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The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy: Building and Rebuilding the Human Brain
For years, the brain has been viewed as a relatively static entity, determined by the interaction of genetic preprogramming and early childhood experience. In contrast to this view, recent theoretical perspectives and technological advances in brain imaging have revealed that the brain is an organ continually built and re-built by one's experiences. 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.
Louis Cozolino's The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy illustrates in a clearly written and accessible way how the brain's architecture is related to the problems, passions, and aspirations of human beings. As Cozolino so eloquently 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. Cozolino concludes by introducing the emerging paradigm of the psychotherapist-as-neuroscientist and presents some practical applications of neuroscience to psychotherapy. Throughout the book, the science behind the brain's workings 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.
Louis Cozolino's The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy illustrates in a clearly written and accessible way how the brain's architecture is related to the problems, passions, and aspirations of human beings. As Cozolino so eloquently 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. Cozolino concludes by introducing the emerging paradigm of the psychotherapist-as-neuroscientist and presents some practical applications of neuroscience to psychotherapy. Throughout the book, the science behind the brain's workings 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.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published June 15, 2002
182 people are currently reading
2487 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
July 27, 2017
A book that provides neuroscience background to the underlying mechanisms of change that can take place through therapy and many different neurocognitive symptoms that can be considered when planning interventions for a client. A lot of the information provided in the book was actually new to me, though I did know some of it. Even though I've recently finished up my degree, I've never taken a class where any of this was actually discussed which I think was a shame. It may just be because I;ve only done my bachelors so far, but I do feel like the book offers a lot of useful information about the biological basis of a patient's problems, and while it may not be necessary to know these things to implement treatment plans it certainly seems like it can help a clinician get a much more clear and informed picture of what to do to help their client. I also had never heard about the integration of different processing systems in the brain such as the limbic system with higher up structures to help ensure the client can function better, which is strange because reading about it it felt so intuitive and important.
November 9, 2022
Great book.
Not perfect but still totally worth reading.
Particularly for therapists.
Highly recommended.
⚠️⛔️☣️ WARING⚠️⛔️☣️
Long(ish) personal disclosure tangent:
I became interested in neuroscience before I became a psychotherapist. In fact, it was a deep sense of curiosity about the “bio-psych” perspective that drove me to return to graduate school in midlife and (finally) become a therapist after (years and years) of (tortured) fearful procrastination and resistance.
I was initially exposed to the interpersonal neurology (IPNB) perspective in 2009 via a lecture series featuring Danieal Siegel teaching at a workshop of Buddhist Chaplin students training with Joan Halifax.
Danieal Siegel’s enthusiasm, friendly manner and accessible explanatory style was crazy infectious. And the intersection of death and dying, trauma recovery, attachment theory, mindfulness, psychotherapy, and neuroscience was irresistible for me.
NOTE: Daniel Siegel, Allan Schore and the author of this book Louis Cozalino are the three important founders of IPNB.
- anyway
The clarity of insight that emerged for me as a result of exposure to the neurologically grounded IPNB approach was revelatory. Particularly when applied to the issue of trauma and addiction recovery.
I focused on the intersection neuroscience, evolutionary psychology and attachment focused and mindfulness based psychotherapies in my master’s training, and in my early practicum training experiences working in addition recovery.
I found the integration of these techniques and perspectives to be extremely powerful in clincial application. And I had a profound sense of not only meaning and purpose, but validation as my benefited and gained success in recovery.
Given all of that. I received (what dealt like) a TON of circumspect and overt (as well as passive aggressive) pushback from colleagues.
Psychotherapists tend to have favored theories. In fact, we are explicitly trained to pick a theoretical orientation and stick with it.
I initially received the most pushback from old school psychodynamic types who viewed biological explanations as primitive and reductionistic. I (conversely, and as it were, totally incorrectly) viewed psychodynamic perspectives as outdated and unscientific.
As is so often the case with either/or dichotomous thinking/debates. All of us were kind of right. In fact, the evolutionarily and neuroscience informed, mindfulness based, attachment focused, cognitive, behavioral and psychodynamically integrated way of conceptualizing and working is a thing.
In fact.
It’s Louis Cozolino’s whole thing.
And in essence.
It’s what this book is all about.
This book is one of the best integrations of all of that complexity I know about.
I needed it.
The world needed it.
And here it is.
Why 4/5 stars?
Some of the writing is dorky.
But intentionally so.
Cozolino is clearly trying to make the material palatable to therapists and the general public.
Still.
100% with reading.
