A Family Therapist's Look Into Interpersonal Neurobiology and the Adolescent Brain: An Interview With Dr Daniel Siegel

Advances in brain research are increasingly having an impact on clinical interventions in all fields of psychotherapy. For adolescent family therapists it is important not only to understand the developing adolescent brain, but also how brain research can influence interventions aimed at interrupting problematic familial interactions. Interpersonal neurobiology and the ideas of Dr Daniel Siegel synthesise the interpersonal with the scientific, offering practical clinical methods of incorporating the research into everyday practice. This article incorporates a verbatim interview with Dr Siegel about the adolescent brain, interpersonal neurobiology and attachment with an outline of key concepts from interpersonal neurobiology including the hand model of the brain, nine functions of the prefrontal cortex, the triangle of wellbeing and eight domains of integration. Clinical applications are suggested using a common presenting problem of escalating conflict between teenagers and their parents.     

Sustainable Learning for Sustainability

Abstract

Sustainability issues are appearing with increasing frequency. Education for global sustainability, therefore, must achieve long-term maintenance of resources. For successful sustainability education, a novel learning process must be developed that converts didactic perspectives and designs into sustained deep learning. Incorporating neurobiological mechanisms, such as conscious explicit-declarative and unconscious implicit-procedural learning constructs, psychosocial attention, and value-based motivation, is necessary to make learning sustainable, ensuring successful adaptation to the environment. The authors derive a generalizable, sustained, deep-learning framework from neurolinguistic research concerning language acquisition in autism that transcends many current learning paradigms and provides heuristics to develop pedagogic strategies for global sustainability.     

Revisiting the biological perspective in the use of biopsychosocial assessments in social work

ABSTRACT

The call for increased attention to the biopsychosocial perspective in social work practice is now decades old in the USA. And yet the challenge of teaching and learning from this perspective for those with limited background in biology calls for more inter-disciplinary examples to assist students with the process of engaging in theory-informed practice. In addition to identifying the key elements of human biology, this review of the literature focuses on four examples of client behaviors that receive little or no attention in most current textbooks on the inter-disciplinary nature of human behavior in the social environment; namely, the psychobiology of sleep, the sociobiology of eating, the neurobiology of post-partum depression, and the behavioral endocrinology of menopause. This review concludes with implications for practice.     

Torrential Tears: The Relationship Between Memory Development, Early Trauma, and Dysfunctional Behavior

The purpose of this article is to illustrate how findings in memory research can significantly inform our understanding of dysfunctional behavior. It will demonstrate that specific forms of memory, which are expressed through procedures or behaviors, reveal through their presentation information of diagnostic significance. From a neuropsychosocial perspective, this article suggests that the time at which early trauma intersects with the development of memory structures, systems and functions can be significant to the motivation of dysfunctional behavior.     

医学专业《神经生物学》双语教学初探

双语教学是我国高等教育教学改革的要求之一,神经生物学作为医学本科生的选修课,适宜进行双语教学。我们积极创设双语教学条件,在实践中探索适应现阶段实际情况的本科生神经生物学双语教学模式,积极开展双语教学,同时结合自身实践进行了思考和总结。     

The limbic model of systemic trauma

Psychological symptoms, i.e. compassion fatigue, burnout and vicarious trauma, have been found to be associated with working with clients who are experiencing trauma. The literature on the brain and neuropsychological processes that accompany trauma indicate that physiological changes also arise in the person. This paper argues that psychological and physiological changes can be transferred from the traumatised clients to those working with the traumatised person. In an organisation where there is insufficient support and high case loads this can result in physiological changes occurring in the worker that lead to three main flawed decision-making processes. Clinical practice that supports reflective supervision can help workers to process their client's trauma and prevent a traumatised professional system arising.     

Cognitive Neuroscience, Neurobiology and Affect Regulation: Implications for Clinical Social Work

The purpose of this article is to review and consider the ways in which recent advances in cognitive neuroscience and neurobiology inform a biopsychosocial perspective for understanding and intervening with at-risk families. Specifically, our focus is on the ways in which such work contributes to our understanding of affect regulation as an important determinant and consequence of early interactive experience. In turn, this knowledge can be employed both in primary prevention and in later intervention with families whose well being has been compromised by affect dysregulation.     

Ego psychology in case work

This article discusses major concepts of developmental theory in terms of their concurrence with neurobiological information. Regulation theory is used to summarize the development and functions of the right hemisphere, the workings of two distinct memory systems, and right-brain involvement in attachment functions. The clinical relevance of interpersonal neurobiology to transference and countertransference is illustrated with a clinical case example.     

The New “Bridge to Adulthood”: Searching for Meaning and Cohesion in the Nexus of “Hook-ups,” Internet Porn,and Instant Messages

The transition from adolescence to young adulthood has sometimes been referred to as the “bridge to young adulthood.” This period is critically important for consolidating identity and for developing a deeper capacity for sexual and nonsexual intimacy. However, widening reliance on cyber technology, social media websites, and instant text messaging, in combination with newly emerging patterns of sexual relations and recreational drug and alcohol use, has complicated the navigation of the developmental transition to young adulthood. We review psychoanalytic theory pertaining to the transition from adolescence to adulthood with a focus on Erikson’s theory of psychosexual/psychosocial epigenesis in order to explicate the developmental tasks specific to this transition. This developmental stage will also be examined through the lens of developmental neurobiology. Recent theorizing on Internet-mediated sexuality will be discussed as it relates to the case studies presented. Case material will demonstrate difficulties with the transition to adulthood, manifested in part-object relating, and the use of cyber-mediated and compulsive sexuality to resolve dysphoric self-states.     

浅谈双语教学在神经生物学本科教学中的应用

双语教学在我国由来已久，使双语教学“形神兼备”、体现其独特优势却是一个极大的挑战。神经生物学是一门新兴学科，合理科学地应用双语教学对于完善和发展神经生物学的本科教学十分必要，需要从教师队伍建设、专业教材选用和教学方法改革等几方面同时着手．在推动双语教学开展的同时确保神经生物学的本科教学质量。