Becca Powell

A superb guide for both therapists and parents

Revisado: 10-10-22

I can recommend this book without reservation. the author and the reader both create an experience for the reader that adds new knowledge and realistically, distinctions in practice that can be learned by the mind and felt in the body. I mostly work with adults in my practice, but at home I work with children, and the distinctions about polyvagal Theory and its application in practice have been enhancing for both worlds in my case. anyone who loved reading the work of Van der Kolk on how the body keeps the score with trauma, the works of Levine on trauma and memory, or the works of D. Siegel on the broader side of interpersonal neurobiology will find this book both enlightening and enjoyable while being practical. The examples in case studies are excellent. Even for a person who has not looked into polyvagal theory or neurodynamics will likely find this to be a simple, conversational, and practical way to get their feet wet. She uses a few simple concepts related to neural platform and some other things that can be applied immediately and how we assess and view our situation with the kids and realistically, with adults, when it comes to how we decide how to help, connect, or work out problems. I found the context and framework she creates to be very useful here.

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High quality information and practical application

Revisado: 12-07-20

This guide is at the apex when it comes to quality information for clinicians who can appreciate the neurobiological implications of what they do.

It is also well performed by the reader, which makes it an engaging and stimulating read.

The author's personal examples in case studies bring the material to life. Much like other excellent authors in this general area of study (Levine, Damasio, Siegel, Van der Kolk, etc), the author gives his unique contribution with sweeping breadth and piercing depth into the nervous system's workings and neurodynamic implications for practice, including what makes the difference between effective and transformative practice and something less effective and less transformative.
moreover, the author properly eschews the dogmatic ideas and turf oriented tomfoolery that often keeps practitioners from disparate schools of thought from learning from each other.

I can recommend this book without reservation to any clinician who truly wants to understand more about the brain and body in the therapeutic process as well as in their own healing and development as a person and healer.

Jared Powell, LCSW, MSW, JD

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Heavily didactic but valuable for clinicians

Revisado: 09-13-20

I rarely use worksheets as a clinician, but I will very likely use the supplemental ones from this book. The work of Patricia Ogden and others whose methods converge with hers can and should revolutionize the field of psychotherapy, and with Janina Fisher, she created a training masterpiece. I don't usually enjoy reading materials as didactic and workbook oriented, and though this book is like that, the skillset being taught here is one that works and needs to be taught in a way that cannot be mistaken, and I believe that is what Fisher and Ogden are doing here. when I was explaining it to one of my colleagues, she told me how much she would appreciate that sort of book, and she plans to start reading it soon as well. Ogden's utilization of the innate wisdom of the body, leveraging a therapeutic paradigm that is acceptable across the board to clinicians is likely a powerful way to bridge the gap between a world that usually evokes images of beaded curtains and incense burning and the sterile hallways of hospitals. I have used the methods that she teaches, and they work rapidly and deeply without giving up the expected measure of safety that most of us, as clinicians, want to bring into our practices.

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Clear-minded, principle-based and enlightening

Revisado: 07-17-20

I really appreciated the juxtaposition of case studies and principles that Mr Levy presents here. he went well beyond the confines of rhetoric and advocacy by backing what he said with experience and the application of sound principles for human connection, trauma-informed care, and the fostering of that bless the connection between viable skill and motivation in persons who have been living in the margins, bereft of the connections the most successful or healthy people need to thrive. I also appreciated his explanation of how the natural crises continually faced by persons in this situation can be leveraged for their gain and relief if managed well.

He didn't stop there, however. He went forward to explain principles of supervision for clinicians and Outreach workers and the delicate balance the needs to be maintained between striving to help people and empowering them to help themselves. His application of the housing first model is enlightening in that it is true to the initial purpose of housing first and avoids the potential pitfall of Advocates when they demand on going funding The Fosters more dependency that is helpful for progress. his clear understanding of how the meeting of dependency needs is an initial necessity for engagement, as well as the boundaries that need to be drawn to create an empowering, securely attached relationship, guides a better understanding of how to engage the marginalized and disempowered. I certainly hope that to whatever extent, I am able to bring his understanding to life in my practice of helping.
Jared Powell, LCSW

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Great book despite shameless turf-oriented dogma.

