| |
Basic InformationMore InformationLatest NewsUnexplained Drop in Resting Heart Rate in Youth 'Not a Good Thing'Strike Out Kids' Overuse Injuries This Baseball SeasonMost Young Americans Eager to Get COVID Vaccine: PollMany Kids Who Develop Severe COVID-Linked Syndrome Have Neurologic SymptomsMost Parents OK About School Rules for Kids' Return to Sports: PollSome Kids Snore, and It Could Affect BehaviorKids With Autism Can Really Benefit From ExerciseFDA Approves First New Children's ADHD Drug in 10 YearsWhy Are ER Wait Times Getting Longer for Kids in Mental Health Crisis?About 40,000 U.S. Children Have Lost a Parent to COVID-19Adding in Stem Cell Therapy Helps Beat a Common Childhood LeukemiaWhat Will Summer Camp Look Like This Year?When Will America's Kids Get Their COVID Vaccines?1 in 4 Parents Won't Vaccinate Their Kids Against COVID-19: PollEven in a Pandemic, Child Vision Tests Are CrucialPfizer Says Its COVID Vaccine Is Very Effective in Kids as Young as 12Secondhand Smoke Is Sending Kids to the ERDrug Shows Promise Against Rare Condition That Stunts Kids' GrowthWhen Coal-Fired Power Plants Close, Kids With Asthma Breathe EasierAnother Study Finds COVID Doesn't Spread in Schools With Proper SafeguardsNearly Half of U.S. Schools Now Offer In-Person LearningLockdowns Gave Boost to Type 1 Diabetes Control in KidsWildfire Smoke Can Send Kids With Asthma to the ERPandemic Has Many Kids Struggling With Weight IssuesLab-Made Heart Valves Can Grow Along With Youngest Heart PatientsSome Kids With Type 1 Diabetes Face High Risk of Severe COVID-19Virtual Learning Has Taken a Toll on Kids' & Parents' Mental HealthCDC Says 3 Feet of Social Distancing Now OK in Most ClassroomsWhich Kids' Sports Have Higher Odds for Head Injury?Social Distancing Probably Stopped 2020 Outbreak of Paralyzing Disorder in KidsAHA News: What Parents Should Know About Rare But Scary COVID-19-Related IllnessSchool Dental Care Program Could Cut Cavities in Half: StudySocial Media, Binge Eating Often Go Together for KidsStressed and Distracted, Kids and Their Teachers Say Virtual Learning Isn't WorkingSports Position Doesn't Affect Risk of Concussion-Linked CTE IllnessPandemic Putting Added Strain on Parents of Kids With CancerDogs and Kids Are 'In Sync,' Study ShowsTeachers Main Drivers of School COVID Outbreaks, So Vaccinations Needed: StudyTips to Keep Young Athletes Injury-FreeMental Illness in Childhood Could Mean Worse Physical Health Decades LaterKids' Robust Immune Systems May Shield Them From COVID-19: StudyFertility Treatments Might Affect Kids' Growth, But Not for LongMom's Heart Health While Pregnant Could Influence Her Child's Health for YearsPandemic Has Affected Kids' Dental Health: PollNew Rabies Prevention Treatment Also Works in Kids: StudyWhen Will Kids Get the COVID Vaccines?U.S. Schools Can Reopen, With Safeguards in Place: CDCFetal Surgery Is Changing Lives for Kids With Spina BifidaKids Who Got Flu Shot Had Milder COVID Symptoms: StudyVery Little Spread of Coronavirus at Kids' Day Camps: Study Questions and AnswersVideosLinksBook Reviews100 Things Guys Need to Know3 NBS of Julian DrewA Guide to Asperger SyndromeA Tribe ApartA User Guide to the GF/CF Diet for Autism, Asperger Syndrome and AD/HDA Walk in the Rain With a BrainAdolescence and Body ImageAdolescent DepressionAfterAggression and Antisocial Behavior in Children and AdolescentsAll Alone in the UniverseAmelia RulesAmericaAnother PlanetAntisocial Behavior in Children and AdolescentsArtemis FowlAssessment and Treatment of Childhood Problems, Second EditionAutistic Spectrum DisordersBad GirlBetween Two WorldsBeyond AppearanceBeyond Diversity DayBig Mouth & Ugly GirlBill HensonBipolar DisordersBody Image, Eating Disorders, and ObesityBody Image, Eating Disorders, and Obesity in YouthBoyBoysBrandedBreaking PointBreathing UnderwaterBringing Up ParentsBullying and TeasingCan't Eat, Won't EatCatalystChild and Adolescent Psychological DisordersChildren Changed by TraumaChildren with Emerald EyesChildren’s Dreaming and the Development of Consciousness City of OneConcise Guide to Child and Adolescent PsychiatryConquering the Beast WithinContentious IssuesCrackedCutDancing in My NuddypantsDemystifying the Autistic ExperienceDescartes' BabyDilemmas of DesireDirtyDoing ItDoing SchoolDying to Be ThinEating an ArtichokeEducating Children With AutismElijah's CupEllison the ElephantEmerald City BluesEmotional and Behavioral Problems of Young ChildrenEvery Girl Tells a StoryFast GirlsFeather