The New Science of Personal Transformation

This books insight of the injured & misconfigured brain processes is very close to the narrative of those experiences'. The unspoken changes that occur within individuals are brought in a way which everyone can comprehend.

Perhaps the best book I have read and re-read and underlined to inform my teaching to other professional health workers and also clients re the benefits of mindfuless from a neuroscience point of view. Very clear and well researched made clearer by examples given of case histories of psychiatric patients.

Dan Siegel makes complicated neurobiology and modern psychology subjects accessible to a lay reader such as myself. His personal and professional experiences are interwoven with technical information making the otherwise abstract quite concrete. Plus it's fun to read!

This book deserves a 5 star rating. Not only has Dan shared his insight and wisdom with its readers but he has also opened up his heart to us. The book is written in such a way to appeal to people of all walks of life. The entire book does not need to be read to be helpful to individuals. Dan invites its readers to skip some chapters and directs them to the stories of people he has helped through teaching mindsight skills. We all have a different way of learning and processing information and Dan reaches out to us all. He is a scientific writer with the unusual skill of reaching a multilevel audience.

I found great wisdom and helpful information and videos on his website too. We live in a world where trauma hits us all in one way or another. We can all improve in mindfulness and mindsight to cultivate a happier more productive life. This I know because I have worked hard at healing an injured mind and I can assure you that mindsight is a powerful tool in the healing process.

This is an excellent book for people with anxiety, depression, OCD, etc. which are common in this day in age. It addresses the root causes of these disorders. I believe that this information is very therapeutic, as is the usual practical cognitive therapy which is much more common. The author Dr. Dan Seigel has written several informative, fascinating books. I recommend this book highly.

This book puts into perspective this difference between the brain and mind and how to better utilize the mind to rewire the brain for a better quality of life. This book can be used for religious and non-religious a like, because it is that good.

This book puts into perspective this difference between the brain and mind and how to better utilize the mind to rewire the brain for a better quality of life. This book can be used for religious and non-religious a like, because it is that good.

I had really hoped to love this book but I'm not sure of the actual point. There is so much going on with neuroplasticity. Why all the models of the fist as a brain? I seriously didn't get the point. And it starts off with a depressing story that never resolves later. What was the point of including that? Some of the other anecdotes feel like a bit of a reach. I guess I can't fault a book or not being what I'd hoped, but it just doesn't seem that memorable in the end. I'm not sure what I learned a few days later.

I wish I could give this book a better review. I wanted to like it, but I was bogged down in Siegal's superficial writing and his need to be entertaining and likable. In the end, he failed to make the material interesting. I felt like I
Ve heard

"Mindsight" explains in a charming and accessible way 1) the hard science behind how the brain works, 2) how different childhood experiences may affect what parts of your brain are "offline," functioning, or over-functioning, 3) what healthy, integrated functioning looks like behaviorally and 4) proven, self-healing ways to bring all parts of your mind and brain together for a balanced, fulfilling experience of self.
This is the clearest, most healing book on behavior I have ever read, and reread.

To me, this book read like a text book. Perhaps that was the author's intention. However, I did not expect a transformational book to read that way.

The book was interesting and informative regarding the subject of how the mind works.

The author also described a way to meditate so as to help train your mind to focus. However, the meditative process was so complicated it couldn't be done without reading the book. (I've never heard that meditation works with a book held in front of your eyes.)

All in all, I found the book interesting, informative, and impractical because no one can expect to be transformed by reading it. In order to be transformed, one would need to hire a therapist to run him through the meditation process, the body scans, and to understand how each individual's relationship problems came to be and where the individual needs to retrain his mind so as to live a peaceful and fulfilling life.

This book provides a clear and engaging description of the complex interaction between the brain and the mind. Case studies help the reader understand practical applications of the ideas discussed in the first part of the book. I would like to see more practical advice, exercise descriptions and other practical help for people who would like to try this approach.

Mindsight is a life changing, well researched, easy to read book. Life changing because Dr. Siegel explains the science of the brain in an understandable way so you can apply it to everyday life. Knowing how your brain works is a game changer when you are trying to improve your life, parent or help other people improve their lives.

Mindsight is a fantastic resource for teachers, because knowing how the brain learns; why your connection to your kids helps learning; and, why kids lose it when they get frustrated (and what to do about it) changes the way you deal with them in a positive way. I know because I teach and use Mindsight to train teachers.

It is a valuable resource for therapists, because teaching people how their brain works gives them hope and a huge amount of power in their own lives. I know this from my own experience as a psychologist.

Mindsight, written in two sections, combines factual presentation with captivating story for an integrated reading experience.

Buy and read Mindsight. You will need to own it, because if you are like me, you will put it down - mull it over - go back pick it up - and re read parts. I've been having this long term dialog with Mindsight since I read it, I think you will too.

Kirke Olson, PsyD[...]

Awful book. Neither my son nor I could get through it. Too analytical and dry. Cerebral...no pun intended. If you're trying to help people with emotional/mental disorders and you give them pure science good luck reaching folks who run on emotion.

This book is not as advertised. It is simply full of case studies by the author with little or no insight into how to improve the reader's life. I left my copy in the seat pocket on the plane hoping that somebody might get more out of it than I did.

I have been looking forward to this reading this book and downloaded it today on Kindle. Daniel Siegel's previous books have been well researched and written and we have learned a great deal from them. This text is excellent in that it makes the concept of Mindsight clear and also shares practical ideas for cultivating this crucial cognitive skill.

Marcus Conyers
BrainSMART.org

As a seasoned clinical psychologist myself I am disappointed by the book, and suprised by the raves of other practitioners. I wanted to like Mindsight. Siegal seems to be an engaging human being and a very effective therapist, as well as an expert in clinical neurology. But I felt at the end that his book merely expresses how excited he is about meditation, or the disciplines of attention, and little beyond that, including very little explication of what mindsight or meditation actually is and how to do it. Most of the book just translates existing clinical lore into neuro language, with an added idealization of meditation (as explicated by previous authors), and feels like a return to the descriptive psychiatry of the 1800's with updated scientific language.