Not perfect but still totally worth reading.
Particularly for therapists.
Highly recommended.
⚠️⛔️☣️ WARING⚠️⛔️☣️
Long(ish) personal disclosure tangent:
I became interested in neuroscience before I became a psychotherapist. In fact, it was a deep sense of curiosity about the “bio-psych” perspective that drove me to return to graduate school in midlife and (finally) become a therapist after (years and years) of (tortured) fearful procrastination and resistance.
I was initially exposed to the interpersonal neurology (IPNB) perspective in 2009 via a lecture series featuring Danieal Siegel teaching at a workshop of Buddhist Chaplin students training with Joan Halifax.
Danieal Siegel’s enthusiasm, friendly manner and accessible explanatory style was crazy infectious. And the intersection of death and dying, trauma recovery, attachment theory, mindfulness, psychotherapy, and neuroscience was irresistible for me.
NOTE: Daniel Siegel, Allan Schore and the author of this book Louis Cozalino are the three important founders of IPNB.
- anyway
The clarity of insight that emerged for me as a result of exposure to the neurologically grounded IPNB approach was revelatory. Particularly when applied to the issue of trauma and addiction recovery.
I focused on the intersection neuroscience, evolutionary psychology and attachment focused and mindfulness based psychotherapies in my master’s training, and in my early practicum training experiences working in addition recovery.
I found the integration of these techniques and perspectives to be extremely powerful in clincial application. And I had a profound sense of not only meaning and purpose, but validation as my benefited and gained success in recovery.
Given all of that. I received (what dealt like) a TON of circumspect and overt (as well as passive aggressive) pushback from colleagues.
Psychotherapists tend to have favored theories. In fact, we are explicitly trained to pick a theoretical orientation and stick with it.
I initially received the most pushback from old school psychodynamic types who viewed biological explanations as primitive and reductionistic. I (conversely, and as it were, totally incorrectly) viewed psychodynamic perspectives as outdated and unscientific.
As is so often the case with either/or dichotomous thinking/debates. All of us were kind of right. In fact, the evolutionarily and neuroscience informed, mindfulness based, attachment focused, cognitive, behavioral and psychodynamically integrated way of conceptualizing and working is a thing.
In fact.
It’s Louis Cozolino’s whole thing.
And in essence.
It’s what this book is all about.
This book is one of the best integrations of all of that complexity I know about.
I needed it.
The world needed it.
And here it is.
Why 4/5 stars?
Some of the writing is dorky.
But intentionally so.
Cozolino is clearly trying to make the material palatable to therapists and the general public.
Still.
100% with reading.
August 16, 2013
This is the second book I am reading by Cozolino. I think he is a good writer and researcher. The thing is that every time I read what he writes which I like tremendously I think that our parents have a huge opportunity and ability to fuck our lives up from the day one without even knowing. It is quite depressing.
March 7, 2014
If you're not a science geek, but are interested in Neuroscience, this is the perfect book for you. I read it for my masters in psychology/counseling coursework, but it's definitely not a textbookish read.
Cozolino is an engaging, easy-to-read author. If only all academic books were so easy to comprehend!
Cozolino is an engaging, easy-to-read author. If only all academic books were so easy to comprehend!
May 17, 2025
Everything is cited, a very rigorous, serious book on the topic by and American professor of psychology who has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from UCLA and decades of research and clinical practice in the field.
What hooked me right in the beginning was the idea that humans are incapable of producing random numbers no matter how hard they try and this has been studied copiously. This leads us right into the theme of combining neuroscience and psychotherapy – our brains are built in a way that we behave in patterns and they can often be unpleasant ones which is one reason we need therapy.
From here we dive right into early trauma which promotes dissociation in the face of overwhelming stress and inhibits neural integration of various systems in our brain meaning the conscious executive parts of the brain have access to less information across networks of sensation, behavior, and emotion.
We are introduced to the idea of an enriched environment which means continuous learning and new challenges for the brain and has been shown empirically to prevent dementia and create more connections and neurons in the brain. Essentially psychotherapy is a specific type of enriched environment that promotes neuroplasticity, new connections and integration of neural networks in the brain, specifically cognition and affect.
This specific enriched environment requires four key ingredients to work:
-The establishment of a safe and trusting relationship.
-Mild to moderate levels of stress (MMS)
-Activating both emotion and cognition.
-The co-construction of new personal narratives.
