Living Systems Evolving Consciousness And The Emerging Person

This collection of previously published papers can be viewed as a story of the gradual emergence of an overarching idea through the course of a life’s work. The idea concerns the way emerging knowledge of developmental processes, biological systems, and therapeutic process can be integrated in terms of basic principles that govern the living system as an ongoing creative process – a process in which there is a continuing impetus, both energizing and motivational, that moves the living system toward an enhanced coherence in its engagement with its surround as it achieves an ever-increasing inclusiveness of complexity. The papers have been selected in a roughly chronological order from a career of early developmental research within the background of psychoanalytic thinking. The biological underpinnings of psychoanalysis can be extended by systems thinking. Our notions of the evolution of consciousness can also be extended from this simple level of a neural machinery essential for adaptation and survival to the capacity for the awareness of one’s own inner state within the flow of one’s engagement with one’s surround. From this enrichment of inner experiencing through evolving self-awareness, the unique organization of the "person" emerges within the developmental process – from expectancies and emotions, to values, meaning, purpose, goals, and "direction". The title of the book has been chosen to capture this sequence. Further evolution of conscious organization will enable the human species to achieve the state of being "together-with" and yet "distinct-from" as the system as a whole, on a wider, more global level, gains increasing coherence as it complexity increases. Hopefully, the implications of this idea will emerge in the reader’s thinking, as the chapters move from the level of adaptation to recognition.

In Beyond Doer and Done To, Jessica Benjamin, author of the path-breaking Bonds of Love, expands her theory of mutual recognition and its breakdown into the complementarity of "doer and done to." Her innovative theory charts the growth of the Third in early development through the movement between recognition and breakdown, and shows how it parallels the enactments in the psychoanalytic relationship. Benjamin’s recognition theory illuminates the radical potential of acknowledgment in healing both individual and social trauma, in creating relational repair in the transformational space of thirdness. Benjamin’s unique formulations of intersubjectivity make essential reading for both psychoanalytic therapists and theorists in the humanities and social sciences.

This book forms a basis and a starting point for a closer dialogue between musicologists, anthropologists and psychologists to achieve a better understanding of the cultural psychology of musical experience. This is done by arranging a meeting point or an arena in which different aspects of psychology and musicology touch and encounters each other due to how the two fields might be defined today. In line with this the book consists of a group of scholars that have their feet solidly grounded in psychology, social science or musicology, but at the same time have a certain interest in uniting them. On this basis it is divided into five parts, which investigates musical sensations, musical experiences, musical transformations, musical fundamentals and the notion of a cultural psychology of music. Thus another aim of this book is to prepare the basis for a further growth of a cultural psychology that is able to include the experiences of music as a basis for understanding the ordinary human life. Thus this book should be of interest for those who want to investigate the mysterious intersection between music and psychology. ENDORSEMENTS "Near a century ago, Alfred North Whitehead, a philosopher sensitive to the natural vitality of human intelligence, warned against the restriction of awareness by ‘products of logical discernment’. This book makes a bold and much needed effort to recover an appreciation of the creative agency in music of all kinds, which supports mastery of all domains of cultural intelligence, including language, and ‘artificial intelligence’. We need to replace a rational psychology of musical form with appreciation of impulses of ‘musicality’ in the life of every human society. From birth, and before, a human mind is eager to share the rhythms and tones of awareness-with-feeling in body movement, elaborated in song, instrumental performance or dance. The scholastic disciplines of psychology, anthropology, musicology and ethnomusicology, separated by artificial conventions, need to recover this common ground by 'a project that aims at assembling disciplines that have been separated and developed individually for almost hundred years ... to achieve a better understanding of the cultural psychology of musical experience.' This collection of papers boldly meets this challenge, with skillful respect for the complicated history of our understanding." Colwyn Trevarthen Professor (Emeritus) of Child Psychology and Psychobiology, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, The University of Edinburgh "This book is an important marker in the next wave of interdisciplinary socio-musical study. Culture, individual experience, and social forces converge here and are addressed, and sometimes redressed, through musical means. Bravo!" Tia DeNora Professor, Sociology, Philosophy & Anthropology (SPA) Exeter University EX4 4RJ, UK "Klempe has crafted a fascinating collection of discussions that is accessible and inspiring. Both students and experts will find this book invaluable." Fathali Moghaddam, Professor of Psychology Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Cognitive Science, Georgetown University

'Profoundly honest, unflinching in examining her own history as a thinker and clinician, Ingrid Pedroni challenges us to see where we have been and where we have failed, each of us.' Donna Orange, from the Foreword Ingrid Pedroni is multicultural to her core. Fully fluent in German, Italian, and English, she took that multilingual outlook to the varied world of psychoanalysis. Beginning her journey with a Jungian analysis, she later read The Restoration of the Self by Heinz Kohut and discovered a theoretical and clinical framework consistent with her Jungian experience. Thus began her engagement with different theoretical dimensions and clinical settings. Beyond Fragmentation is a masterly overview of the result of her open-minded exploration of not only traditional and contemporary psychoanalytic schools of thought, but also systemic family therapy, plus modern anthropology, theatre, and literature. Part I explores the integration of different theoretical and clinical models, with special reference to self psychology and relational psychoanalysis. Part II outlines significant areas of experience that build the sense of self and how it is represented in intra-psychic and inter-relational dimensions. Part III focuses on couple and family relations, their evolution over time, and how they represent an essential part of the self. The final part deals with the treatment of cultural diversity, the universality of attachment bonds, and the extreme specificity of their cultural expression. Throughout the book are clinical and theoretical concepts derived from authors such as Adler, Jung, Rank, Fromm, Ferenczi, Klein, Winnicott, Loewald, Bowlby, Bion, and, of course, Freud. The clinical examples illustrate how it is possible to weave together the various threads of theoretical thinking and clinical practice not only in the many diversified psychoanalytic schools, but also in the larger field of the psychotherapies. The varied themes covered include gender, couple relations, family therapy, spirituality, cultural diversity and integration, migration, transcultural psychotherapy, and collective trauma. This book is essential reading for trainee and practising clinicians, and may well help them to find their own integration of therapeutic experiences. Professionals active in social, educational, and psychological fields will also find much useful and engaging information to help them in their work.