A few of many holes: He does not address the fact that mapping neurology onto the human mind does not explain all of human subjectivity and the vicissitudes that an emergent complexity engenders in the person and in relationship. His explanations of his chosen rubrics (integration, resonance, 'snag'ing the brain, etc.) are sketchy, go by too fast, and are too thin to offer much clinical leverage. His stories about lengthy treatments of multiply traumatized women fails to discuss what other healing practices he employs. He takes 'mindsight' out of the clinical context as if it alone can and does heal all his patients. He seems at time to be re-inventing the wheel, rephrasing already well-known psychological findings in his new language, but not adding anything new to them.

I wanted much more from this well-trained and sincerely dedicated author!

Another book "trying" to bridge science with some biased notion of human interaction. The fact that human behaviour is inexplicable shields this type of leap of faith from critics but the initial premise is always the same.

Instead of being given "bits of information" -- which is precisely how a computer "learns" ... as opposed to the human Mind -- it may be the intention of the author, that you, in using your own intellect, discover, the powerful ideas that are in the case studies and which serve as the basis for that which underlies every word of every sentence of every paragraph that is contained therein. You awaken to the understanding. It's different than how 99% of academics goes these days. He is aware that that thing called Mind, AIMS itself. This is different than body.

In other words, Siegel knows you are a mind, and hopes there is something in you that is awakened, when you open the book. It's a leap to those who don't see themselves as being anything more than a body. The disease of modern education.

Nevertheless, I understand where you are coming from. You are reading stories and wondering "where are the bulletins"? Give me the skeleton, I will flesh it out from there. Indeed, this is one way of learning. It's how things have been run since the time of Aristotle, who departed from his teacher, Plato, opposing him because he demanded more tangible proof (rather than truth) ....

So clearly, you would prefer Aristotle to Plato when it comes to philosophy (love of wisdom) and education. The fact of the matter is that Siegel Himself is very Platonic in nature as a writer. He is, in reality, the most Platonic academic educator that I have ever come across in the Modern Western World. Whether aware or not ... this is the case in my eyes.

Just like your brain makes connections, your mind is intended to make connections -- that is the very principle of Mind itself.

Despite a billion ebullient reviews on this book, I didn't like it. And I wanted to! I just felt it was hundreds of pages of saying something and making lists and pointing things out but never arriving at any destination. Quite a disappointment, and I wish I could return it. I will probably recycle it away instead of donating it as I usually do--if only to save someone else the time on a book that didn't provide me with any insight.

While I appreciate Dr. Siegel's thorough explanation on how trauma affects the brain as well as body systems, thus creating reactionary patterns to people, social situations, or routine experiences in our lives, the book did not demonstrate any new therapies or interventions on how to "rewire" the brain to discontinue these entrenched, reactionary patterns.

Meditation and mindfulness are nothing new. I was hoping for a new, evidence-based intervention, something like EMDR.

This book is likely more helpful to someone who is just beginning their journey to healing past trauma that have acquired PTSD, GAD, Substance Addiction, etc. as a result of unpleasant childhood experiences. It does provide explanation on how brain and body operate after trauma. However, honestly, the book felt somewhat disorganized to me and often rambled. I prefer more direct, concise information.

Siegel is a Harvard-trained psychotherapist who has developed a branch of medicine called Interpersonal Neuro-biology, an innovative method of integrating brain science and psychotherapy, which considers the mind something that goes beyond the brain.

I really love his approach to human psychology, the fact that this is not a book about alternative medicine or self-help, but very alternative in its scientific approach to psychotherapy. The parts of the book I enjoyed the most are the pages devoted to specific medical cases that Doidge himself treated, which show how this sort of therapy works.

The two basic elements of Mindsight, which provide the individual with emotional stability and development are, according to this book, integration and flexibility. Integration is necessary for the mental and social health of the individual and is acquired in different ways: 1/ integration of consciousness. 2/ Horizontal integration (right and left hemispheres of the brain). 3/ Vertical integration (brain to body). 4/ Integration of explicit and implicit memory. 5 /Integration of our personal narrative, that is how we construct and describe our past and present to the world. 6/ Integration of our different social and emotional states. 7/ Integrating of the "I" with society and the real world. 8/ Integration of life and death, as we are born to die.

The main drawback of the book, to me, is the very long introduction describing how the various parts of the brain and how the brain operates. Page after page with too much information. The target of the book is the general public, so a shorter version, and more structured, it would have worked better. After all, the main target of the book is the general public, not the medical profession.Moreover, Doidge is not especially didactic, not even well-structured, so this part is -or it was for me- difficult to swallow.

Only a (highly human) genius like Daniel Siegel could write such a masterpiece that magically transforms the complex science of interpersonal neurobiology into an understandable,compelling, fascinating, and exciting read. He beautifully weaves the concept of mindsight--the process that enables us to monitor and modify the flow of energy and information in our brains so we can achieve the ability to objectively look inward to our subjective internal world--into the journey of creating healthy, stable, compassionate, and flexible relationships with the self and others. He provides illuminating guidance for this literally mind-altering journey via (clearly explained) emerging neuroscience research, clever acronyms/metaphors/models/illustrations, fascinating case studies, (at times humbling) personal experiences, mindfulness techniques, spiritual wisdom, and gracefully written prose. Siegel convincingly conveys how integrating the "pieces of the mind" (i.e., consciousness, horizontal, vertical, memory, narrative, state, interpersonal, and temporal domains) ultimately results in enhanced peace of mind, fulfilling reciprocal relationships, and the ability to feel connected to a much larger whole. _Mindsight_ clearly shows how "seeing the mind can enhance our individual and collective lives."

Your brain will never be the same after fully integrating the literally mind-altering concepts of _Mindsight_.