Regarding these guidelines, the quality of the emotional connection between the client and the therapist has been shown to be a key factor in the success of therapy as it motivates the clients to do better and work harder in the process (Orlinsky and Howard 1986). It must be repeated that it is indeed emotional connection that is important here as the effectiveness of an intervention in psychotherapy does not depend on our ability to explain it accurately. Luckily for us, therapists, the social connection and empathic attunement between to people is necessary to promote neuroplasticity that enhances new learning (Schore, 2022) so A.I. won’t be taking over any time soon.
Furthermore, we need to be engaging both emotions and cognition in the client as intellectual understanding of a psychological problem in the absence of increased integration of emotion, sensation, and behavior does not result in change. Usually, evoking emotions in addition to cognition after having achieved an emotional connection with the client produces enough MMS which activates neural growth hormones supportive of new learning. As for the co-construction of new personal narratives I would refer people to the process of CBT (https://beckinstitute.org).
Personal therapy for therapists is also strongly recommended as it facilitates and enables the genuine emotional connection between the patient and therapist. Basically we are like substitute parents for our clients and that is okay if we do our job well.
There’s a lot more on trauma, for example how it reduces the ability to build inhibitory networks down to the amygdala and therapy helps with that; how early trauma inhibits the integration between the hemispheres which leads to dissociated functioning and problems in affective regulation, cognitive processing, and social awareness and people with histories of childhood abuse and neglect have been shown to have a smaller corpus callosum (Teicher et al., 2004); how early trauma can result in hippocampal volume loss which correlates with deficits of encoding short-term into long-term memory and an increased vulnerability to psychological trauma (Bremner, Scott, et al., 1993; Gilbertson et al., 2002).
This leads us into to perhaps the most interesting topic/idea in the book: what the role of the hemispheres is in psychosis, depression etc. The left hemisphere is a sort of an interpreter, trying to make sense of nonsense, organize our experiences and present the self in the best possible light. It distorts reality in order to reduce anxiety and has a bias toward positive affect, prosocial behavior, and assertiveness. There are examples in the book but in my own experience this perhaps explains the fact that patients’ delusions often have an egotistical spin, putting them in a special and important position in their system of delusions. Also, if the left hemisphere fails to do its work properly we can become too realistic, pessimistic, and depressed.
In contrast, the right hemisphere’s bias toward suspiciousness and negativity keeps us vigilant and alert to danger while also processing many aspects of internal emotional experience. It appears that the proper balance of right-left activation allows us to experience a healthy mix of positive and negative emotional experiences. When it comes to psychosis and schizophrenia, its primary symptoms are auditory hallucinations that consist of negative commenting voices charged with a lot of emotion. This could be a result of the primary, unconscious thinking processes of the right hemisphere intruding into conscious awareness and can involve deficits in reality testing and thought disorders as the left hemisphere struggles to make sense of a lot of nonsense, creating bizarre systems of delusions in the process. The are many reason why the right brain processes processes can intrude on the psyche like that, including changing levels of dopamine, neuroanatomical abnormalities, or neurodynamic shifts between cortical and subcortical structures such as the thalamus. The last part just means the changing of neural activity and connectivity in those areas.
Some good news for therapy is that the attachment schemas that we develop throughout our lives are very susceptible to change whether they be good or bad – so the negative ones can be changed in psychotherapy. Yay!
What hooked me right in the beginning was the idea that humans are incapable of producing random numbers no matter how hard they try and this has been studied copiously. This leads us right into the theme of combining neuroscience and psychotherapy – our brains are built in a way that we behave in patterns and they can often be unpleasant ones which is one reason we need therapy.
From here we dive right into early trauma which promotes dissociation in the face of overwhelming stress and inhibits neural integration of various systems in our brain meaning the conscious executive parts of the brain have access to less information across networks of sensation, behavior, and emotion.
We are introduced to the idea of an enriched environment which means continuous learning and new challenges for the brain and has been shown empirically to prevent dementia and create more connections and neurons in the brain. Essentially psychotherapy is a specific type of enriched environment that promotes neuroplasticity, new connections and integration of neural networks in the brain, specifically cognition and affect.
This specific enriched environment requires four key ingredients to work:
-The establishment of a safe and trusting relationship.
-Mild to moderate levels of stress (MMS)
-Activating both emotion and cognition.
-The co-construction of new personal narratives.
