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The Psychophysiology of Self-Awareness: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Body Sense
by Alan Fogel (W. W. Norton & Company)
Infants, before they can conceptualize or speak, learn to move toward what makes them physically feel good, and
away from what makes them feel bad. From birth, embodied self-awareness-an intimate knowledge of our bodily
sensations and needs-is essential to our comfort and well-being. Our ability to continue to cultivate and
enhance an awareness of these sensations throughout our lives is essential for learning how to successfully
navigate in the physical and social world, maintain optimal health, and avoid injury and stress.
However, in fast-paced technological societies such as ours, it is all too easy to lose this body sense, as
we sit staring at a computer screen all day, ignoring our physical sensations or sore muscles, caught up in
our racing thoughts. Physical injury, psychological stress, and trauma also often lead to the loss of our
ability to monitor and regulate our basic body functions. The resulting stress-induced muscle tension or
trauma-induced sense of numb disconnection from oneself and one's surroundings often brings people to the doctor's
or therapist's office. Fortunately, there are many ways to restore the connection to our lost body sense.
In The Psychophysiology of Self-Awareness, Dr. Alan Fogel explains the neurological, anatomical, and
psychophysiological sources of embodied self-awareness, to help clinicians and therapists understand the bases of
these sensations. This helpful exposition is supported by everyday, clinical examples of how we lose embodied
self-awareness, including the author's work with injured and traumatized clients. Drawing on recent research in
developmental neuropsychology, biology, and psychology, Fogel presents an array of options for regaining and
cultivating self- awareness, including psychotherapy, awareness-based touch and movement therapies, meditation,
engagement with the natural world, the performing arts, and many complementary and alternative medical practices.
Balancing science with clinical practice, The Psychophysiology of Self-Awareness highlights the nuanced relationship
between mind and body, and how best to nurture that essential relationship.
"This book is a rare work in its crossing of two worlds: the intricate, technical world of psychological and
biomedical research, with its increasingly sophisticated technologies and languages; and the lived world of becoming
mature adults. Alan Fogel succeeds in weaving together these disparate worlds with his lucid writing grounded in his
thorough understanding both of the importance of embodied self-awareness in our ordinary lives and the sciences that
make sense of that dimension of our being. It is an eminently practical book, providing many clues for how we might
expand the benefits of embodiment in negotiating the challenges of our lives and, at the same time, gain a familiarity
with the scientific basis for their efficacy, thus counteracting inevitable tendencies toward self-doubt and cynicism."
-Don Hanlon Johnson, PhD, professor of somatics, CIIS and author of Everyday Hopes, Utopian Dreams: Reflections on
American Ideals (www.donhanlonjohnson.com)
"It is a truly revolutionary act to render our vague, instinctual knowledge about the body and self awareness into
something understandable, urgent, and applicable to our workaday lives. In so doing, Alan Fogel has laid a solid and
comprehensive foundation for far-reaching changes in psychotherapy, medicine, and everyday life."-Daniel Stern, MD,
Honorary Professor of Psychology, University of Geneva and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, Cornell University School
of Medicine.
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Human Development in the
Twenty-First Century
(2007) by Alan Fogel, Barbara J. King, and Stuart G. Shanker.
(Cambridge University Press)
How do human beings develop and function in relation to
the human and natural world? The science of dynamic systems
focuses on connections and relationships between people
rather than on individual actions alone. This collection
of engaging, non-technical essays, written by dynamic
systems scientists in psychology, biology, anthropology,
education, and sociology, challenges us to consider novel
ways to enhance human development worldwide in the face
of poverty, violence, neglect, disease and crises in our
families. Focusing specifically on how to think about
interventions and policies that will benefit human development
from a systems perspective, this book brings current research
into the realm of application and policy. The authors
use real-life examples to propose changes in clinical,
educational and policy-making practices that will be of
interest to professionals and practitioners alike.