My therapist recommended this book soon after I was diagnosed with BPD. I read it once and liked it but after my therapist kept referring to it in our meetings I decided to give it a second read. This was almost two months later. The second time through it I realized many new insights that I didn't understand the first time through. I'm just a regular guy who suffers from a disorder I wish I didn't. This book has provided good insight between the neuroscience and the way I think from a pscyhological perspective. Definitely worth a read, even if it takes a few re-reads to really absorb.

As a licensed mental health worker who has read widely over a period of decades, always in search of better ways to understand and improve human experience, I have found Dan Siegel's writing to be outstanding in its ability to open up novel and deeper ways of understanding. He has an impressive ability to present complex scientific research findings in neuroscience and neurobiology in understandable and applicable terms. His work, and this book in particular, has inspired my personal and professional life. I am in the process of re-reading it, and have recommended it to clients. I have also purchased but not yet read "Whole Brain Child" also by this author, and have pre-ordered "Brainstorm", due for release in December 2013. Dr. Siegel's message is compelling and provides a view of the brain and mind that offers not only a perspective, but a path with do-able steps for getting to a higher, more integrated level of functioning, for the individual and by extension, the family and broader society.

I bought the audible version of "Mindsight" after doing research into my attachment issues. I'm have what Dr. Siegel calls a anxious-ambivalent attachment, and it's wrecked my intimate relationships as an adult. You'll have to skip ahead to part 2 of his book before he dives into ways mindsight can help with attachment, but I don't recommend that until you try to grasp at least some of the concepts he explains in part one. I say "try to grasp" because this is a book that deals with neuroscience, psychology, and mindfulness, so what Dr Siegel is explaining is sometimes hard to grasp on the first, second, or even third listen. But I assure you, if you're patient with this book, it will payoff big time as you start to piece it all together; especially if you have an insecure attachment like I do. This isn't a cure all book. It will take practice and lots of mindfulness, but I assure you it can be life-changing if you listen close enough.

I found this gem of a book in a Dallas, TX bookstore before the official release date. As an educator with post graduate work in teaching children how to think as they learn (cognitive learning specialist), I loved Dr. Siegel's tag line "Inspire to Rewire". That is exactly what the book teaches you to do. I now work as an educational consultant and a parenting consultant. It is so evident that people are holding onto thoughts that are keeping them in their own prison of the mind due to the rigid or chaotic thinking and lack of cohesive brain integration. While working with a client, who was struggling with parenting issues, she began to develop Mindsight and understood the leftover issues keeping her trapped in a rigid mindset. After applying Dr. Siegel's suggestions to overcome the brain's rigidity, she realized that she received a message from her childhood implying that she was responsible for everything and everyone. We were both "inspired to rewire" her thinking, as it was apparent that she was learning to see her own rigid views on life. After three sessions, she began to change her own views on parenting and responsibility. For the first time in her life, she understood her story.

This book belongs in the hands of everyone in the helping profession. It's also written in such a way that your clients/parenting students, spouses, friends can use the meditations and other suggestions by Dr. Siegel to begin to rework their story into a cohesive narrative. Boomers will love this, as they search for reasons why their lives may not be working. Dr.Siegel's suggestions for rewiring take time, but I'm convinced they are well worth the time involved. There appears to be a better life awaiting all, who are dealing with confusion or a weak sense of self. His teachings illustrate how to rewrite a new autobiography in a way that makes sense. The book is a huge prescription for a happier more resilient life. An added bonus is the fact that the book offers Mindsight exercises designed to foster enjoyable relationships with those in our families and circle of friends.

I'm pleased to recommend this book to my colleagues and friends. Mary Ann Lowry, M.Ed.

Daniel Siegel is an excellent and extremely credible author on the practical application of the discoveries of contemporary neuroscience, their relation to Eastern Spirituality and everyday life. This particular book is his best, most concise distillation of this practical wisdom to daily life and personal transformation.

The book starts off with an explanation of the brain and the function of various regions of the brain. Unlike his other books, this time he doesn't waste a word, include any superfluous information and succeeds in making some of the more difficult of these concepts crystal clear. In previous books, he did an OK or good job, in this text he achieves his goal superbly in very few words.

This book narrows its focus quickly to the role of the prefrontal cortex in attention and integration. The author demonstrates the importance of these functions to daily life, explains how various practices can be used to improve these functions and relates them to emotional and social intelligence.

Each concept presented, is related to a case study. I found that this style complemented the presentation and I tend to prefer books that are light on case studies. In this book, they are balanced perfectly with the explanation of concepts and provide just enough review to really understand the text.

Some of Siegl's other books are less accessible to laymen than this one. Therefore, if you haven't read anything by this author, this is an excellent place to start. In general, Daniel Siegel is extremely credible, well-respected and has a gift for explaining difficult concepts. This makes all his books, but especially this one and pleasurable read.

While this text is very readable by anyone, the professional therapist, advanced practitioner and brain science reader will all find something of value here. In other words, Mr. Siegel is effective in targeting this book to multiple audiences. There is also enough specific therapeutic information for the practicing therapist to begin applying his ideas to a clinical setting.

For parents and layman, I also recommend Parenting From the Inside Out. This book looks at parenting as both a self-development opportunity and relates what we know about human development to effective parenting. For practitioners of Eastern meditative techniques or other forms of meditations, The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being is a must have.

In the area of psychological development of children, I also recommend The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are. This book is a classic in the field and a more rigorous treatment of some of the concepts in "Parenting from the Inside Out."

Lastly, to compliment Siegel's perspective on development, I would add The Atman Project: A Transpersonal View of Human Development as a recommendation. Although Ken Wilber is somewhat controversial (although brilliant), his description of the interior states between birth and 5 years old are particularly excellent. Wilber also posits a transpersonal development model that is great food for thought. If you like this book, I also recommend A Brief History of Everything as a broader introduction to his innovative integral worldview.

