Dan Siegel: Home

Dan Siegel is a psychiatrist and professor at University of California, Los Angeles, and has written numerous books and academic articles on the relationship between human neurobiology and mental health. Most famous for his interdisciplinary approach to mental health and cognition, Siegel is best known as the founder of interpersonal neurobiology, which attempts to chart the ways in which the human mind emerges from both from interactions between individual systems of the brain, and from relationships between between the individual and other members of his or her world.

One of the reasons why Siegel's work is so useful to both therapists and laypeople alike is that his work is never merely academic but always oriented towards practice, in particular, the promotion of healthy attachment between children and their caregivers. The self, in Siegel's thought, is fundamentally relational; the individual human mind can only ever be understood in the context of its relationship with other minds. In Siegel's words, the mind exists as a product of its own neurobiology and of its relationships, and so consists of both "inner and inter, of within and between" (Siegel, 2019, p. 227). Even our own minds are relational, composed of interweaving thoughts and experiences, and so capable of hearing, receiving, and conversing with ourselves. Only by reconciling these often discordant claims on our affection and attention can we achieve true mental clarity and wellness. Thus, according to Siegel, "integration is the basis of health" (p. 230).

This LibGuide will provide an introduction to Siegel's books on neurobiology and attachment, as well as some of his public lectures. Siegel has written extensively on a broad range of subjects related to human cognition and behavior, but he is particularly interested in the implications of neurobiology on the raising of children.

Siegel, D. J. (2019). The mind in psychotherapy:  An interpersonal neurobiology framework for understanding and cultivating mental health. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 92, 224-237.