Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation

• Is there a memory that torments you, or an irrational fear you can’t shake?
• Do you sometimes become unreasonably angry or upset and find it hard to calm down?
• Do you ever wonder why you can’t stop behaving the way you do, no matter how hard you try?
• Are you and your child (or parent, partner, or boss) locked in a seemingly inevitable pattern of conflict?

What if you could escape traps like these and live a fuller, richer, happier life? This isn’t mere speculation but the result of twenty-five years of careful hands-on clinical work by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. A Harvard-trained physician, Dr. Siegel is one of the revolutionary global innovators in the integration of brain science into the practice of psychotherapy. Using case histories from his practice, he shows you how to focus your attention on the internal world of the mind in a way that will literally change the wiring and architecture of your brain.

An audiobook as inspiring as it is informative, as practical as it is profound, Mindsight offers exciting new proof that we aren’t hardwired to behave in certain ways but instead have the ability to harness the power of our minds to resculpt the neural pathways of our brains in ways that will be life-transforming.

Publishers Weekly

Siegel (Parenting from the Inside Out) combines Western neuroscience with Eastern meditation in an exciting exploration of how a troubled mind can right itself. Drawing on current science and case studies, Siegel, a clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA School of Medicine, reinforces “the idea that the power of reflection allows us to approach, rather than withdraw, from whatever life brings us.” And learning to stay with a feeling, even a threatening one, is the beginning of discovering that this emotion is just “a set of neural firings in our brain.” There is enormous pain in the clinical cases: 31-year-old Allison’s back pain conceals a painful memory; 12-year-old Sandy is stuck in a panic expressed in obsessive-compulsive behavior. But there is also enormous hope—that therapy, sometimes even without medication, can guide a patient through life. Siegel’s method isn’t a quick fix and doesn’t sugarcoat reality: The mindful traits of serenity, courage and wisdom involve accepting our place in the order of things.” He challenges his patients to a life of tough work and convincingly suggests it will be well worth the effort. (Dec. 1)

Daniel J. Siegel received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at the University of California, Los Angeles, with training in pediatrics, general adult psychiatry, and child and adolescent psychiatry. He has served as a National Institute of Mental Health Research Fellow at UCLA, where he studied family interactions, with an emphasis on how attachment experiences influence emotions, behavioral regulation, autobiographical memory and narrative processes.