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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by twinleaf on November 26, 2007, at 1:11:51
I don't know if anyone here reads "Psychoanalytic Dialogues". It's a quaerterly journal with a lot of very up-to-date articles. It has an interesting format. There will be an article, then three or four extended commentaries, followed by a reply from the original author. You get a real dialogue!
In the current issue, there are three commentaries on Philip Bromberg's book "Waking the Dreamer". The book itself is about trauma, dissociation, and the way to best use psychotherapy to treat them. It's about how the analyst enters into the patient's world- enough so that the patient knows that he is truly understood, but not so much that he gets lost himself. There are wonderful illustrations of the work he does with patients- how he uses himself, his feelings and personal recollections, how difficult emotionally it is for him at times, and how suddenly dissociation can dissolve when the right conditions are there. It's a beautifully written, very compassionate and fascinating book. The commentaries are excellent, too. The reason I posted about it, besides the fact that I can really recommend the book, is that one of the commentators is Allen Schore. He gives an excellent, concise summary of the work he has done on the neurobiology of trauma. In addition to the traumas we are all familiar with- sexual and physical abuse, neglect, loss- he focuses especially on what he calls relational trauma. By this he means having a misattuned mother during the first two years of life- one who isn't sensitive to the infant's changing needs- who may be intrusive one moment and detached the next. It's not what anyone would ever be able to remember, although we can all remember similiar behaviors happening years later. He feels that these misattunements cause major unfavorable changes in the baby's developing right hemisphere. He also feels that repair occurs in the moment-to-moment interchanges which occur in relational psychotherapy. He also says he practices therapy just the way Bromberg does. So, here are two of the best psychoanalysts of the relational, post-classical school- one telling how he does it, and the other telling what is happening in the brain while he's doing it!
Posted by star008 on November 26, 2007, at 7:44:01
In reply to therapy and neurobiology coming together..., posted by twinleaf on November 26, 2007, at 1:11:51
the book spounds great.. I will look for it.. I have wondered alot about what my therapist is feeling and why sometimes he is tired too at the end of a session. I would think it wouldn't be so tiring to listen but he says he has to totally "be there".. I don't get it..
Posted by annierose on November 26, 2007, at 16:43:35
In reply to therapy and neurobiology coming together..., posted by twinleaf on November 26, 2007, at 1:11:51
That does sound like an interesting article. I know other babblers have mentioned Allen Schore's work with high praise. Bromberg's book appeals to me. Is it accesible reading? for the lay person?
At the next babbler meeting, we need to host a book swap.
I am so happy that you found your current therapist. Your happiness and confidence shines through.
Posted by star008 on November 27, 2007, at 0:46:53
In reply to therapy and neurobiology coming together..., posted by twinleaf on November 26, 2007, at 1:11:51
looked for it on amazon,, can't find it there..How you tried to find the whole book for sale anywhere?? mayb borders or something
Posted by star008 on November 27, 2007, at 2:33:27
In reply to therapy and neurobiology coming together..., posted by twinleaf on November 26, 2007, at 1:11:51
The book sounds like it might be really helpful.. have you thought of buyiung it?? it is not on amazon yet
Posted by gardenergirl on November 27, 2007, at 10:36:47
In reply to Re: therapy and neurobiology coming together... » twinleaf, posted by annierose on November 26, 2007, at 16:43:35
> At the next babbler meeting, we need to host a book swap.
Excellent idea, annierose!
>
> I am so happy that you found your current therapist. Your happiness and confidence shines through.I think so, too. It's great to see.
gg
Posted by twinleaf on November 28, 2007, at 19:01:32
In reply to Re: therapy and neurobiology coming together..., posted by gardenergirl on November 27, 2007, at 10:36:47
I've been away on a visit to Yale; getting home, it's amazing what a short time it takes me to check babble- just after unpacking! Thanks so much, Annie and GG, for your warm and supportive words- they mean a lot, especially since we've known each other here quite a while now.
I checked the book on Amazon. It is there,: I had the title wrong. It's "Awakening the Dreamer". by Philip Bromberg. Anyone can read it with pleasure. The ideas are clear, well-presented, and supported by clinical examples. There are no stuffy referrals to Freudian theory, or to any theory. He admits to disliking rehashed old theories in the book. He also has an earlier book, written around 2000, called "Standing in the Spaces"- also about dissociation. It's very good, too. There's just one problem- the books are EXPENSIVE- in the $40 range, even for second-hand ones.
Posted by rskontos on November 29, 2007, at 10:58:00
In reply to therapy and neurobiology coming together..., posted by twinleaf on November 26, 2007, at 1:11:51
TwinLeaf,
>>By this he means having a misattuned mother during the first two years of life- one who isn't sensitive to the infant's changing needs- who may be intrusive one moment and detached the next. It's not what anyone would ever be able to remember, although we can all remember similiar behaviors happening years later. He feels that these misattunements cause major unfavorable changes in the baby's developing right hemisphere. He also feels that repair occurs in the moment-to-moment interchanges which occur in relational psychoth>>This had so much meaning for me. My mother was mentally ill for a long time, before she had children, and this is what she was missattuned. This information was like a light bulb going off. I dissociated for so long and still do. I think I use it like an overcoat. I do finally get why it is bad. When my T first told it was part I didn't agree. I think I get the reasons or costs as she puts it. The things she wants me to do well that is hard right now. I have ordered this book and the one real me recommended. I hope they help me. The voices are really creating havoc right now. I feel like I am on a roller coaster ride but can't get off. And my T and I are well little rocky right now. I think not all parts like her. Anyway, thanks for this information. It has set me off thinking in a different line that has yielded positive results. rk
Posted by twinleaf on November 29, 2007, at 15:11:16
In reply to Re: therapy and neurobiology coming together..., posted by rskontos on November 29, 2007, at 10:58:00
I'm so glad if it was a bit helpful. I don't happen to have that, but I do think that everyone compartmentalises and dissociates, at least to some extent, when stresses are very high. Reading Bromberg, you begin to feel that dissociating is a very valuable method that our minds have to protect ourselves from being overwhelmed by trauma. As he says, though, there is a heavy price to pay in terms of not having an integrated self through which to function
It could be that the urgency you are feeling, from different parts wanting to be heard, is a healthy step. It could be rough and confusing for quite a while, but the end result could be that they all seem to be part of YOU- the way it happened with RealMe. I do hope that happens for you.
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