Mindsight
THE NEW SCIENCE OF PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION
Daniel J. Siegel, M.D.

"Dr. Siegel removes the veil of the mysteries of the interface between mind, brain and relationships with the novel and profound descriptions of how we become who we are, what makes things go wrong, and how all of us can achieve optimal well being by using our capacity for attention to change the very structure and function of our brains."
Harville Hendrix Ph.D.

"An extraordinary and practical wedding of neuroscience and spiritual wisdom."
Jack Kornfield

Quotes from the Book:

"Loss of someone we love cannot be expressed in words."

"Grief allows you to let go of something that you have lost only when you begin to accept what you now have in its place."

"I learned then that knowing about the different functions of the brain somehow enables some people to gain enough distance from the damaged or hurtful relationship that they can develop[ more compassion and understanding."

"Anger creates anger, and cooling off is essential."

As a wise professor of mine said, "Uncovering memory and meaning are never over until life is over."

With mindsight our standard is honesty and humility, not some false ideal of perfection and invulnerability."

"The energy and information flow that we sense both in ourselves and in others rides the resonance circuits to enable mindsight."

"When our minds move away from integration, away from harmony, are we then prone to live in chaos and/or rigidity."

"Our right side develops early and is the realm of imagery, holistic thinking, nonverbal language, autobiographical memory... Our left brain...is responsible for logic, spoken and written language, linearity, lists and lateral thinking."

"...the brain changes physically in response to experience, and new mental skills can be acquired with intentional effort, with focused awareness and concentration."

The renowned psychologist William James once said: " The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again, is the very root of judgement character and will."

Sometimes we need to "name it to tame it."

"... you can run but you cannot hide."

"...wisdom of the body..."

"The strange thing about panic --when we lean into it, it loosens its grip on us."

"The kind of memory that enable us to ride a bike is implicit memory; our ability to recall the day we were taught to ride is explicit memory."

"While these implicit mental models exist in all of us, with mindsight we can begin to free ourselves from the powerful and insidious ways they create our here-and-now perceptions and beliefs."

"There are two forms of explicit memory: factual and episodic. "

Such implicit-only memories continue to shape our subjective feeling we have of our here-and-now realities, and the sense of who we are from moment-to-moment, but this influence is not accessable to our awareness. We have to assemble these implicit pieces into explicit form in order to be able to reflect on their impact on our lives."

"Rage can shut off the hippocampus."

"Before memory can be fully integrated into the cortex as part of permanent, explicit memory, they must go through the process of "consolidation", which seems to depend on REM sleep."

"Memory is not like a photo copy machine."

"Memory retrieval is a memory modifier."

" But such automatic responses may instead be left over garbage
from painful moments of our unexamined past,..."

Secure attachment, avoidant attachment, ambivalent attachment,
disorganized attachment...

"You may have noticed that energy and information move in a harmonious flow in secure attachment; tend toward rigidity in avoidance; toward chaos in ambivalence; and alternate between rigidity and chaos in disorganization."

"That is why mindsight is important, not just for our own well being, but also what it enables us to give our children (and others) It's never to late to heal the mind and to bring to ourselves and to those around us the compassion and kindness that arise from the healing and integration."

"When, as Rebecca says, we feel that we are "inside the heart" of another, the candlelight of love glows from within and illuminates our lives."

"If we can make sense of our past --if we can integrate our narratives-- we can free ourselves from what would otherwise be a cross-generational legacy of pain and insecure attachment."

"... we can be receptive or we can be reactive..."

"...reactivity cuts off seeing clearly..."

"This is the essence of mindsight: we must look inward to know our internal world before we can map clearly the the internal state, the mind, of the other. As we grow in the ability to know ourselves, we become receptive to knowing each other. And as a "we" is woven into the neurons of our mirroring brains, even our sense of self is illuminated by the light of our connection. With internal awareness and empathy, self empowerment and joining, differentiation and linkage, we create harmony within the resonating circuits of our social brains."

...the candlelight of love...
...glows from within...
and...
...illuminates our lives."

I just got finished with this book, and I found it quite fascinating on many levels. I didn't always agree with the author's materialist/reductionist views, emphasizing the brain's role in thoughts and behavior, but considering that's the dominant stance in mainstream medicine, science, and psychology, it's totally understandable. However, he managed to balance it fairly well by emphasizing the mind's power, through awareness, to "rewire" the brain.

He describes the three aspects of well being: Mind, brain, and relationships, and how to reach that state through integration, self-observation, acceptance, and awareness. He spends a fair amount of time describing various practices and exercises for achieving those states, and a lot of time describing the underlying mechanics and practical applications. He talks about the FACES qualities of integration: Flexible, Adaptive, Coherent, Energetic, and Stable. He talks about how we all travel down the river of integration, one bank is chaos, the other is rigidity, and that striking a balance between the two allows us to flow more easily through life. He talks about integrating the various levels and regions of the brain (brain stem, limbic system, right, left), along with memories (how to deal with painful memories, how memories form beliefs), and temporal integration (looking at the past, present, and future in a healthy way).

The subject matter was well organized, easy to digest and understand, and made sense on a lot of levels. Basically if you took Ekhart Tolle's "Power of Now", tossed in a bit of Ken Wilber, and applied it to psychology and relationships, explaining everything from a neurological perspective, you'd come pretty close to the general vibe of Mindsight.

I'd highly recommend it to anyone. It's not the whole picture, but it's a pretty significant contribution. It covers a lot of material, and breaks a lot of concepts down into easy to grasp terms. I'm looking forward to reading it again, and I have a list of friends and family members who I wish I could get to read it. Good stuff.

I would give it 5 stars, but I knocked off one star because he tends to overemphasize the influence of the past, society, parents, and family on human behavior, and the reductionist/materialist philosophical tone (downplaying or ignoring the transpersonal, spiritual dimension, or couching their effects in neurological terms). I agree with another reviewer as well that it could do with a bit more emphasis in specific exercises. It's not exactly a step by step how-to guide; it paints a picture and gives you a few hints, but leaves it to you to figure out how to arrive at the destination. It's a good map, but as a guidebook, it's somewhat lacking.

