irrelevant to clinical practice. Neurobiology for Clinical Social Work corrects this misconception and introduces social workers to the powerful and practical ideas that are coming out of neurobiological research. 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 functioning in the first parts of the book. This introduction is intended as a primer and proceeds from the assumption that many readers are relatively unfamiliar with the field of brain science. Building on this foundation, the authors go on to describe the manner in which memory and affect regulation are neuropsychological processes. The next chapters of the book delve into the concepts of attachment. Specifically, the authors are concerned with how precursors to attachment evolve during the earliest months of an infant’s life and how various attachment classifications (secure, insecure, disorganized) lead to affect regulation—the ability of a child to regulate emotion. Throughout the book these concepts are discussed in the context of what social workers face when trying to find explanatory structures for the ways in which early childhood experiences affect later life. Later chapters turn even more directly toward practice. Using case examples—including adolescent parents and their children, children with a depressed parent, and children of substance abusing parents—Applegate and Shapiro show clinicians how to make use of neurobiological concepts in designing treatment plans and interventions. One chapter contains three extended case examples, with commentary, representing the three most common intervention models taught in schools of social work—psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and systemic. Various settings, such as community mental health, family service agencies, and child welfare, are also discussed. In order to be effective and meet the complex challenges of the twenty-first century, social work professionals must join with their colleagues in other disciplines in coordinated efforts to integrate and apply newly emerging knowledge toward the enhancement of human well-being. Neurobiology for Clinical Social Work is a great place to start this process of integration and learning.

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.

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.

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