BoyFiregirlForever YoungFreaks, Geeks and Asperger SyndromeFreewillGeography ClubGeorgia Under WaterGirl in the MirrorGirlfightingGirlsourceGirlWiseGLBTQGood GirlsGoodbye RuneGranny Torrelli Makes SoupGrowing Up GirlHandbook for BoysHealing ADDHeartbeatHelping Children Cope With Disasters and TerrorismHelping Parents, Youth, and Teachers Understand Medications for Behavioral and Emotional ProblemsHollow KidsHow Children Learn the Meanings of WordsHow to Keep Your Teenager Out of Trouble and What to Do If You Can'tHug MeIntrusive ParentingIt's Me!It's Perfectly NormalJake RileyJoey Pigza Swallowed the KeyJuvenile-Onset SchizophreniaKeeping the MoonKilling MonstersKim: Empty InsideKnocked Out by My Nunga-NungasLaura Numeroff's 10-Step Guide to Living with Your MonsterLearning About School ViolenceLeo the Lightning BugLet Kids Be KidsLiberation's ChildrenLife As We Know ItLisa, Bright and DarkLittle ChicagoLord of the FliesLoserLove and SexLove That DogManicMastering Anger and AggressionMind FieldsMiss American PieMom, Dad, I'm Gay.MonsterMore Than a LabelMyths of ChildhoodNew Hope for Children and Teens with Bipolar DisorderNo Two AlikeNot Much Just Chillin'Odd Girl OutOdd Girl Speaks OutOn the Frontier of AdulthoodOne Hot SecondOne in ThirteenOphelia SpeaksOphelia's MomOur Journey Through High Functioning Autism and Asperger SyndromeOut of the DustOvercoming School AnxietyParenting and the Child's WorldParenting Your Out-Of-Control TeenagerPediatric PsychopharmacologyPeriod PiecesPhobic and Anxiety Disorders in Children and AdolescentsPINSPraising Boys WellPraising Girls WellPretty in PunkPrincess in the SpotlightProblem Child or Quirky Kid?Psychotherapy As PraxisPsychotherapy for Children and AdolescentsRaising a Self-StarterRaising BlazeRaising Resilient ChildrenReclaiming Our ChildrenRedressing the EmperorReducing Adolescent RiskRethinking ADHDReweaving the Autistic TapestryRineke DijkstraRitalin is Not the Answer Action GuideRunning on RitalinSay YesSexual Teens, Sexual MediaSexuality in AdolescenceShooterShort PeopleShould I Medicate My Child?Skin GameSmackSmashedStaying Connected to Your TeenagerStick FigureStoner & SpazStop Arguing with Your KidsStraight Talk about Your Child's Mental HealthStrong, Smart, & BoldStudent DepressionSurvival Strategies for Parenting Children with Bipolar DisorderSurviving OpheliaTaking Charge of ADHD, Revised EditionTaming the Troublesome ChildTargeting AutismTeaching Problems and the Problems of TeachingTeen Angst? NaaahThat SummerThe American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook Of Child And Adolescent PsychiatryThe Arctic IncidentThe Bipolar ChildThe Buffalo TreeThe Bully, the Bullied, and the BystanderThe Carnivorous CarnivalThe Depressed ChildThe Developing MindThe Dragons of AutismThe Dream BearerThe Dulcimer Boy The Einstein SyndromeThe EpidemicThe Eternity CubeThe Explosive ChildThe Field of the DogsThe First IdeaThe Identity TrapThe Inside Story on Teen GirlsThe Little TernThe Mean Girl MotiveThe Men They Will BecomeThe Myth of LazinessThe New Gay TeenagerThe Notebook GirlsThe Nurture AssumptionThe Opposite of InvisibleThe Order of the Poison OakThe Other ParentThe Present Moment in Psychotherapy and Everyday LifeThe Real Truth About Teens and SexThe Rise and Fall of the American TeenagerThe Secret Lives of GirlsThe Sex Lives of TeenagersThe Shared HeartThe Spider and the BeeThe StepsThe Thought that CountsThe Unhappy ChildThe Vile VillageThe Whole ChildThen Again, Maybe I Won'tTherapy with ChildrenThings I Have to Tell YouTouching Spirit BearTrauma in the Lives of ChildrenTreacherous LoveTrue BelieverTwistedUnhappy TeenagersWay to Be!We're Not MonstersWhat about the KidsWhat Would Joey Do?What's Happening to My Body? Book for BoysWhat's Happening to My Body? Book for GirlsWhen Nothing Matters AnymoreWhen Sex Goes to SchoolWhen Your Child Has an Eating DisorderWhere The Kissing Never StopsWhose America?Why Are You So Sad?WinnicottWorried All the TimeYes, Your Teen Is Crazy!You Hear MeYoung People and Mental HealthYour Child, Bully or Victim? |
| |
by Daniel J. Siegel Guilford Press, 1999 Review by James E. de Jarnette, Ph.D. and Robert N. Grove, Ph.D. on Feb 7th 2003 
In the Preface to this most
readable and enjoyable book, Daniel Siegel puts the question, What is the
mind? How does the mind develop? From
this point we are taken on a psychoneurobiological expedition exploring one of
the oldest questions for mankind, i.e. soma vs. psyche; what is consciousness.