The books has some good ideas, but one third to half of it is the author telling us how brilliant, intuitive and plainly genius he is.

He talks about meditation, and mindfulness. Those topics are dealt with in a better way in books like 10% happier, or courses like Practicing Mindfulness.

This is the best book for working through and out of depression for a scientifically minded person. At first I thought Mindfulness was so much modern Voo-Doo. After reading Dr. Siegel's book with comparisons back and forth with scientific findings in the brain, I am a convinced user of Mindfulness and find it truly helpful. This was an important "break-through" book for me. I recommend it highly!

This book summarizes the author's research and clinical applications of a paradigm of psychological well-being that he refers to as "mindsight". The idea borrows heavily from the plethora of mindfullness literature and research, and tries to justify itself in terms of neurology. He is an academic and the book reads like a historical outline of a lab's worth of many years of work and how the ideas came together and how effective they were in real clinical applications.

Overall, it was a pleasure to read. But I gave it a four star rating because, first of all, the intro to neurology was kind of on a boring read. The other problem I had, which is more fundamental, is that he tries to rest all these ideas on neurology. Obviously that is the ultimate goal of psychology, to relate behavioural and emotional problems to their underlying physical neurological issues and address the physical aspects of those problems, just like an orthopaedic surgeon would with musculoskeletal problems, but I think we are far from that point. Although Daniel Siegel is one of the people who is pushing science to understand the brain more, at the moment, one can't really rest all behavioural issues on the brain. Our understanding of the connection of the mind to the brain is fraught with gaps and we just aren't there yet. So all these attempts to inject the science of neurology to the study of behaviour works on some level, but not always.

Overall, kudos to Daniel for all his great work. If you like to read a book on psychology that is interesting, illuminating and scientific, yet accessible, read this book. Also watch his lectures on youtube and also you might want to check out Jon Kabat Zinn's books.

H from Canada

One of the most important books about personal change I’ve ever read. The brain model presented here is incredibly helpful to an understanding of how our minds work and how our brains can be rewired for a more integrated life.

Life muse and respected author, Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, has added another gem to his rich collection of heplful personal and family guides for the serious student of brain and relationship transformation. Written thoughtfully to speak to a broad audience, I found this nonfictional work to be gentle yet mesmerizing.

After 4 introductory and explanatory chapters, Dr. Siegel gets to the brillant framework of his vision and introduces eight domains of integration. Each domain represents an imbalance of the extended nervous system that can be improved by psychotherapy or other reparative relationships. This wonderful metaphor fits my personal strength-based, solution-focused perspective of "mental illness" and leaves the less helpful, problem focused and pathogolizing ideas in the dust. He then goes on to develop and highlight each domain with excellent research evidence, examples and case presentations. Weaving in newer ideas of neuroplasticity , mindfulness, and interconnectedness, the author skillfully crafts many of the old concepts with newer proactive ways to reshape the brain using the mind and body.

A majority of the book starts at the level of individual psychology, however, I appreciate Dr. Siegel's efforts to then expand the system and bring in family or other important relationships into almost every case presentation. By chapter eleven, the author finally dives head on into the rich possibilites of systemic psychotherapy with a couple's case discussion.

If neuroanatomy is not a major interest, you may want to skip the "Minding the Brain" section of chapter one, and refer to it later as a reference guide. Like the deeper sections of the brain that contain peace and tranquility, I would encourage you to dive slower and carefully into this book (and possibly at your own pace and order) to enjoy the many levels of transformation that this book promises and delivers. Like great music, this explanation of mindsight fulfills its promise to speak to each listener in their own language and with their own unique cadence.

I have read this book several times and have started practicing its many ideas and suggestions. I can only say in the plainest words - this book and Dan Siegel's other books (and web lectures) have changed my brain and my life. It is impossible to overestimate its profound influence on one's emotions, thinking and understanding, more than any other psychological book, thinker or technique I have encountered (and I have tried many, for many years). The more you invest in this book and its techniques and the more you invest in Dan Siegel's books and lectures, the more you will understand your life and the life other people who partake life with you.

This book was recommended to me by someone who enjoyed my own recommendations. I read it with an open mind, but came away finding it to be fairly vacuous. That is, there ain't much substance here. Many books lack substance but do well commercially; myself, I insist on a book having a clear & substantive message.

The first objection I have is the notion of "mindsight" he is trying to sell us. He describes it as awareness of the mind's own processes. Fine. So how is that different than the longstanding concept of mindfulness mentioned (eventually) in this book and by other reviewers here?

My take is that mindfulness preexisted this book, so he couldn't claim it as his own. Instead, he creates a new word meaning basically the same thing for the sole purpose of trademarking it for his use. An intellectually dishonest move.

Second, while the author is clearly fascinated by and apparently well versed in brain research, he improperly draws a causal connection between processes of the human brain established by or emergent research, and the very specific, individual and short term behaviors of individuals in his care.

With due respect to astrology, this author can no more say with any authority or certainty that a style of therapy recommended to a client caused neurons in the patients brain to enlarge, become more sensitive or "re-wire" than if we said the client was moving out of a conjunctive influence between Mercury & the Sun. Both give practitioners a sense of control, but that sense sure isn't based on much evidence any specific situation.

For this author, its more that science is his religion.

In much the same vein, the author absolutely insists on localizing things that cannot be truly localized. He takes things literally that may be best understood figuratively. So, he understands "gut feelings" to come from the gut; heartfelt emotions from the heart. And specific emotions from various specific parts of the brain. None of which science as a whole has established, and certainly none of which this author can have any idea about (apart from religious-like faith) when dealing with specific patients he described.