Three Articles from this book can be found at - online
publications |
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Change Processes in relationships: A
relational-historical approach
(2006), by Alan Fogel, Andrea Garvey, Hui-Chin Hsu, and
Delisa West-Stromming. (Cambridge)
Just as each person develops from infancy to adulthood,
all interpersonal relationships have a life history that
encompasses the changes in how people communicate with
each other. This book is about how a relationship transforms
itself from one pattern of communication to another. The
authors present a unique research method called 'relational-historical
research', based on advances in dynamic systems theory
in developmental psychology, and qualitative methods in
life history research. It rests on three premises: that
the developing relationship (not the individual) is the
unit of analysis; that change emerges from, but is not
entirely constrained by, the patterns of the past; and
that the developmental process is best revealed by making
frequent observations within a particular case before,
during, and after a key developmental transition. Looking
specifically at the mother-infant relationship, this is
a compelling piece of research that will appeal to an
international audience of intellectuals and practitioners. |
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Blackwell Handbook of Infant Development
(2001), by J. Gavin Bremner & Alan Fogel (Editors). Blackwell
Publishers
The Blackwell Handbook of Infant Development provides
a state-of-the-art overview of research and theory about
infant development. The volume is organized into four
main sections - 1. Perception and Cognition, 2. Social,
Emotional and Communicative Development, 3. Risk Factors
in Development, 4. Contexts and Policy Issues. The chapter
topics and authors have been selected so as to provide
a comprehensive coverage of research areas that are currently
of central importance in the field, in terms of basic
research, applied research and policy. Integration and
coherence is provided by editorial commentaries prefacing
each chapter together with the final overview chapter
by the editors. In addition to covering basic research
topics, the Handbook will include chapters on infants
at risk and on policy issues related to infancy. This
will meet the demands of the North American psychology
student readership and will also broaden the readership
of the volume to practitioners who work with infants and
families such as pediatricians, educationalists and social
workers. |
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Infancy: Infant, Family, and Society
5th edition (2008), by Alan Fogel
Infancy: Infant, Family, & Society is the fifth edition of Alan Fogel's classic text on development in infancy. This edition features a new publisher, a complete re-design for greater visual appeal, and a price that is 30% lower than the previous edition.
This text spans the four-year period in the human life course between conception and 36 months. The book's scientifically-based coverage is balanced by clear and accessible writing and the inclusion of both theoretical and applied topics.
Taking a systems perspective, this book places the infant in the context of interpersonal relationships with caregivers, other family members, hospitals, child care centers, and peers and with respect to the social policies and cultural practices that shape the course of these interpersonal relationships. A central theme of the book is the development of individual differences: the biological factors and environmental factors that combine to create unique developmental pathways for processes such as temperament, cognitive growth, and attachment.
Unique to Fogel's text is the extensive coverage of emerging forms of infant self-awareness that is at first grounded in the body and its senses (the emerging field of somatics) and gradually becomes more intersubjective to include an awareness of other people. Also covered is the failure to develop developmentally appropriate forms of self-awareness in relation to developmental disorders such as problems with attachment and autism. Many chapters contain simple experiential exercises that allow students to re-create for themselves the forms of self-awareness experienced by infants at different ages, as well as concrete suggestions for ways to connect with infants of different ages.
First published in 1986, Fogel's Infancy has been in print longer and for more editions than any other similar book. The Fifth Edition has been completely updated and the sections on brain development and on parent-infant mental health have been greatly expanded. However, the basic organization of the previous edition has been preserved, making it easy for instructors currently using the book to adapt the new edition to their courses. |
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Dynamics and Indeterminism
in Developmental and Social Processes
(1997), by Alan Fogel, Maria C.D.P. Lyra, and Jaan Valsiner
(Editors). Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers.
"With
the growing interest in dynamic systems theories of development,
little has been said about their perhaps most radical
implication: that systems may be inherently indeterminate.
This is the first set of essays to tackle the problem
head on. (...) With chapters on theory and philosophy
and sections on social interactions between peers and
between parent and child, this volume is a worthwhile
and welcome addition to an apparent paradigm shift in
the field." Esther Thelen, Indiana University (back
cover). |
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Developing Through Relationships: Origins
of Communication, Self, and Culture
(1993), by Alan Fogel. The University of Chicago Press.
"The purpose of this outstanding new book is
to explain how individuals develop through their relationships
with others. Alan Fogel demonstrates that creativity is
at the heart of all human development, arising out of
a social dynamic process called co-regulation. He focuses
on the act of communication - between adults, between
parents and children, among non-human animals, even among
cells and genes- to create an original model of human
development. Fogel weaves together theory and empirical
findings from a variety of disciplines - linguistics,
biology, literature, cognitive and neural science, ethology,
anthropology, and psychology- to demonstrate the continuous
process model of communication. He contends that the human
mind and sense of self must be seen as developing out
of the processes of communication and relationship-formation
between the subject and other individuals. Rarely has
a work of scholarship so elegantly and so persuasively
presented a complex psychological theory and its practical
application. Developing through Relationships not only
makes a substantial contribution to developmental psychology
but also to the fields of communication, cognitive science,
linguistics, and biology." (back cover).
Review
- Relationship Development Intervention
Review
- The University of Chicago Press |
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