ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the hypothesized neural underpinnings of the Regulation-Focused Psychotherapy for Children (RFP-C) approach through a discussion of defense mechanisms and the implicit emotion regulation system. It presents the means and the benefits of the transition from the earlier Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) system to the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) system. The chapter explores the biological underpinnings to RFP-C and demonstrated the feasibility of its integration with the RDoC concept. Emotion regulation is an established focus of study that has long been in conversation with cognitive developmental research. Transdiagnostic approaches through emotion regulation may be of particular benefit to the future of the field. These approaches may very well present an opportunity for psychiatry to gain greater relevance as a medical specialty as correlations with mental health and physical dysfunction via neurology, endocrinology, immunology, and other homeostatic fields become more defined.