Emerging Programs for Autism Spectrum Disorder: Improving Communication, Behavior, and Family Dynamics brings forward a hybrid and a transdisciplinary methodology to identify methods used to diagnose, treat, and manage those with autism within personal and social constructs and values building exemplary international experiences from across the globe. Luminary experts offer their superb level of expertise through their research, experience, and clinical work. The book addresses all the aspects of care, lifespan, and lifestyle issues from treatment to living. It will emphasize issues related to neurodiversity, individuality, best practices, and support of people on the Autism Spectrum and their families. In addition, this book includes specific case studies, highlighting family experiences and the application of best practices by therapists thereof. Provides a multidisciplinary approach of the diagnosis, management and treatment of autism spectrum disorders Includes specific case studies highlighting family experiences Emphasizes issues related to neurodiversity, individuality and improving quality of life

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1 The neuropsychodynamic perspective -- 2 The self as a complex adaptive system -- 3 Self-deficits: the neuropsychological domain (L-I) -- 4 Self-deficits: the introspective domain (L-II) -- 5 Self-deficits: the interpersonal domain (L-III) -- 6 The nonverbal dialogue: mindsharing -- 7 The therapeutic dialogue: an overview -- 8 The therapeutic dialogue: concordant moments -- 9 The therapeutic dialogue: complementary moments -- 10 The therapeutic dialogue: disjunctive moments -- 11 Conclusion -- Index

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: Core Concepts and Clinical Practice is a groundbreaking book that provides an overview of the field from both theoretical and clinical viewpoints. The editors and chapter authors -- some of the field's foremost researchers and teachers -- describe from their diverse perspectives key concepts fundamental to infant-parent and early childhood mental health work. The complexity of this emerging field demands an interdisciplinary approach, and the book provides a clear, comprehensive, and coherent text with an abundance of clinical applications to increase understanding and help the reader to integrate the concepts into clinical practice. Offering both cutting-edge coverage and a format that facilitates learning, the book boasts the following features and content: A focus on helping working professionals expand their specialization skills and knowledge and on offering core competency training for those entering the field, which reflects the Infant-Parent Mental Health Postgraduate Certificate Program (IPMHPCP) and Fellowship in Napa, CA that was the genesis of the book. Chapters written by a diverse group of authors with vastly different training, expertise, and clinical experience, underscoring the book's interdisciplinary approach. In addition, terms such as clinician, therapist, provider, professional, and teacher are intentionally used interchangeably to describe and unify the field. Explication and analysis of a variety of therapeutic models, including Perry's Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics; Brazelton's neurodevelopmental and relational Touchpoints; attachment theory; the Neurorelational Framework; Mindsight; and Downing's Video Intervention Therapy. An entire chapter devoted to diagnostic schemas for children ages 0--5, which highlights the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood: Revised (DC:0-3R). With the release of DSM-5, this chapter provides a prototypical crosswalk between DC:0-3R and ICD codes. A discussion of the difference between evidence-based treatments and evidence-based practices in the field, along with valuable information on randomized controlled trials, a research standard that, while often not feasible or ethically permissible in infant mental health work, remains a standard applied to the field. Key points and references at the end of each chapter, and generous use of figures, tables, and other resources to enhance learning. The volume editors and authors are passionate about the pressing need for further research and the acquisition and application of new knowledge to support the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: Core Concepts and Clinical Practice should find a receptive audience for this critically important message.

Pragmatism—a pluralistic philosophy with kinships to phenomenology, Gestalt psychology, and embodied cognitive science—is resurging across disciplines. It has growing relevance to literary studies, the arts, and religious scholarship, along with branches of political theory, not to mention our understanding of science. But philosophies and sciences of mind have lagged behind this pragmatic turn, for the most part retaining a central-nervous-system orientation, which pragmatists reject as too narrow. Matthew Crippen, a philosopher of mind, and Jay Schulkin, a behavioral neuroscientist, offer an innovative interdisciplinary theory of mind. They argue that pragmatism in combination with phenomenology is not only able to give an unusually persuasive rendering of how we think, feel, experience, and act in the world but also provides the account most consistent with current evidence from cognitive science and neurobiology. Crippen and Schulkin contend that cognition, emotion, and perception are incomplete without action, and in action they fuse together. Not only are we embodied subjects whose thoughts, emotions, and capacities comprise one integrated system; we are living ecologies inseparable from our surroundings, our cultures, and our world. Ranging from social coordination to the role of gut bacteria and visceral organs in mental activity, and touching upon fields such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and plant cognition, Crippen and Schulkin stress the role of aesthetics, emotions, interests, and moods in the ongoing enactment of experience. Synthesizing philosophy, neurobiology, psychology, and the history of science, Mind Ecologies offers a broad and deep exploration of evidence for the embodied, embedded, enacted, and extended nature of mind.