As a discipline, psychoanalysis began at the interface of mind and brain and has always been about those most basic questions of biology and psychology: loving, hating, what brings us together as lovers, parents, and friends and what pulls us apart in conflict and hatred. These are the enduring mysteries of life and especially of early development-how young children learn the language of the social world with its intertwined biological, genetic, and experiential roots and how infants translate thousands of intimate moments with their parents into a genuine, intuitive, emotional connection to other persons. Basic developmental neuroscience and psychology has also of late turned to these basic questions of affiliation: of how it is that as humans our most basic concerns are about finding, establishing, preserving, and mourning our relationships. These areas in broad strokes are the substance of mind and brain, and the last decade has brought much new science to the biology of attachment, love, and aggression.
A practical distillation of cutting-edge developmental research for mental health professionals. The field commonly known as "infant mental health" integrates current research from developmental psychology, genetics, and neuroscience to form a model of prevention, intervention, and treatment well beyond infancy. This book presents the core concepts of this vibrant field and applies them to common childhood problems, from attention deficits to anxiety and sleep disorders. Readers will find a friendly guide that distills this developmental science into key ideas and clinical scenarios that practitioners can make sense of and use in their day-to-day work. Part I offers an overview of the major areas of research and theory, providing a pragmatic knowledge base to comfortably integrate the principles of this expansive field in clinical practice. It reviews the newest science, exploring the way relationships change the brain, breakthrough attachment theory, epigenetics, the polyvagal theory of emotional development, the role of stress response systems, and many other illuminating concepts. Part II then guides the reader through the remarkable applications of these concepts in clinical work. Chapters address how to take a textured early developmental history, navigate the complexity of postpartum depression, address the impact of trauma and loss on children's emotional and behavioral problems, treat sleep problems through an infant mental health lens, and synthesize tools from the science of the developing mind in the treatment of specific problems of regulation of emotion, behavior, and attention. Fundamental knowledge of the science of early brain development is deeply relevant to mental health care throughout a client's lifespan. In an era when new research is illuminating so much, mental health practitioners have much to gain by learning this leading-edge discipline's essential applications. This book makes those applications, and their robust benefits in work with clients, readily available to any professional.
As the foundational theory of modern psychological practice, psychoanalysis and its attendant assumptions predominated well through most of the twentieth century. The influence of psychoanalytic theories of development was profound and still resonates in the thinking and practice of today’s mental health professionals. Guide to Psychoanalytic Developmental Theories provides a succinct and reliable overview of what these theories are and where they came from. Ably combining theory, history, and biography it summarizes the theories of Freud and his successors against the broader evolution of analytic developmental theory itself, giving readers a deeper understanding of this history, and of their own theoretical stance and choices of interventions. Along the way, the authors discuss criteria for evaluating developmental theories, trace persistent methodological concerns, and shed intriguing light on what was considered normative child and adolescent behavior in earlier eras. Each major paradigm is represented by its most prominent figures such as Freud’s drive theory, Erikson’s life cycle theory, Bowlby’s attachment theory, and Fonagy’s neuropsychological attachment theory. For each, the Guide provides: biographical information a conceptual framework contributions to theory a clinical illustration or salient excerpt from their work. The Guide to Psychoanalytic Developmental Theories offers a foundational perspective for the graduate student in clinical or school psychology, counseling, or social work. Seasoned psychiatrists, analysts, and other clinical practitioners also may find it valuable to revisit these formative moments in the history of the field.
Although psychoanalytic concepts underlie most forms of psychotherapy practiced today, the basic Freudian theory of mind the metapsychology does not mesh with current scientific views in psychology and related fields. As a result, despite its many strengths, psychoanalysis has been relegated to the periphery by clinicians and researchers alike. Filling a significant void, this book from cognitive scientist and psychoanalytic researcher Wilma Bucci proposes a new model of psychological organization that integrates psychoanalytic theory with the investigation of mental processes. Solidly rooted in current cognitive science, multiple code theory recognizes the focus on meanings and motives that is intrinsic to psychoanalytic clinical work. The theory points to parallel functions underlying free association and dreams, as well as conceptual development in children and creative work in sciences and the arts, and provides a strong foundation for empirical research on the psychoanalytic treatment process.
