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The book Neuroscience, psychotherapy, and Clinical Pragmatism. Reflective Practice and Therapeutic Action by William Borden has been an interesting reading for me as well as an opportunity to compare my psychodynamic clinical practice with the theoretically eclectic approach advocated by the author.
The book is divided into three parts. The first part is an analysis of the clinical pragmatism concept, the second part is a presentation of the neuroscience aspects involved in the therapy of the mind, and the third part is a presentation of various clinical theories and their connection with neuroscience concepts underpinning the therapy of the mind.
Clinical pragmatism, as described in the first book section, is based on social theorists & activists (one of them being Dewey who also wrote about social work) who adhered to phenomenology in terms of the philosophy of science underpinning practice. Phenomenology assumes that the truth cannot be discovered because everything is contextual, subjective, and inherently complex. Therefore, prioritization of the “practical consequences of ideas” should be pursued. Accordingly, the most significant aspects of the therapeutic process are regarded the effects of the environment on the psyche as well as the values and principles of the person. Regarding clinical practice, the author links clinical pragmatism with the “independent school of psychoanalysis” represented by Winnicott, as opposed to the Freudian and Kleinian groups.
The second part of the book elaborates on the science of the mind according to the later developments in the neuroscience of therapeutics. The first section of this part describes the dynamics and functions of neural networks in the brain. Attachment/relationships are connected to memory and human bio-psychosocial development. This section also makes notice of the compatibility of the essential components of the psychodynamic paradigm with the later developments in the science of the brain. In the following se