The book offers some useful ideas about a healthy, adaptive life being lived in between the extremes of rigidity & chaos, of the 8 aspects of integration & wholeness, and in particular about attachment theory and how it influences our life in big ways & small. But on each such point, we could find a far better, more coherent, more insightful book than this.

This book is a great example of successfully synthesized ideas and experiences. I am really enjoying it. This book was recommended to me by classmate in an acting class, and it turned out to be an unexpected boon for me. Moreover, Dr. Siegel outlines and makes accessible a key trait (empathy) that is going to be the most important characteristic for all successful occupations, professional fields, and personal life issues, now more than ever. I'm very grateful for his research, work, and ideas that make so accessible and understandable the often tangled complications of the worlds of psychology/sociology, science/ technology, and religion/ spirituality colliding.

This is an important book - not as a how-to on mindfulness, but as a way to understand the science behind it.

That said, it's a bit of a slog for anyone not interested in the nuts and bolts of neuroscience, or in case studies. But if you tend to be a skeptic as I do, it's extremely helpful in illuminating what's going on in the cranium during mindfulness practice.

Eastern philosophies seem much less mystical after reading it...and thus, more understandable, and dare I say, believable (at least for those of us who have to witness the water walking before believing).

One note: if you do find yourself about to give up on it, skip to the epilogue, read it, then decide if the book seems worthwhile. The epilogue would have been a great intro for the book...a suggestion for a future edition.

This book was really interesting to me in light of my current interest in substance dualism; the idea that we have a soul that is immaterial and yet can influence the brain, while being influence by the physical itself. Siegel is quite obviously a scientific naturalist, yet he is unlike many others in that he is willing to live with the mystery that the mind is non-physical, and this was fascinating to me. Mind, in his mind of course is just the magical result of evolution, and as of yet it can't really be understood or explained scientifically, but its reality is obvious; this consciousness, this ability to think about thinking, to have beliefs, freewill and volition is commonsense. The main idea of the book is we need mind sight, the ability to be an observer of the happenings within our brain. The low road as he calls it, is influence by desires, personality, trauma, memories and evolutionary factors of fight, flight and freeze among many other things will cause us to do extremely inappropriate and irrational things if we let it have its way. But since we are not only our brain, we can in essence take a step back and observe that what is happening inside of us is just mere happenings in parts of our brain, that most often are influenced by our childhood and genes. The emotions and irrational fear or self-destructive tendencies are not our identity, these things can be changed. And through mindfulness we can rewire our brain. He never calls the mind our soul, which is important since I am sure he wants to remain a respected academic, yet the theist could easy reference this book in making a cause for a soul that fills the body, and that the only reasonable explanation for this non-physical mind is A MIND, the Spirit who fills the universe. For how can non-thinking materiel create a non-phyiscal mind through the process of evolution?

After Siegel writes about the mind, the rest of the book is filled with examples of psychoanalysis with his patients. With each person he discovers the childhood events that has resulted in their current issues and helps the patient by getting them to understand that what they are feeling is located in the brain and that the brain can be rewired through mindful effort. Recognizing whats happening inside and the why its happening, takes a lot of the wind out of the sails. I like that he never wanted the patients to blame other or see themselves as victims, but wants to help them to rise above it through mindsight. But yeah, I am making a mess of this review, I think I ought to stop.

Mindsight is a book on Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). For the uninitiated, MBCT is psychotherapy that combines cognitive therapy with "mindfulness." Mindfulness is the detachment of ourselves from our emotions (or "automatic responses") so we're able to objectively analyze a problem and work out productive solutions. The author touches briefly on the use of breathwork to facilitate this detachment. (Breathwork is the practice of focusing your awareness on your breathing, which is a technique used in yoga, taichi, and other forms of meditation)

Three-fifths of the book are on clinical cases in which the author successfully uses mindfulness techniques to treat patients. The common thread in all of these clinical cases involves the patient regressing into his/her childhood memories and experiences as the first step towards detachment from his/her emotions. The cases show that ingrained behaviors *can* be changed because of neuroplasticity (neuroplasticity has displaced localization as scientists have come to accept that the brain is more malleable than previously thought). I found most of the case studies very interesting to read. Some of them have even given me valuable insight into my own life.

Mindsight is not so much a self-help book as it is a book that provides a very fascinating exploration of MBCT. It is extremely well-written. The writing is very coherent and easy to understand. If you want to learn about MBCT, Mindsight is an excellent resource.

Incredibly insightful and empowering. Dr Siegel effectively explains relationship between our dynamic, self regulated, biochemical circuits and our emotional filters that skew reality, and prevent us from seizing our true power.

"Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation", is an interesting balance of brain physiology on one hand and mind management on the other hand and provides powerful insights into using our minds for achieving desired life wellbeing.

Siegel proposes that life wellbeing is achieved through mental integration that is neither too rigid nor too chaotic and provides examples of clinical practices that helped people evolve from rather dysfunctional lives to healthier wellbeing.

While I found Mindsight a rather heavy read on the brain physiology side, I also found Siegel's examples and exercises very accessible and practical for use in everyday life. Where Emotional Intelligence in the 1990's emerged as a language for social intelligence, the principles of Mindsight are now delving deeper our internal thinking processes and providing more practical understanding of how we can achieve greater emotional intelligence, enjoy greater personal wellbeing and develop more `we-oriented' relationships.

If you're looking for more effective ways for overcoming dysfunctional personal practices I highly recommend Mindsights.

Richard E Neslund

Amazing book with considerations of all the ways we can become disconnected with ourselves, as well as thoughts for how to re-connect. Great stories/case studies that have a teaching purpose. I'd put this on a recommended reading list for counselors especially!

The actual method set out in Siegel's books is nothing new: it's to count to 10 so you can stand back from your emotional and physiological turmoil and think about what you're doing before you act out your impulses. Not bad advice but nothing new either.

The author's material on the frontal lobes of the brain is interesting but his material on the Triune brain is old. Frankly, Siegel could easily have written his advice without the gratuitous brain science. He seems to reify the mind as something apart from the multiple electrochemical communication and control systems that make up the body which seems a step backward in the history of science.

