Clinicians

Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) is a way of understanding human development and well-being. This approach focuses on the importance of relationships in shaping the brain so that the mind develops resilience.  IPNB is not a form of therapy, but it does inform the way therapists of all persuasions can understand the important processes of healing and transformation.

As described in the Spotlight on Science, the central view of this approach is that a triangle of human experience can be described with three irreducible points: relationships, mind, and brain. What these three elements share in common is energy and information flow.  Relationships are how energy and information are shared between and among people.  The mind is how the flow of energy and information is regulated, creating patterns in how our minds function over time.  The brain here is defined as the extended nervous system distributed throughout the whole body that contains a physiological mechanism by which energy and information flow.  In IPNB, we offer a working definition of the mind that, in its succinct form, can be stated as follows: The mind regulates the flow of energy and information and creates patterns of this flow across time.

IPNB also offers a working definition of a healthy mind.  The vast majority of mental health practitioners have not had a single lecture defining the mind or mental health.  We have had, naturally, many lectures and seminars defining mental illness and effective forms of therapy that help to alleviate symptoms and suffering.  Through an extensive synthesis—called “consilience”— of many different scientific approaches, IPNB suggests that a process called “integration” is at the heart of mental well-being.  Integration itself is simply defined as the linkage of differentiated parts of a system.  When a system is integrated, it is said to “move toward maximal complexity.” This is not the same as life becoming more complicated!  There is a simple elegance to complex systems, which reveals that when they are integrated they have a flow described by the acronym FACES: flexible, adaptive, coherent, energized, and stable. 

And so in the various educational opportunities that follow, you will be able to immerse yourself in detailed explorations of the human mind, healthy relationships, and how psychotherapy can promote positive changes in brain growth that facilitate integration.

Though IPNB is not a specific way of doing therapy, it does offer a framework that highlights the importance of integration and the ways in which we can promote well-being in our lives.  At the heart of this approach are various domains of integration that cultivate the development of well-being.  These domains are explored in many of the available educational programs and can be applied in a wide array of clinical settings.

One can postulate that for any form of psychotherapy to be effective there must be long lasting changes in the synaptic connections in the brain.  For this reason, an IPNB approach to therapy harnesses the knowledge of the study of neural plasticity so that therapists can effectively understand the process of brain growth and how the experiences they provide within the therapeutic relationship can promote the growth of integrative fibers in the patient’s/client’s brain.  We call this “SNAGing” the brain: stimulating neuronal activation and growth.  Our mindful presence as therapists can combine with a specific focus of attention in ways that each SNAG the brain toward integration enabling resolution of trauma, healing, and the cultivation of well-being and resilience.

Our experience has been that beginning, intermediate, and advanced clinicians have found the material listed below to be very useful.  IPNB offers what some have described as a new paradigm for thinking about psychotherapy as well as a novel and powerful approach to applying science in catalyzing therapeutic change.  We think IPNB is a fun and useful way of understanding what it means to be human and also offers exciting new and effective windows of opportunity to help others grow. 

These recordings offer an educational series for clinicians and others interested in personal growth and development. The lengthier seminars offer more in-depth explorations of how the principles of mindsight and Interpersonal Neurobiology shape an approach to promoting mental well-being and integration in our internal and interpersonal lives. In addition to these programs, the “teleconferences” section of the Psychotherapy Networker (PsychotherapyNetoworker.org) offer recordings of past sequential hour-long classes on this subject.

Suggested educational program:

Audio

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Reading

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