Changing Habits of Mind: A Brain-Based Theory of Psychotherapy

by Zoltan Gross

Overview

Changing Habits of Mind presents a theory of personality that integrates homeostatic dynamics of the brain with self-processes, emotionality, cultural adaptation, and personal reality.

Informed by the author's brain-based, relational psychotherapeutic practice, the book discusses the brain's evolutionary growth, the four information-processing areas of the brain, and the cortex in relationship to the limbic system. Integrating the different experiences of sensory and non-sensory processes in the brain, the text introduces a theory of personality currently lacking in psychotherapy research that integrates neurobiology and psychology for the first time. Readers will learn how to integrate psychodynamic processes with cognitive behavioral techniques, while clinical vignettes exemplify the interaction of neurophysiological process with a range of psychological variables including homeostasis, developmental family dynamics, and culture.

Changing Habits of Mind expands the psychotherapist's perspective, exploring the important links between an integrated theory of personality and effective clinical practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367417369
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/23/2020
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Zoltan Gross has been practicing long-term intensive psychotherapy with adults since 1954. He has consulted and taught as an assistant clinical professor at UCLA Medical School and served as director of research for two hospitals and clinical director at a mental health center. At age 100, he continues to train psychotherapists in his innovative brain-based theory of personality.

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgments 1. The Dyad: Adventures in Psychotherapy's Wonderland 2. The Paradigmatic Shift: The Tyranny of Habits of Mind 3. A Theory of the Mind 4. The Ghost in the Machine 5. The "I" and its Psychological Selves: Without Our Navigator We Can't Be Sure of Where We Are Going 6. What Feelings and Emotions Really Are! 7. Emotions and Feeling 8. A Portrait of the Person 9. The Art of Psychotherapy Appendix Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Sherie Huber, MS Education Admin, MS SEL(Benedictine University)
Description: This book was written to help those in the field of psychoanalysis grow. It is a uniquely written history of psychoanalysis theory and practice that brings the reader to the present day. It does so by subtly involving the reader at a depth leading to questioning and self-examination of practice. The writing style is narrative allowing anyone to immerse themselves in the story of psychotherapy use and tools as well as analytical "proven" methodologies of the eras.
Purpose: The book allows for practitioners to go forward with the integration of long-held theories and methods of therapy that were used in isolation to treat mental illness. It clarifies the need to take into account the individual being treated. The importance of experiences and the person's journey to the need for help is strongly discussed. Practices that were esteemed during their era are still honored by the author to help the reader connect the past and future. It is a book with the purpose of helping the reader to question where they can go with what they know and individualize it to their client's needs. Current science and tools allow the practitioner to join medical evidence gleaned through the newest technological testing and physical tests such as MRI studies with cognitive training of those with mental illness presentations. The author presents a case for cognitive therapy and yet does not deny the importance of the medical profession and usefulness of some drug therapies.
Audience: The book is written for practitioners. However, this book would be an excellent teaching tool for anyone teaching in the field of psychology/behavior at any level. A student wanting to go into any of the fields of psychology would benefit from the reflective piece of this writing as it flows through the history of practice.
Features: The link of individual personality and methods rather than the use of classification/labeling/diagnosis alone takes the reader on a new journey. The chapter titles automatically help the reader begin to question the reality of their own experiences and knowledge base in the area of psychoanalysis and practice. The narrative style of writing allows for backward reading of the section of interest to pick up any information needed to read that thought. The stories of clients are fascinating and bring the thoughts of methods practiced to a level of reality, not just theory. Illustrations help the reader to visualize the more complex pieces being discussed.
Assessment: In comparison to books on the shelves on psychotherapy and practice, this book's strength is its narrative style of writing. It allows the reader to wonder how to combine work from other sciences and tools to use evidence to see if their method is working.

Doody's Review Service

"A marvelous book, filled with clinical wisdom accumulated over almost a century of life. Zoltan Gross brings the difference between content and process to a whole new level, bridging emotion process and personality process, integrating state with trait work beautifully and elegantly. He picks a sufficient amount of brain-related evidence and offers a (missing) theory of emotionality, complex at first, then dazzlingly illuminating. The work of this psychology genius still at work is finally here to stay." -- Nuno Conceição, PhD, Faculty of Psychology, University of Lisbon, Portugal; past president of Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration

"This is indispensable reading not only in psychology but also in all of the human and behavioral sciences in which mind, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and behaviors are the subject of study. The book is a fascinating account of how a professional of human behavior came to the realization that popular conceptions of the mind are incorrect and how he arrived at a clearer understanding of the problem." -- Jeffrey Bortz, PhD, professor of history, Appalachian State University

"I am a clinical neurologist specializing in pain/headache. While many patients experience symptoms as manifestations of structural/functional disorders, many others have no identifiable pathology. The author's neurophysiological-based theory of personality helps me understand how better to approach my patients' suffering. Allowing me to consider a patient's behavior in a language I understand improves my ability to understand their suffering. So, from the perspective of a non-therapist (who inadvertently engages in a therapeutic relationship during the practice of neurology) the theories outlined in this book are of great relevance and importance to me." -- Dr. David Kudrow, Santa Monica, California

From the Publisher