Regarding these guidelines, the quality of the emotional connection between the client and the therapist has been shown to be a key factor in the success of therapy as it motivates the clients to do better and work harder in the process (Orlinsky and Howard 1986). It must be repeated that it is indeed emotional connection that is important here as the effectiveness of an intervention in psychotherapy does not depend on our ability to explain it accurately. Luckily for us, therapists, the social connection and empathic attunement between to people is necessary to promote neuroplasticity that enhances new learning (Schore, 2022) so A.I. won’t be taking over any time soon.
Furthermore, we need to be engaging both emotions and cognition in the client as intellectual understanding of a psychological problem in the absence of increased integration of emotion, sensation, and behavior does not result in change. Usually, evoking emotions in addition to cognition after having achieved an emotional connection with the client produces enough MMS which activates neural growth hormones supportive of new learning. As for the co-construction of new personal narratives I would refer people to the process of CBT (https://beckinstitute.org).
Personal therapy for therapists is also strongly recommended as it facilitates and enables the genuine emotional connection between the patient and therapist. Basically we are like substitute parents for our clients and that is okay if we do our job well.
There’s a lot more on trauma, for example how it reduces the ability to build inhibitory networks down to the amygdala and therapy helps with that; how early trauma inhibits the integration between the hemispheres which leads to dissociated functioning and problems in affective regulation, cognitive processing, and social awareness and people with histories of childhood abuse and neglect have been shown to have a smaller corpus callosum (Teicher et al., 2004); how early trauma can result in hippocampal volume loss which correlates with deficits of encoding short-term into long-term memory and an increased vulnerability to psychological trauma (Bremner, Scott, et al., 1993; Gilbertson et al., 2002).
This leads us into to perhaps the most interesting topic/idea in the book: what the role of the hemispheres is in psychosis, depression etc. The left hemisphere is a sort of an interpreter, trying to make sense of nonsense, organize our experiences and present the self in the best possible light. It distorts reality in order to reduce anxiety and has a bias toward positive affect, prosocial behavior, and assertiveness. There are examples in the book but in my own experience this perhaps explains the fact that patients’ delusions often have an egotistical spin, putting them in a special and important position in their system of delusions. Also, if the left hemisphere fails to do its work properly we can become too realistic, pessimistic, and depressed.
In contrast, the right hemisphere’s bias toward suspiciousness and negativity keeps us vigilant and alert to danger while also processing many aspects of internal emotional experience. It appears that the proper balance of right-left activation allows us to experience a healthy mix of positive and negative emotional experiences. When it comes to psychosis and schizophrenia, its primary symptoms are auditory hallucinations that consist of negative commenting voices charged with a lot of emotion. This could be a result of the primary, unconscious thinking processes of the right hemisphere intruding into conscious awareness and can involve deficits in reality testing and thought disorders as the left hemisphere struggles to make sense of a lot of nonsense, creating bizarre systems of delusions in the process. The are many reason why the right brain processes processes can intrude on the psyche like that, including changing levels of dopamine, neuroanatomical abnormalities, or neurodynamic shifts between cortical and subcortical structures such as the thalamus. The last part just means the changing of neural activity and connectivity in those areas.
Some good news for therapy is that the attachment schemas that we develop throughout our lives are very susceptible to change whether they be good or bad – so the negative ones can be changed in psychotherapy. Yay!
March 28, 2011
The title says it pretty well: this book explains the physical aspects of the brain and how they are formed and changed by what the person experiences, starting from birth. While not set in stone, aspects of our personalities are actually set in the shapes and activity of our brains. It’s a circular effect: what happens to us shapes our brains, and then the shape of our brains sets how we react to things. But thankfully, our brains can and do continue to change throughout our lives.
There are actual differences in the brain structures of people with OCD, ADHD, borderline personality disorder and many more psychological disorders. These physical differences can frequently be traced to how the person was treated by its parents as a baby- being nurtured results in a brain shaped one way; being ignored shapes it in another way. PTSD changes the brain. We know that some of these differences are from environment rather than genetics because of animal testing. What this tells us is that depression, PTSD, and other mental disorders are actual physical illness, not the result of having a weak character, and that people with these disorders should not be looked down on and should not be ashamed to seek help.
The shape of our brains comes from evolution; our brains have evolved through the primitive lower brain and added on the midbrain and the upper ‘thinking’ part through the millennia. All our reactions must go through all these layers, and the amygdala, which is constantly on the alert for danger, reacts much faster than the upper, logical part of the brain- no matter how fast you can consciously think about something, your lizard brain has already reacted. Your lizard brain has already spewed out adrenaline many, many milliseconds before your upper brain can say “That’s just a backfire down the street, not gunfire aiming towards me” From this comes fears that seem irrational, and ‘fight or flight’ reactions to mental stress. This is but a small part of what our brain structure does to and for us.