Revisado: 07-10-20

I thoroughly enjoyed this book except for the turf oriented comments . . . I can only imagine the uphill battle Shapiro had to fight to get acceptance from the treatment community, and this is reflected in some of her comments that seemed highly reactionary, if not protective of marketing opportunities for an extremely expensive course of study to become certified as an EMDR practitioner. I have no skepticism about the effectiveness of EMDR. It is a valuable approach with a unique method of targeting what it does, and the protocol is useful in the hands of the right therapy, employing it with the right client. The only suspect thing in the book is more related to claims of plenary uniqueness and avoidance or alienation of other eye movement oriented techniques, without any acknowledgement of related benefits from those techniques. Perhaps this arises more from the era in which the protocol initially evolved. Practitioners with something unique to offer dealt with information barriers, presumably, along with rather high distribution costs, as well as a skeptical CBT whooped profession, and I'm sure many practitioners were struggling for recognition of new approaches and fiercely guarding their turf so their stuff wouldn't just get disseminated by others and developed under the name of other people.

Protection of intellectual property, and the benefits of that still exists in an evolving Information Age, but when it comes to the increasingly noticeable problem with trauma and complex trauma, there needs to be a massive distribution of valid understanding and technique. What Shapiro has developed in connection with an academic Community built around EMDR is remarkable, as well as the charitable organization connected to it, but I truly do not appreciate the turf oriented deficit space thinking surrounding some of the statements made near the beginning of the book, nor do I believe that the utilization of EMDR by a person who paid the $2,000 to $4,000 to become fully certified in it is necessary to get analogous results on a consistent basis - practitioners who have become adept at trauma treatment methods the reach to midbrain and brainstem processes will be validated by the results of EMDR even if they may be a touch of offended by the turfism, deficit- space thinking and dogma that shows up in a few places at the beginning of the book. Luckily it doesn't seem to stick around in a constant way through the end of the book, and to a certain extent it may even seem to be contradicted by case studies involving elegant variations on the initial protocol, where the authors laud the creative expansive incorporation of other methods. The reality that is seen in clinical situations involving complex trauma or textbook PTSD conflated with deep set attachment issues would be that a rigid protocolized approach of any sort rather than a carefully tailored utilisation of some method with adjunctive methods befitting the situation is calculated to fail. The authors seem to recognize that quite well and to show how EMDR can be incorporated into a broader framework for treatment . . . which begs the question of why they felt they had to so fiercely protect and say who could and could not utilize an approach involving bilateral stimulation and adaptive information processing in the beginning of the book. I kind of wonder if the contributions of the disparate authors is indicative of the spirit feelings on the turf oriented bit. if there is another addition that comes out, I would say drop the turf ism and say what's so great about spending $2,000 to $4,000 to get fully certified when only a small subset of the population it's going to benefit from a rigid protocolized approach. make sure it's clearly marked as advertising or marketing and you've won the trust of those who are more concerned about making sure that what they do rapidly increases their ability to save lives and restore functionality to those who have suffered through repeated episodes of treatment with marginal results. . . regardless of whether they can Market a certification they will be allowed to put in their own treatment advertising. EMDR is a great adjective approach to do just that when it is used by somebody that understands enough about where the Neuroscience meets trauma healing, and can adjust the approach according to the risks that they observe with the particular client they are looking at.

The case studies were inspiring and excellent, and I appreciated Shapiro's exploration of theory related to the efficacy of EMDR. this is a great read and I can definitely recommend the book the practitioners of the healing arts, even if I'd invite them to not inhale too deeply when they read about the complete and total uniqueness of the approach and who should never practice it or how very different it is from other approaches and how it works. It is absolutely unique in a lot of ways, and brings a unique contribution, but the results are accessible through other good quality, neurologically sound trauma treatment that adequately accounts for bodily responses and is tempered by the evolving body of knowledge surrounding interpersonal neurobiology, or affective neuroscience, and a bit of recognition of that in the book might engender a little less resistance from other practitioners that are trying to bring this reality to the Treatment Community, who has been laboring far too long with tools that lack the elegance and impact EMDR and other Neuroscience based approaches can bring.