Frankly, it's hard to understand all the positive reviews a number of which seem to have been written by his co-workers and colleagues.

I'm sure that Norton, the publisher of his academic treatises, is happy to sell books but it's mostly verbal fluff that will be forgotten in a decade.

There's so much fluff and self-promotion in this book you'll want to sharpen up your skimming skills. It could have been written in about 30 pages. Another hustler who may actually believe he's contributing something new just because he figured out a new catchy term. If you want to read a really good book try Daniel Kahnemann's "Thinking Fast & Slow", which has real substance and will teach you a lot about why people are the way we are.

I am a professional coach and am always learning and looking for new tools to support my clients' success. I don't write many reviews, but this book deserves our attention. It does an excellent job of explaining brain science in a useful way I can employ with my coaching clients. I am convinced that mindful attention with openness and compassion for ourselves is essential for us to make sustainable changes, and Siegel's book offers ideas and resources to help ourselves and our clients.

This isn't a fast read, but you won't want to put it down, either. Siegel coins a new term, mindsight, to describe how we can learn to understand, appreciate, and work with our brains and become proactive observers and higher level thinkers.

I highly recommend this.

Barbara
[..]

How many books can you really say that about? For a beginner in this field,the combination of clearly explained scientific foundations, and actual case studies, is a compelling demonstration of the purpose of the book. The book is comprehensive, and the writing is clear, moving, utterly inspiring. I have been back to this book many times for clarification and fresh insights for work and for life.

To start this review is a list of simple questions within a dialectic process that may require more than a simple answer: why do we believe that reading a book can change our lives? Because we believe that the knowledge from the book may be helpful. But reading & following a book are 2 different things. How do we know if we follow a book teaching we can find what we were looking for? A lot of what we read can be filtered by genetics, environment, culture, language, spiritual experiences, etc...The list is endless that effects our understanding. If we can't fully understand what we are reading or don't take in account our subjective filters, how can we truly follow a practice or teaching? For example; if you practice any spiritual disciplines you will see a lot is missing from this book. If you look at reality as merely physical, then of course the Brain & Consciousness is physical to your understanding. Then this book may be what you are looking for, but do you want to read & follow only one or a few books about physical reality & it's BEING (Existence) in Human physical Consciousness within the Brain? But where do the teachings or concepts within philosophy & phycology come from? What if the historical function of the teaching or concept is uncovered from historical culture, myth, or religion? All modern information comes from somewhere. Modern Science is not a free for all or from a historical vacuum. It's still based on symbols which are interpreted in the MIND (Brain Consciousness) & all symbolic usage comes from historical & cultural development.

As an Ex-Yogi to Evangelical Christian to Christian Orthodox Mystic that studies philosophy, phycology, & brain science; I still can't match Dr. Daniel J. Siegel in his fields of study. But he does lack a few insights in the metaphysical or mystical frame work of spiritual transcendence.

I was given this book from a friend at church where we both discovered we were studying the same issues: Cognitive Behavior Therapy & Patristic Prayer (Prayer of the Heart or Silent Prayer). I was first fascinated by what I viewed in "Mindsight" as uniting what I knew of brain functions to phycology. I totally agree that certain areas of the brain do communicate to our consciousness. That Fight-Flight-Freeze comes from the brainstem & amygdala, that rationality comes from frontal cortex, etc...But human consciousness is still a mystery & incorporates more than brain function. There is something in the HEART (Emotional Center of Human Consciousness) which is around the physical heart area of the chest, & there are other areas of the body that adds to or shapes our consciousness. As an Ex-Yogi I can testify to Charkas or spiritual energy points in the spinal cord within the human body. Does anyone in modern science really think that so many ancient cultures believe & follow concepts of Charkas & Chi don't know what they are doing? Then again Charkas can be but physical centers within the body that communicate the sexual, hunger, emotional, & other types of nerve information to the MIND. I have studied Chinese philosophy but never practice Chi but I understand it. I have given up all forms of Yoga due to its historical spiritual implications when I became a Christian but as a Mystic & studier of ancient Patristic Prayer I do practice silent prayer & have experienced the NOUS (Greek meaning, not English) or the meeting place within the HEART where God & human consciousness unite. I have learned that Consciousness is a total unity of the body & the MIND which uses a great percentage of brain function. Therefore when Dr. Daniel J. Siegel is teaching his clients to think differently or do body scans, what is he really teaching? Thinking differently is no different than Cognitive Behavior Therapy where "Mindslight" just adds "Brain Areas" to the equation. Are bodily scans a western form of yoga? Where did Dr. Daniel J. Siegel get this teaching of body scanning? Do Dr. Daniel J. Siegel teachings about body scanning include any metaphysical overtones? If body scanning is an innocent practice; what about asking the Holy Spirit to help you scan your body? What about incorporating some AA 12 step program thought processes into the body scan? When we innocently scan our bodies are we passing over Charkas or the NOUS without entering into them? If you think I am writing about "Metaphysical Mumbo Gumbo" reread chapter 7, page 134 in the hardback edition of "Mindsight". What did Anne tap into during her first body scan? Why did her heart area reveal her HEART? Therefore why do we have to scan our bodies when the body is part of our FULL consciousness? How did we as Humans cut ourselves off from the body & thus limit our consciousness to our MINDS? Dr. Daniel J. Siegel goes a step futher & makes the MIND our PHYICAL BRAIN. Is all this a western cultural adaptation where consciousness is taught to come from the Brain rather than the FULL body? Nowhere does the book "Mindsight" ask or answer these questions.