Psychotherapy can change the brain. By allowing the person to explore stressors in a safe environment, the lower brain can be lulled and reshaped into something that doesn’t react with adrenaline to non-threatening situations. This doesn’t just apply to PTSD, but to many disorders where the person learned as a baby, a child, to react in certain ways to save themselves- even if it’s a case of a child learning to always be pleasant and accommodating to a parent or they’d be punished, thus setting them up for an adult life of being a doormat.
This is a very technical book. It’s mostly neurology and neuroanatomy, with psychotherapy laid over it. It’s not neurology vignettes a la Oliver Sacks. It’s very clearly written and all terms are well explained, but it is slow going if you aren’t at least somewhat knowledgeable about neuroanatomy. It wasn’t until near the end of the book that I discovered it was actually written for the therapist-in-training; that made me feel better about how long it took me to read it! But even as a layman who had to digest all the anatomy, I still found it very interesting and worth the read.
There are actual differences in the brain structures of people with OCD, ADHD, borderline personality disorder and many more psychological disorders. These physical differences can frequently be traced to how the person was treated by its parents as a baby- being nurtured results in a brain shaped one way; being ignored shapes it in another way. PTSD changes the brain. We know that some of these differences are from environment rather than genetics because of animal testing. What this tells us is that depression, PTSD, and other mental disorders are actual physical illness, not the result of having a weak character, and that people with these disorders should not be looked down on and should not be ashamed to seek help.
The shape of our brains comes from evolution; our brains have evolved through the primitive lower brain and added on the midbrain and the upper ‘thinking’ part through the millennia. All our reactions must go through all these layers, and the amygdala, which is constantly on the alert for danger, reacts much faster than the upper, logical part of the brain- no matter how fast you can consciously think about something, your lizard brain has already reacted. Your lizard brain has already spewed out adrenaline many, many milliseconds before your upper brain can say “That’s just a backfire down the street, not gunfire aiming towards me” From this comes fears that seem irrational, and ‘fight or flight’ reactions to mental stress. This is but a small part of what our brain structure does to and for us.
Psychotherapy can change the brain. By allowing the person to explore stressors in a safe environment, the lower brain can be lulled and reshaped into something that doesn’t react with adrenaline to non-threatening situations. This doesn’t just apply to PTSD, but to many disorders where the person learned as a baby, a child, to react in certain ways to save themselves- even if it’s a case of a child learning to always be pleasant and accommodating to a parent or they’d be punished, thus setting them up for an adult life of being a doormat.
This is a very technical book. It’s mostly neurology and neuroanatomy, with psychotherapy laid over it. It’s not neurology vignettes a la Oliver Sacks. It’s very clearly written and all terms are well explained, but it is slow going if you aren’t at least somewhat knowledgeable about neuroanatomy. It wasn’t until near the end of the book that I discovered it was actually written for the therapist-in-training; that made me feel better about how long it took me to read it! But even as a layman who had to digest all the anatomy, I still found it very interesting and worth the read.
March 30, 2022
An excellent, albeit dense, tome on the brain science behind therapy. I learned a lot from the book and the material was super interesting, but it's full of jargon and a bit difficult to read, so it took me a full four months to get through. Perhaps it's not fair to judge a textbook for therapists on its readability for laypeople, but even when I was a student I appreciated readable texts, so I'm doing it anyway. If you're studying psychology, therapy, or a related field, this is a great text. If you're just interested in reading about neuroscience for fun, I'd recommend
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
for a lighter read.
April 24, 2025
This book Bridges the gap between touchy feely metaphors of therapy work with the research and data driven side of neuroscience. In all of the complexities we face in life, the one common denominator is that we all have a brain and all share the same structures and networks associated with the symptoms many clients come to therapy for. Understanding on a fundamental level of how these neuro networks are organized/ become disorganized through trauma and stress can give us a renewed appreciation and understanding of what goes on “under the hood” in the work that therapists do. This book gives exciting insight into a new paradigm of a holistic model of healing that combines psychotherapy, neuroscience, and pharmacology into one modality as opposed to separate.
