What Freud Didn't Know

Price: $24.95  

Subtitle: A Three-Step Practice for Emotional Well-Being through Neuroscience and Psychology
Author: Timothy B. Stokes
Subject: Consumer Health, Health & Medicine
Cloth ISBN: 978-0-8135-4640-7
Pages: 224 pages
Publication Date: January 2010

Praise for What Freud Didn't Know

"This is a clear, readable presentation of psychotherapy techniques combined with insights from neuroscience. The author writes in a warm insightful manner based on his many years as a practicing clinician; it is guaranteed to provide useful insights for both general readers as well as practicing mental health professionals. I recommend it highly."—Gary Groth-Marnat, Professor, Pacifica Graduate Institute

"In a fundamental way, we are our memories, and one of the basic findings of neuroscience is that the brain, and the multiple memory systems it supports, are malleable. Our brains frequently interpret various physiological/psychological states in ways that don't accurately represent our experience, and we come to believe that we are those models. Stokes, from the perspective of a practicing therapist, has taken on the task of translating basic research findings into a coherent approach to guiding people to a closer approximation of things as they are. His metaphorical concept of "amygdala scripts" integrates a broad range of scientific and clinical material into a systematic framework for understanding and using established techniques of psychotherapy. Clinicians are likely to find this an interesting new perspective on their work." —Jim Grigsby, PhD, University of Colorado Denver

"Though Freudian therapy has, in general, been superseded by modern psychotherapy methods, practicing clinical psychologist Stokes shows how Freud, over a century ago, ingeniously anticipated modern neurobiological discoveries. Building on the concepts of cognitive therapy, which teaches clients to identify and replace dysfunctional thoughts, Stokes developed a three-step method to help people becomes aware of what he calls the amygdala “scripts” that normally operate unconsciously: step one is recognition of a conditioned response, step two identifies the trigger, and step three involves conscious reconditioning through insight. With three appendices, this makes a useful self-help manual for clients and clinicians."—Publishers Weekly 12/21/09

"So refreshing. Timothy Stokes revives Freudian psychotherapy, framing the original concepts of Freud’s work in modern, comprehensible terms. What Freud Didn’t Know stands squarely at the crossroads of self-help and hard science. Stokes makes mindfulness seem like an achievable goal, and sets the steps to make it possible."
—ForeWord Reviews

In a thoughtful and down-to-earth way, Timothy B. Stokes overturns old formulas—and many Freudian concepts—for achieving personal change. During one’s lifetime, hidden memories, along with their misleading assumptions, can unconsciously trigger conflicted feelings—the basis for most psychological problems, large and small.

What Freud Didn’t Know, well-supported by research and groundbreaking in theory, combines neuroscience and psychology to explain how the amygdala region of the brain evolved to unconsciously record, store, and activate emotional memory loops and imagery associated with painful events, especially those of childhood. This book is the first to bring together diverse, post-Freudian discoveries to produce a coherent three-step practice for understanding problematic aspects of the human mind which can be mastered easily, in a clinical or self-help setting. Stokes explores recent breakthroughs, many in marked contrast to Freud’s views, which will change how we view psychological and emotional problems and their treatments.

Grounded in current theories about brain circuitry, What Freud Didn’t Know integrates ideas about mindfulness, habitual thinking, and insight imagery and provides readers with the tools to rescript their personal narratives for psychological well-being. As an alternative approach to treating stress, most types of depression, anxiety, and phobias without prescription drugs, Stokes’s three-step practice can be used to build resiliency and inner peace.

Timothy Stokes, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Boulder, Colorado. Since 1985 he has been clinical director of CPS Inc., which provides psychotherapy to more than 250 clients each year. He was a former editor-in-chief of the Naropa Journal of Contemplative Psychotherapy.