The beginning questions lead us to
the philosophical conclusion that consciousness, i.e. mind, is something that
is developed, and it is implicit in this that it is something that grows along
developmental lines and is linked to some biological structures. This question even after this book will
continue to be debated in the best salons around the world.
Epistemology and eschatology set
aside, this is a truly ground breaking work that is very user friendly. Anyone with a high school education can
follow the yellow brick road beginning with learning basic brain structures and
understanding the need for consilience.
Consilience is at the heart of this
book. Edward O. Wilson the author of
the book Consilience and the Unity of Knowledge said in an interview
with David Gergen said about the word consilience: "Well, it's not a new
word. It's been used for 160 years by philosophers of science, and essentially
it means the way the different fields, you know, like Biology and Physics and
the social sciences connect up at least in terms of the laws, the basic laws
that they share together. It really goes back to a very old dream of the
enlightenment in the 17th and 18th century when philosophers believed that you
could unite knowledge. So consilience means really the uniting of knowledge at
a fundamental level."
Siegels
work empirically demonstrates what we have all been reading about how important
attachment is and its effects in all areas of life and relationship. However its implications for the healing of
traumas that effect brain structure point toward a new appreciation of the
wisdom teachings of the ages about meditative solitude. He states,
Each of us
needs periods in which our minds can focus inwardly. Solitude is an essential experience for the mind to organize its
own process and create an internal state of resonance. In such a state, the self is able to alter
its constraints by directly reducing the input form interactions with others. As the mind goes through altering phases of
needing connecting and needing solitude, the states of mind are cyclically
influenced by combinations of external and internal process. We can propose that such a shifting of focus
allows the mind to achieve a balanced self-organizational flow in the states of
mind across time. Respecting the need
for solitude allows the mind to heal itselfwhich in essence can be seen as
releasing the natural self-organizational tendencies of the mind to create a
balanced flow of states. Solitude
permits the self to reflect on engrained patterns and intentionally alter
reflexive responses to external events that have been maintaining the dyadic
dysfunction. (pg. 235).
As
to the use of psychotherapy as a means toward repairing continuing trauma and
restoring self-regulation, he states,
Within the
clinical setting, the relationship of therapist and patient becomes the
external constraint that can help produce changes in the individuals
capacity for self-organization. (pg. 242)
Huge amounts
of evidence support the view that the conscious self is in fact a very small
portion of the minds activity.
Perception, abstract cognition, emotional processes, memory and social
interaction all appear to proceed to a great extent without the involvement of
consciousness. Most of the mind is
nonconscious.
Nonconscious processing influences our behaviors, feelings and
thoughts.
when processes become linked with consciousness, they can be more
strategically and intentionally manipulated and the outcome of their processing
can be adaptively altered.
Consciousness may allow us to become free from reflexive processing and
introduce some aspect of choice into our behavior. (pg.263)
The
Developing Mind is a
must read for professional behavioral scientists, people interested in parenting,
early childhood development, neurobiology, and those who really want the
empirical facts about the effects of parenting over the lifespan. It is full of wonder and written so that
anyone can understand and appreciate the wonders that consilience in the
sciences are bringing to us in understanding how we arrived at who we are and
what we can do to effect change at the systemic level.
© 2003 James E. de Jarnette and Robert N. Grove
James E. de Jarnette, Ph.D. and Robert
N. Grove, Ph.D. |