What Freud Didn't Know: A Three-Step Practice for Emotional Well-Being through Neuroscience and Psychology

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Rutgers University Press, Nov 5, 2009 - Psychology - 224 pages
In a thoughtful and down-to-earth way, Timothy B. Stokes overturns old formulas—and many Freudian concepts—for achieving personal change. During one's lifetime, hidden memories, along with their misleading assumptions, can unconsciously trigger conflicted feelingsùthe basis for most psychological problems, large and small.

What Freud Didn't Know, well-supported by research and groundbreaking in theory, combines neuroscience and psychology to explain how the amygdala region of the brain evolved to unconsciously record, store, and activate emotional memory loops and imagery associated with painful events, especially those of childhood. This book is the first to bring together diverse, post-Freudian discoveries to produce a coherent three-step practice for understanding problematic aspects of the human mind which can be mastered easily, in a clinical or self-help setting. Stokes explores recent breakthroughs, many in marked contrast to Freud's views, which will change how we view psychological and emotional problems and their treatments.

Grounded in current theories about brain circuitry, What Freud Didn't Know integrates ideas about mindfulness, habitual thinking, and insight imagery and provides readers with the tools to rescript their personal narratives for psychological well-being. As an alternative approach to treating stress, most types of depression, anxiety, and phobias without prescription drugs, Stokes's three-step practice can be used to build resiliency and inner peace.

 

Contents

Introduction
1
Chapter 1 Discovering Amygdala Scripts
17
A Close Look
33
Chapter 3 Overview of the ThreeStep Practice for Mastering Amygdala Scripts
49
Mindfulness and the Emotion Component of a Script
54
Insight and the Image Component
76
Changing the Belief Component
100
The ThreeStep Practice
114
Chapter 9 Making Unscripted Emotions Our Allies
147
Relaxation Exercise
165
Neurobiological Research Notes
169
Amygdala Scripts and Child Care
177
Suggested Readings
181
Notes
185
Index
207
About the Author
211

Amygdala Scripts and the ThreeStep Practice in Therapy
123

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