February 1, 2021
Knygoje pateikiama tiek bazinė (pradedant smulkiausiais vienetais - neuronais), tiek labai specifinė informacija (pvz.: sergančiųjų PTSD) apie funkcionavimą neuropsichologiniu aspektu. Apžvelgiama kaip tam tikros smegenų struktūros turi įtakos mūsų veiksmams, reakcijai į aplinką. Struktūrinis ir fukcinis smegenų veikimo supratimas suteikia galimybę psichoterapinį darbą organizuoti atsižvelgiant į individualius ypatumus. Atrodo tikrai labai svarbi knyga kiekvienam siekiančiam suprasti pacientus bei efektyviau taikyti psichoterapines intervencijas priklausomai nuo vyraujančios simptomatoligijos. Knyga, kurią viliuosi kažkada dar kartą perskaityti.
May 11, 2018
"Psihoterapeuții trebuie să fie capabili să înțeleagă durerea, suferința, ipocrizia și lipsa de echitate din lumea în care trăim. Trebuie să se fi confruntat ei înșiși cu așa ceva și să își fi descoperit propriul scop și propria chemare pentru a putea călăuzi pe altcineva. De asemenea (...) să își înțeleagă propria umbră și să o integreze în procesul terapeutic. Psihoterapeuții îndeamnă clienții să se aventureze dincolo de hotarele înguste ale propriei vieți și să pătrundă într-o nouă lume".
June 15, 2017
I liked it, though it's a bit speculative.
If you are interested in knowing how Neuroscience and psychotherapy may come together, this is the perfect book for you (though if you are just curious, this book won't be that hard to read)
The title perfectly explains what the book will be about: the Neuroscience of psychotherapy, how we can use Neuroscience's ideas to treat people.
I liked the book and I love seeing how psychology and Neuroscience are starting to work together, I hope it will become a stronger paradigm in the years to come.
Though it's completely understandable, It's important to know that the book is still a little bit speculative.
I think that what I didn't like was that at the beginning, Cozolino makes everything look so easy and then like in the middle of the book, he starts talking about some hard concepts in Neuroscience so that was a little bit disturbing.
If you are interested in knowing how Neuroscience and psychotherapy may come together, this is the perfect book for you (though if you are just curious, this book won't be that hard to read)
The title perfectly explains what the book will be about: the Neuroscience of psychotherapy, how we can use Neuroscience's ideas to treat people.
I liked the book and I love seeing how psychology and Neuroscience are starting to work together, I hope it will become a stronger paradigm in the years to come.
Though it's completely understandable, It's important to know that the book is still a little bit speculative.
I think that what I didn't like was that at the beginning, Cozolino makes everything look so easy and then like in the middle of the book, he starts talking about some hard concepts in Neuroscience so that was a little bit disturbing.
November 20, 2014
Dr. Cozolino connects what we know about neuroscience, human, and animal development into an understanding of the therapeutic process. In my opinion, one of the best books about neuroscience and mental health.
April 19, 2022
Very interesting. There are some points though, that are much too secular for my tastes, like the explanation of all phenomena--including extreme religiousness in history--as originating from little fiddly bits being messed up in the brain. I can agree with that to some extent, but some things, in my opinion, cannot be explained. Some things come from the divine, and they are not the result of hallucinations due to neural disconnections/ un-integrated processes (or whichever phrases Cozolino used--can't quite remember.) I'm not trying to be argumentative, though. I did enjoy reading this, and I definitely learned a lot that I didn't know before. It was extremely enlightening. Especially about the effects of maternal neglect on the brain in infants, and the bits about "pathological caretaking" and narcissism.
Also! Apparently, until very recently, "surgery was performed on infants without anesthesia because their gradual lack of protest was mistakenly interpreted as insensitivity to pain as opposed to a traumatic reaction to it." ??!!!??? WHAT??? That is so. so. massively fucked up. The first time I read that, I was so appalled. And am so appalled. Although, this book was published in like 2002 or so, so recent then isn't that recent now, but 20 years really isn't too far back.
Also! Apparently, until very recently, "surgery was performed on infants without anesthesia because their gradual lack of protest was mistakenly interpreted as insensitivity to pain as opposed to a traumatic reaction to it." ??!!!??? WHAT??? That is so. so. massively fucked up. The first time I read that, I was so appalled. And am so appalled. Although, this book was published in like 2002 or so, so recent then isn't that recent now, but 20 years really isn't too far back.
November 29, 2021
I have to commend the author for using a language that's so easy to understand for the common reader.
This book provides good explanation of the workings of the brain very intricately. It also provides an overview of how therapy works. With the many real life examples provided, the author was successful at conveying his points quote eloquently and efficiently.
I recommend this book for all beginner psychotherapist or anyone who would like to learn more about the brain and the effect of therapy.