Developmental Perspectives in Child Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy incorporates recent innovations in developmental theory and research into our understanding of the nature of change in child psychotherapy. Diverse psychoanalytic ideas and individual styles are represented, challenging the historical allegiance in analytic child therapy to particular, and so often singular, schools of thought. Each of the distinguished contributors offers a conceptually grounded and clinically rich account of child development, addressing topics such as refl ective functioning, the role of play, dreaming, trauma and neglect, the development of recognition and mutuality, autism, adoption, and non- binary conceptions of gender. Extended clinical vignettes offer the reader clear vision into the convergence of theory and practice, demonstrating the potential of psychoanalytic psychotherapy to move child development forward. This book will appeal to all practicing mental health professionals.
The mainstream upper-level undergraduate textbook designed for first courses in Developmental Psychopathology Developmental Psychopathology provides a comprehensive introduction to the evolving scientific discipline that focuses on the interactions between the biological, psychological, behavioral, and social contextual aspects of normal and abnormal human development. Designed for advanced undergraduates and early graduate students with no previous engagement with the subject, this well-balanced textbook integrates clinical knowledge and scientific practice to help students understand both how and why mental health problems emerge across the lifespan. Organized into four parts, the text first provides students with essential background information on traditional approaches to psychopathology, developmental psychopathology (DP), normal development, and insecure attachment. The next section addresses attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and other problems emerging in childhood. Part III covers problems that arise in adolescence and young adulthood, such as depression, suicide, eating disorders, and schizophrenia. The text concludes with a discussion of special topics such as the relation between pathopsychological issues and divorce, separation, and loss. Each chapter includes a visual demonstration of the DP approach, a clinical case, further readings, and discussion questions. Developmental Psychopathology: Presents a coherent organization of material that illustrates the DP principle of cutting across multiple levels of analysis Covers common psychopathological problems including antisocial behavior, substance use disorders, fear and anxiety, and emerging personality disorders Features integrative DP models based on the most recent research in psychopathological disorders Provides instructors with a consistent pedagogical framework for teaching upper-level students encountering the discipline for the first time Developmental Psychopathology is the perfect textbook for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in Child Psychopathology, Abnormal Child Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Family Dynamics and Psychopathology.
This important new book presents a comprehensive integration of psychoanalytic theories of human development from Freud to the present, showing their implications for the evaluation and treatment of children and adults. Phyllis Tyson and Robert L. Tyson not only review the literature on emotional growth but also provide a developmental theory of their own, one that examines psychosexual development in the context of a number of other simultaneously evolving systems--emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and social--all of which work in relation to one another in a dynamic way. The authors describe the developmental sequences of these systems and how they coalesce to form the human personality. The Tysons view development as it occurs rather than retrospectively from reconstructions of earlier life experience. They begin by tracing the history of this perspective, describing the developmental process, then critically reviewing psychoanalytic theories of development. The authors present developmental sequences for psychosexuality, object relations, the sense of self, affect, cognition, the superego, gender identity, and the ego. Throughout they maintain a central and orienting focus on the intrapsychic--on what happens in the mind as it evolves. In contrast to recent psychoanalytic emphases on interpersonal aspects of early development, they view perceived and felt interpersonal interactions as working in conjunction with innate factors to provide the basis for the internal world. According to the Tysons, it is the evolution and elaboration of this internal world that is the domain of psychoanalytic theory of development.
This book attempts to create a dialogue between the infant as revealed by the experimental approach and as clinically reconstructed, in the service of resolving the contradiction between theory and reality. It describes the several ways that organization can form in the infant's mind.
