ABSTRACT
S o, how does a family therapist make sense of neurophysiology in daily practice? Generally, family therapists look at interpersonal not biological contexts. Pioneering family therapists were mavericks from other mental health fi elds who “invented” an interpersonal approach to mental health problems and eschewed biology and medicalization (Hanna, 2007). Now, with the proliferation of voices from neuroscience, there are unifying themes that contribute to the integration of these worlds. Scientists who study emotional regulation suggest that many diagnoses could be reclassifi ed according to brain activity when viewing behavioral and emotional process under the microscope (Gross & Munoz, 1995; Gross, 1998). Th is would provide a new lens for traditional diagnostic categories. While this may not change political and fi nancial dependence upon the DSM-V and its iterations, it may change clinical discussions to help clients benefi t from the best of both worlds. From birth, emotional regulation is a developmental and interpersonal process. Brain-informed narratives normalize
symptoms by invoking the inheritances of our ancestors and the complexity of contemporary lifestyles. Pain and intensity of symptoms makes sense when cast as the collision between these two worlds.