This book provides good explanation of the workings of the brain very intricately. It also provides an overview of how therapy works. With the many real life examples provided, the author was successful at conveying his points quote eloquently and efficiently.
I recommend this book for all beginner psychotherapist or anyone who would like to learn more about the brain and the effect of therapy.
May 7, 2018
Morf got this for me for Christmas in 2015. It was perfect timing and combined my neuro basis with what I was seeing at the hospital (and then at Prescott). As interesting as it was it wasn't super readable and I feel I could get what I'm looking for as far as the epigenetics related to counseling from journal articles rather than read the remaining 150 pages, but it made me think a lot as I was merging my undergrad experience with how I wanted to move forward in important and helpful ways
July 12, 2023
Cozolino is a clear engaging guide to the latest research findings in neuroscience and in particular to interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB). It's here--in the IPNB--that the connection to psychotherapy becomes evident. Therapists and others will find this a fascinating exploration of the material and dynamic processes informing what brings people to therapy, and how this can inform our work with patients.
March 5, 2023
As a psychotherapist who is very interested in the neuroscience of disorders, this was a wonderful blend of the two. The author did a great job in not going too deep in the jargon of the field which would have made it difficult to follow. He broke things down and used great analogies that fortified the learning.
February 24, 2018
Very science written
January 24, 2023
'when will our consciences grow so tender that we are moved to prevent suffering, not just avenging it?'
March 21, 2023
This is the only book that I've come across that mates the physical operation of the brain with the psycho operation of the brain. A very cool book.
August 3, 2024
This book is brilliantly written, not so complex that the layperson won’t understand it but insightful and well researched enough that the erudite will find it interesting
Want to read
August 8, 2012submitter request through Worldcat today
ref'd in tthe Brent Atkinson book that I read with T: to allow previously unfelt feelings such that it is stressful but tolerable is optimal for successful change in psychotherapy
Emotional Intelligence in Couples Therapy: Advances from Neurobiology and the Science of Intimate Relationships
from Worldcat computer:
Table of contents
Foreword by Daniel J. Siegel
Preface
Acknowledgments
PART I: NEUROSCIENCE AND PSYCHOTHERAPY: AN OVERVIEW
Chapter 1 The Entangled Histories of Neurology and Psychology
Chapter 2 Rebuilding the Brain: Neuroscience and Psychotherapy
Chapter 3 Neural Integration in Different Models of Psychotherapy
PART II: HOW THE BRAIN WORKS: EVOLUTION'S LEGACY
Chapter 4 The Human Nervous System: From Neurons to Neural Networks
Chapter 5 Multiple Memory Systems in Psychotherapy
Chapter 6 Laterality: One Brain or Two?
PART III: THE ORGANIZATION OF EXPERIENCE AND THE HEALTHY BRAIN
Chapter 7 The Executive Brain
Chapter 8 The Construction of the Narrative Self
Chapter 9 The Interpersonal Sculpting of the Social Brain
PART IV: THE DISORGANIZATION OF EXPERIENCE AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
Chapter 10 The Self in Exile: Narcissism and Pathological Caretaking
Chapter 11 The Anxious and Fearful Brain
Chapter 12 The Impact of Trauma on the Brain
PART V: THE REORGANIZATION OF EXPERIENCE
Chapter 13 Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks
Chapter 14 The Psychotherapist as Neuroscientist: An Emerging Paradigm
ref'd in tthe Brent Atkinson book that I read with T: to allow previously unfelt feelings such that it is stressful but tolerable is optimal for successful change in psychotherapy
Emotional Intelligence in Couples Therapy: Advances from Neurobiology and the Science of Intimate Relationships
from Worldcat computer:
Table of contents
Foreword by Daniel J. Siegel
Preface
Acknowledgments
PART I: NEUROSCIENCE AND PSYCHOTHERAPY: AN OVERVIEW
Chapter 1 The Entangled Histories of Neurology and Psychology
Chapter 2 Rebuilding the Brain: Neuroscience and Psychotherapy
Chapter 3 Neural Integration in Different Models of Psychotherapy
PART II: HOW THE BRAIN WORKS: EVOLUTION'S LEGACY
Chapter 4 The Human Nervous System: From Neurons to Neural Networks
Chapter 5 Multiple Memory Systems in Psychotherapy
Chapter 6 Laterality: One Brain or Two?