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Clinically useful - great for therapists

Revisado: 06-21-20

Grand's contribution is quite remarkable, and I respect the academic openness and humility he exhibits in this book. I have used brainspotting in therapy alongside various methods that employ somatics and interoception, and this book not only gives a great recounting of how Grand developed the techniques, but gives great case studies and distinctions that can be immediately brought into the consultation room. I promptly began enjoying enhanced responses in my own life and in my work with psychotherapy clients in both group and individual settings.

I greatly appreciated Grand's respectful critique of the protocolized, technique driven approaches, including EMDR, and found that quite validating. His methods involve a balance between attunement and technique that is often underappreciated - depriving many clients of the results that can be achieved by it.

Along with this book, I read his article written with Dr. Corrigan, which has expanded my understanding of both brainspotting and how to leverage the mid brain orienting response more directly in therapy. I can endorse Brainspotting as a highly useful method that can bring elegant results for highly-attuned therapists.
Jared Powell, LCSW

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Trite advice, insipid explanations - save a credit

Revisado: 06-13-20

i was disappointed that so little was said in the book about somatic psychotherapy per se until near the end, and most of what is said about it has the level of depth that a person might find in a brochure or advertisement. At the beginning, the author talks of somatic muscle memory issues but he doesn't get to the heart of how it works, the role of concious activity or interoception in the somatic work or how to use it. The book doesn't strike me as a book about somatic psychotherapy or complex trauma.

I do not recommend this book to any actual practitioners of somatic psychotherapy nor any psychotherapist who has an interest in incorporating somatic methods or affective neuroscience into their work. The author threw more information about CBT and psychopharmacology than somatic psychotherapy, and most of the information was both antiquated and of very little use from a practical standpoint because the author, in recommending numerous things, repeatedly failed to give reasons grounded in neuroscience for his declarations of what to do and what is best.

There was almost nothing of practical value said about the somatic dynamics of complex trauma, or the healing process, how it unfolds, or how to effectuate it. Moreover, I was floored to hear him recommend standard CBT for its "proven" effectiveness . . . he seems to have forgotten that the sorts of persons we see in clinical settings with complex trauma, the men and women who have repeated episodes of treatment with marginal benefit, are almost invariably excluded from CBT and pharmaceutical trials alike. Their comorbidities typically preclude their participation in the studies. At some point in the final hour, of my listening, I heard him briefly point out the limitations of CBT for managing subcortical processes, but then he proceeded to give a poor explanation of trauma and only a cursory explanation of the somatic methods that are grounded in updated neuroscience.

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Enlightening and useful

Revisado: 01-03-20

The authors have again succeeded in providing intensely useful subjective, anecdotal and objective information and stories for both professionals in the helping field and individuals who care to know the science of human connection and how it relates to healing on multiple systemic levels.

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Eye-opening, informative, and clinically useful.

Revisado: 12-04-19

this is, perhaps one of the most useful and informative books about human development, attachment needs and Trauma healing that I have ever read. I can highly recommend it both to clinicians and other persons in the carrying / helping fields.

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A great read - clinicians and self-help buffs

Revisado: 11-06-19

As a clinician who often works with people that struggle with attachment issues and Trauma, I found the book extremely useful. Diane Poole-Heller does a great job reading the book in a personable and down to earth fashion, explaining difficult and often misunderstood concepts in a clear and applicable way. There's a realistic brightness and hope in how she explains the salient issues for those that struggle with attachment difficulties, and does a great job of not only normalizing them, but explaining how to best assist and accept those difficulties in an empowering way while interacting or helping a person heal.

The strategies and concepts that she presents reach deeper than cognition and behavioral patterns into the world of a somatically-based resetting of neuroceptive patterns that may have started in a sub-optimal way, but can be adjusted and solidified in the way people interact with those important others in their lives.

So for me it was a great read for tying attachment theory every search together with other concepts and cutting-edge methods related to polyvagal theory, somatic experiencing and related neuroaffective methods. The author articulates the connections in a really useful way that has definitely enhanced my practice.

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