While most psychotherapies agree that therapeutic work in the 'here and now' has the greatest power to bring about change, few if any books have ever addressed the problem of what 'here and now' actually means. Beginning with the claim that we are psychologically alive only in the now, internationally acclaimed child psychiatrist Daniel N. Stern tackles vexing yet fascinating questions such as: what is the nature of 'nowness'? How is 'now' experienced between two people? What do present moments have to do with therapeutic growth and change? Certain moments of shared immediate experience, such as a knowing glance across a dinner table, are paradigmatic of what Stern shows to be the core of human experience, the 3 to 5 seconds he identifies as 'the present moment.' By placing the present moment at the center of psychotherapy, Stern alters our ideas about how therapeutic change occurs, and about what is significant in therapy. As much a meditation on the problems of memory and experience as it is a call to appreciate every moment of experience, The Present Moment is a must-read for all who are interested in the latest thinking about human experience.

This book, part of the acclaimed Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology, brings interpersonal neurobiology into the counseling room, weaving the concepts of neurobiology into the ever-changing flow of therapy. Neuroscientific discoveries have begun to illuminate the workings of the active brain in intricate detail. In fact, sometimes it seems that in order to be a cutting-edge therapist, not only do you need knowledge of traditional psychotherapeutic models, but a solid understanding of the role the brain plays as well. But theory is never enough. You also need to know how to apply the theories to work with actual clients during sessions. In easy-to-understand prose, Being a Brain-Wise Therapist reviews the basic principles about brain structure, function, and development, and explains the neurobiological correlates of some familiar diagnostic categories. You will learn how to make theory come to life in the midst of clinical work, so that the principles of interpersonal neurobiology can be applied to a range of patients and issues, such as couples, teens, and children, and those dealing with depression, anxiety, and other disorders. Liberal use of exercises and case histories enliven the material and make this an essential guide for seamlessly integrating the latest neuroscientific research into your therapeutic practice.

The science and practice of feeling our movements, sensations, and emotions. When we are first born, before we can speak or use language to express ourselves, we use our physical sensations, our “body sense,” to guide us toward what makes us feel safe and fulfilled and away from what makes us feel bad. As we develop into adults, it becomes easy to lose touch with these crucial mind-body communication channels, but they are essential to our ability to navigate social interactions and deal with psychological stress, physical injury, and trauma. Combining a ground-up explanation of the anatomical and neurological sources of embodied self-awareness with practical exercises in touch and movement, Body Sense provides therapists and their clients with the tools to attain mind-body equilibrium and cultivate healthy body sense throughout their lives.

Winner of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation's (ISSTD) Pierre Janet Writing Award, 2015. What really happens in dissociation. Dissociative processes have long burdened trauma survivors with the dilemma of longing to feel “real” at the same time as they desperately want to avoid the pain that comes with that healing—a dilemma that often presents particularly acute difficulties for healing professionals. Recent clinical and neurobiological research sheds some light into the dark corners of a mind undergoing persistent dissociation, but its integration into the practice of talking therapy has never, until now, been fully realized. Intensive Psychotherapy for Persistent Dissociative Processes brings readers into the consultation room, and into the minds of both patient and therapist, like no other work on the treatment of trauma and dissociation. Richard A. Chefetz marries neuroscientific sophistication with a wealth of extended case histories, following patients over several years and offering several verbatim session transcripts. His unpacking of the emotionally impactful experience of psychodynamic talking therapy is masterfully written, clearly accessible, and singularly thorough. From neurobiological foundations he builds a working understanding of dissociation and its clinical manifestations. Drawing on theories of self-states and their involvement in dissociative experiences, he demonstrates how to identify persistent dissociation and its related psychodynamic processes, including repetition compulsion and enactment. He then guides readers through the beginning stages of a treatment, with particular attention to the psychodynamics of emotion in both patient and therapist. The second half of the book immerses readers in emotionally challenging clinical processes, offering insight into the neurobiology of fear and depersonalization, as well as case examples detailing struggles with histories of incest, sexual addiction, severe negativity, negative therapeutic reactions, enactment, and object-coercive doubting. The narrative style of Chefetz’s casework is nearly novelistic, bringing to life the clinical setting and the struggles in both patient and therapist. The only mystery in this clinical exposition, as it explores several cases over a number of years, is what will happen next. In the depth of his examples and in continual, self-reflexive analysis of flaws in past treatments, Chefetz is both a generous guide and an expert storyteller. Intensive Psychotherapy for Persistent Dissociative Processes is unique in its ability to place readers in the consultation room of psychodynamic therapy. With an evidence-focused approach based in neurobiology and a bold clinical scope, it will be indispensible to new and experienced therapists alike as they grapple with the most intractable clinical obstacles.