PART III: THE ORGANIZATION OF EXPERIENCE AND THE HEALTHY BRAIN
Chapter 7 The Executive Brain
Chapter 8 The Construction of the Narrative Self
Chapter 9 The Interpersonal Sculpting of the Social Brain
PART IV: THE DISORGANIZATION OF EXPERIENCE AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
Chapter 10 The Self in Exile: Narcissism and Pathological Caretaking
Chapter 11 The Anxious and Fearful Brain
Chapter 12 The Impact of Trauma on the Brain
PART V: THE REORGANIZATION OF EXPERIENCE
Chapter 13 Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks
Chapter 14 The Psychotherapist as Neuroscientist: An Emerging Paradigm
January 17, 2016
I appreciate the simple language explaining how parts of the brain, communicating together, create networks that impact cognition, affect, and behavior. That said, mostly he seems to come to the conclusion that current interventions in psychotherapy effectively target rewiring the brain in order to produce healing effects, and I am not sure that I agree with his translation of the neuroscience. While Cozolino mentions the impact of language to improve the integration of neural networks, and suggests this can be accomplished through talking or journaling, he does not explore the research in Neuroeducation that explores semantics and meaningful use of language. I would like to see these ideas, which look at how to modify what sensory inputs are used with the learner to most effectively stimulate the brain in order to layer patterns into concepts. I think when one looks at the model of neurosemantic language learning it offers some opportunities for intervention that Cozolino missed.
December 19, 2011
I loved the book but it kinda depressing to think of humans a bio-chemical process though. it amamzing though how the from this we get out thoughts, our stories and the way we think about the future. I read many books on the topic by other authors this one helped put my last therioes class in context, and it expaned in my mind anyway the need for the humanities ans creativity in genral. I would say the biggest problem that bring people into psychotherapy is a lack of creativity to do something with there problems way reframing is good we not only need to reframe but transform problems to build a haty context in which to live.
I've had a crazy idea latley to get Yalom's Exisitental Psychotherapy, The Lecture by Ravi Zacariaas Unplugging Truth in A Moraly Suicidal Culture, and this book and writting a theroy of how they all come together.
I've had a crazy idea latley to get Yalom's Exisitental Psychotherapy, The Lecture by Ravi Zacariaas Unplugging Truth in A Moraly Suicidal Culture, and this book and writting a theroy of how they all come together.
December 21, 2013
Not quite completely read, but this is a book best read in sections anyway, I think, to absorb it more fully (something, incidentally, Cozolino would appreciate as being more in touch with the human brain's natural functions). Anyway, excuses aside - the parts of this I read were fascinating, especially the ways in which he links storytelling and narrative to brain function and the way we bridge different parts of the brain to make connections. I may not remember the medical terms for all the parts, but one part I think will stick with me: "The cooperative and interactive activation involved in stories may be precisely what is required for sculpting and maintaining neural network integration while allowing us to combine our sensations, feelings and behaviors with conscious awareness." In other words: STORIES MATTER.
December 21, 2013
Similar to Dr. Sapolsky's work (Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers), this book is excellent in that it makes understanding the brain, how it works and how it relates to thoughts, feelings and behaviors in regards to development and abnormal psychology, all easy for graduate level students to thoroughly understand. I've been using this book and Conzolino's other book (The Neuroscience of Human Relationships: Attachment And the Developing Social Brain) for years now and find it's work, research and application still relevant both to students and clients. In addition, this book is both affordable and easy to understand. Highly recommend!
April 2, 2020
I found this read to be completely fascinating. As someone who isn't a therapist or a neuroscientist, I was amazed at how well this book was able to present complex terms in non-complex ways. I enjoyed that the terminology didn't get in the way of understanding the overall concepts of the book. It was great getting an introduction into the brain and seeing the intertwined relationship that neuroscience and psychotherapy share. From the perspective of a novice, I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. For clarity, format, and ability to expand on ideas.
December 28, 2010
Cozolino takes a complex topic, neuroscience, and applies it to the area of psychotherapy. He brings the reader up to speed and then is able to stretch it a little beyond a common knowledge level. If you are at all interested in how psychotherapy changes the brain, then this is a book that can answer those questions for you. Be prepared for a lot of neuroscience terminology, yet you will see the practical side of it and gain a greater appreciation for what neuroscience has to offer.
November 30, 2018
Cozolino takes a trauma-informed approach to explain the relevance of neuroscience to psychotherapy. It reads like a 101 on both working with developmental trauma and neuroscience. However, if you don't have any basis for science some of it can be a bit difficult to pick up in context, and sometimes Cozolino leaves you with broad, generalized statements for things that need more specific explanation.
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