Running head: ASSIGNMENT 2 1

Karen, you have provided a very appropriate and detailed review of these beginning

chapters. I sense that you are especially interested in this fascinating topic. Your points are well

made. I have highlighted some of your key statements and made note of a few errors in spelling.

Very good.

Dr. Nickerson

Essay

Karen Chambre

California Southern University

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Essay

Describe the Core Concepts of Interpersonal Neurobiology

The Mind

In the 1980s and 1990’s brain studies were performed to learn the details and parts of the

brain that contributed to mental illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. As researchers

discovered specific information about brain dysfunctions regarding these illnesses, they

developed possible medicines that helped control these mental illnesses to some degree. At that

time, the mind was considered by some scientists as brain activity (Siegel, D. 2012).

The debate over the mind and the brain has discussed for centuries beginning with

Aristotle, Descartes, and Issacs Newton to name a few. In the early 2000’s Daniel Siegel M.D. as

the head of UCLA child and adolescent psychiatry talked to many scientists in various fields

about the definition of the mind and the brain. The scholars easily defined the brain as a

physical organ that regulated and controlled the actions in the body as well as emotion and

thought. (Human Brain 2017). However, and Siegel was surprised that there was no

agreement on the definition of the mind.

According to Daniel Siegel, the mind is a subjective experience to the internal as

well as external events that individual encounter. The mind also accommodates and

regulates the stream of energy and information both externally and internally in human

relationships (Siegel, 2012). The mind contains the internal thoughts, emotions, and memories

of the individual.

When initially reading Daniel Siegel’s work it immediately fascinated me. As a therapist,

my trainnig was to consider the internal experience of the client. Some of these ideas came from
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studying the work of Robert Stolorow and Intersubjectivity as well as many object relations and

self-psychology theorists.

Reading Daniel Siegel’s explanations of processes within the mind such as individuals

intentions, anticipations, implicit knowing, and intuition was fascinating. . In my work, I

encourage clients to trust their internal gut feelings. Recently, I was excited and looking

forward to a workshop about the neurobiology of clinical intuition. Specifically, the

workshop focuses on the conscious and unconscious parts of intuitions that occur within

the therapeutic-client dyad. Most exciting, considerations of clinical intuition from the

viewpoint of interpersonal neurobiology. (THE INSIGHT CENTER, 2017).

Relationships

Relationships are a core concept of interpersonal neurobiology. People communicate with

one another in a verbal and nonverbal manners. Daniel Siegel describes relationships as a way

of exchanging energy (Siegel, 2012).

As human beings, we cannot exist without relationships. One of my favorite quotes by

Donald Winnicott reinforces this concept.” 'There is no such thing as a baby ... if you show me a

baby you certainly show me also someone caring for the ... It is not that people are born separate

and then have to forge links with others” (Frosh, 2012). Relationships with babies are not

unlike those with adults. The baby can communicate by various cries, and the caretaker

learns variations of the child cries and knows what action will help to soothe the baby,

In adult relationships, we experience the world as a subjective experience. Though

empathy and compassion, we learn about the world of the other. Studies of patterns of

communication through generations of families exhibits determined configurations as well as the

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regulation of gene molecules that may reveal the interplay between learning and brain change

(Siegel, 2012).

Siegel concentrates on the relational aspect of neurobiology and the method of how the

interpersonal information patterns are shared. He finds this necessary regarding cultural

information as well as various other communities who have shared information. This not

only provides communications across time and space but physical changes in the brain

(Siegel, 2012).

The Brain and Body

The brain and body connection exhibits a therapeutic aspect of understanding how the

brain and body relationship empowers the individual’s awareness, thoughts, and emotions.

Implications for therapeutic change are powerful. Clients notice self-sabotaging thoughts, and

internally remind them to rephrase the negative into a compassionate way of thinking

about the self. As attentiveness increases, the brain starts to integrate the self-compassion

and decrease reacting in destructive behaviors (Siegel, 2012).

In psychotherapy, the body is crucial to the client’s communications and allows the

therapist to be more attuned. As both the client and therapist use words to communicate

observations of the body posture, facial expressions, and affect can intensifying the meaning of

the communication. These exchanges contain both conscious and unconscious material.

Though working together, both partners may discuss the body language and become aware

of unconscious messages which deepen the treatment ( Ogden, P. 2013).

Awareness of body expressions additionally allows the parts of the brain involved in

thought and action to activate repeatedly. By noticing both one’s behavior and thought, the brain

may respond with structural or functional change. (Siegel, 2012).

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When initially reading about mindfulness and neuroplasticity, what seemed like an

incredible thought came to mind. In 1999, I took year long class in object relations and self-

psychology. In one discussion, the instructor reduced client results in psychotherapy into three

steps. The first step he described as insight, the second was though introspection the client

noticing the thought or behavior that was problematic and the third was a shift in behavior

which came effortlessly. The instructor discussed that the method of change was a mystery. As

soon as I read focus and attentiveness could lead to brain change, an immediate thought came to

me. In 1999, mindfulness and neuroplasticity were at its earliest stages, there was no knowledge

about the way the change occurred. Now almost twenty years later it is less of a mystery but

possibly the brain changing. It is amazing to watch how research changes knowledge if you stay

in a field long enough.

The Triangle of Well-being

The triangle of well-being is a concept that the mind, brain, and relationships are

part of the energy flow. The energy from the brain is interpreted subjectively by the mind,

and the subjective thoughts affect the brain. Relationships influence both the mind and

brain by listening to subjective input by others. (Siegel, 2012).

The concept of the triangle of well-being is descriptive of the broad way the interpersonal

neurobiology functions. According to Daniel Siegel, integration is the linking of the triangles

individual components. It is the starting point of understanding the subjective and objective parts

of people’s lives. For the triangle to contribute to a sense of well-being, there is a natural

movement toward health. Seeking empathically attuned relationships help regulate the

mind. The mind moves the energy to the brain. The brain than transports the energy

through the body allowing the individual to be soothed (Siegel, 2012)

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Returning to Donald Winnicott and his concept of the good-enough mother, it seems

Winnicott’s impressions of attunement to the infant is an ambition for the interpersonal

neurobiology of well-being. Beginning by experiencing empathically attuned relationships, an

individual's subjective mind experience is calmed. Integration takes place within the brain

function, and the brain can direct the body to be soothed.

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References

Frosh, S. (2012). A Brief Introduction to Psychoanalytic Theory. Hampshire, England: Palgrave

Macmillan

Human Brain. (2017). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved May 4, 2017, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_brain

Ogden, P. (2013). Technique and Beyond, Therapeutic Enhancements, Mindfulness, and the role

of the Body. In Healing Moments in Psychotherapy (pp. 35-48). New York, N.Y.: Norton

and Company.

Satel, S. (2013, May). Distinguishing Brain from Mind. Retrieved from

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/distinguishing-brain-from-mind

Siegel, D. (2012). Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neuropsychology: An Integrative Handbook of

the Mind. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. Inc.

Siegel, D., & Solomon, M. (Eds.). (2013). Healing Moments in Psychotherapy. New York, N.Y.:

Norton and Company.

Textbook of Psychiatry (Second Edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009,

133Psychoanalytic Theory
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THE INSIGHT CENTER. (2017). Clinical Intuition in Psychotherapy: The Neurobiology of

Flashes, Hunches, and. Encino, CA.

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