The latest work from a pioneer in the study of the development of the self. Focusing on the hottest topics in psychotherapy—attachment, developmental neuroscience, trauma, the developing brain—this book provides a window into the ideas of one of the best-known writers on these topics. Following Allan Schore’s very successful books on affect regulation and dysregulation, also published by Norton, this is the third volume of the trilogy. It offers a representative collection of essential expansions and elaborations of regulation theory, all written since 2005. As in the first two volumes of this series, each chapter represents a further development of the theory at a particular point in time, presented in chronological order. Some of the earlier chapters have been re-edited: those more recent contain a good deal of new material that has not been previously published. The first part of the book, Affect Regulation Therapy and Clinical Neuropsychoanalysis, contains chapters on the art of the craft, offering interpersonal neurobiological models of the change mechanism in the treatment of all patients, but especially in patients with a history of early relational trauma. These chapters contain contributions on “modern attachment theory” and its focus on the essential nonverbal, unconscious affective mechanisms that lie beneath the words of the patient and therapist; on clinical neuropsychoanalytic models of working with relational trauma and pathological dissociation: and on the use of affect regulation therapy (ART) in the emotionally stressful, heightened affective moments of clinical enactments. The chapters in the second part of the book on Developmental Affective Neuroscience and Developmental Neuropsychiatry address the science that underlies regulation theory’s clinical models of development and psychopathogenesis. Although most mental health practitioners are actively involved in child, adolescent, and adult psychotherapeutic treatment, a major theme of the latter chapters is that the field now needs to more seriously attend to the problem of early intervention and prevention. Praise for Allan N. Schore: "Allan Schore reveals himself as a polymath, the depth and breadth of whose reading–bringing together neurobiology, developmental neurochemistry, behavioral neurology, evolutionary biology, developmental psychoanalysis, and infant psychiatry–is staggering." –British Journal of Psychiatry "Allan Schore's...work is leading to an integrated evidence-based dynamic theory of human development that will engender a rapproachement between psychiatry and neural sciences."–American Journal of Psychiatry "One cannot over-emphasize the significance of Schore's monumental creative labor...Oliver Sacks' work has made a great deal of difference to neurology, but Schore's is perhaps even more revolutionary and pivotal...His labors are Darwinian in scope and import."–Contemporary Psychoanalysis "Schore's model explicates in exemplary detail the precise mechanisms in which the infant brain might internalize and structuralize the affect-regulating functions of the mother, in circumscribed neural tissues, at specifiable points in it epigenetic history." –Journal of the American Psychoanalytic "Allan Schore has become a heroic figure among many psychotherapists for his massive reviews of neuroscience that center on the patient-therapist relationship." –Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence

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.

An exploration of how the unconscious is formed and functions by one of our most renowned experts on emotion and the brain. This book traces the evolution of the concept of the unconscious from an intangible, metapsychological abstraction to a psychoneurobiological function of a tangible brain. An integration of current findings in the neurobiological and developmental sciences offers a deeper understanding of the dynamic mechanisms of the unconscious. The relevance of this reformulation to clinical work is a central theme of Schore's other new book, Right Brain Psychotherapy.