Another issue; when a person practice's "Real" Yoga, not the Western New Age make-a-buck stuff, the person studies the Upanishads & joins an Ashram to find a Guru. When one becomes a Christian the person studies the Bible & joins a Church to follow a Priest or Pastor. Okay, when you read "Mindsight" where are you going to go? Call up Dr. Daniel J. Siegel for an appointment? When I read the first few chapters of this book I added it to my wish list but by chapters 6 or 7 I took the book out. I could see that understanding just brain functions lacks a total unity of human consciousness & certain so called body scans lacks metaphysical or mystical historical clarification or understanding. Modern science has done it again cutting off our historical past & coming up with an easy answer with NO questions about where the concepts or pratices came from. A rating of 3 for "Some" Mindsight.

As a Certified Matrix Energetics practitioner (Kimberly Burnham, PhD VisualizeHealth.net)and Health Coach, I love Daniel Siegel's definition of the Mind as a process that regulates the flow of energy and information. Human Mind happens in a body, and brain (extended nervous system distributed throughout the body). The Mind allows information and energy to be transferred or shared.
"The mind is an embodied and relational process that regulated the flow of energy and information." - Daniel Siegel, Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation
Developer of Matrix Energetics, Richard Bartlett notes that we are made up of light and information and by accessing / observing two points (two point technique) that light and information can shift processes in our bodies, minds lives and our universe.
Daniel Siegel goes on to say, to regulate something you need to be able to measure or monitor or observe that which you are going to influence. Creating a stronger mind can take place through observing mental activities as the flow of energy and information with more clarity and modify it with more efficacy (mindsight).
"There is something about being able to see and influence your internal world that creates more health." -- Kimberly Burnham,PhD, Author of Our Fractal Nature, A Journey of Self-Discovery and Connection, Balancing the Sleep-Wake Cycle: Sleep Better, Learn Faster, Contribute More, and Enjoy Life to Its Fullest (Recover Your Life Through Brain Health) and have a chapter in Pearls of Wisdom: 30 Inspirational Ideas to Live your Best Life Now! and the upcoming book, The Nerve Whisperer.

Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation
By Daniel J. Siegel, 2010, Bantam Books, New York
Review by Dr. Rachel Hott, co-director of The NLP Center of New York (nlptraining.com)

In December 2009 I attended the Evolutionary Psychotherapy conference in California where I saw Dr. Daniel J. Siegel present I found his presentation very interesting as he is described the brain's role in mental health. He had a wonderful way of combining practical suggestions as he described the complex understanding of the brain. He has written several books on this topic, and his most recent book, Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation, is a book I would like to discuss.
After completing this book I wrote down several take away points that I can use with my clients and students. The points that I want to explore are; learning to do insight meditation, doing body scanning, understanding the relationship between the middle prefrontal cortex and amygdala, paying attention to the differences between the left and right hemispheres, working with couples, and helping people who have obsessions.

One of the benefits to creating some form of meditative practice is to learn to become an observer. When you train the brain to witness your thoughts, you are actually helping the prefrontal cortext to manage the emotional aspect of your life. One of the first tools that Siegel teaches his clients to do is a meditation he calls insight meditation. He uses a script, but basically he is helping people relax, observe their thoughts, and discover that their mind can pay attention to anything that is going on in their lives without getting caught up in their thoughts. He explains that the prefrontal middle cortex is where we "create representations of concepts such as time, a sense of self, and moral judgment...it creates links among...the cortex, limbic areas, and brainstem with the skull, and the internally distributed nervous system of the body proper." (Siegle, P. 21-22). He also explains that by acting as a linking system the integration of the middle prefrontal cortex with the entire whole cortex and brainstem body promotes well being. The middle prefrontal functions are; body regulation, attuned communication, emotional balance, fear modulation, response flexibility, insight, empathy, morality, and intuition. These descriptions of well being are observed when individuals practice meditation and mindfulness. Plus these results, (except for intuition), are outcomes of secure parent-child relationships. (Siegle, p. 269). Therefore it is very important to be able to develop stimulate the middle prefrontal cortex linkage.

A way to stimulate the middle prefrontal cortex when someone is feeling depressed is to teach them to do some form of meditation so that they can have more control over their feelings. Specifically they want to control the amygdala, which is the emotional center of the brain that is over activated. When the client trains their mind in this focused way it will help them to feel more centered and ready to cope with their issues. It is not only the focusing that helps, but also the diaphragmatic breathing that occurs when teaching clients to do this meditative practice that also calms them.

In my private practice I teach clients to do self-hypnosis, which is similar to meditation, as a way towards an initial relaxation response. When meditating, the individual watches his thoughts. When doing hypnosis, in addition to watching thoughts, the client is given suggestions or gives himself suggestions to explore and create solutions for specific situations. So by stimulating the prefrontal middle cortex and easing the overactive emotional part, the amygdala, the clients becomes more receptive to identifying and accessing their inner resources.

There are many clients who rather than being ruled by their emotions are unable to feel connected to them at all and have an inability to express them. In this case Siegel suggests that it would be useful for them to become connected to their body and their feelings. He explains this by discussing the left and right hemispheres of the body. The left hemisphere is connected to logic, numbers, words, and linear thinking. The right hemisphere is related to spatial relations, creativity, feelings and sensations. So therefore the goal when working with someone who is split off from their feelings is to help them develop more of their right hemisphere, the area that is connected to feelings. He recommends starting with body scanning.
Body scanning is a process where you focus on your body. You slowly pay attention to each part of your body, whether you start from the head or from the feet, and begin to pay attention to any sessions, tension, emotions etc. For those of you who are very sensitive this will seem too simple, but for those of you who are typically logical and thinking types it will be a new discovery for your emotional life.
This can also be helpful when working with couples. Siegle created a practical example for the reader to experience. Imagine that someone is saying, "No," several times in a loud volume. Contrast that with imagining that someone is saying, "Yes," in an average volume. Pay attention to how your body fells in each scenario. Typically clients say that they feel tight as if a wall has been put up when they hear the word "no," and they feel more open when they hear the word "yes." This experiment immediately begins to teach clients about feelings in their body. For couples this is useful because a "no" is a reactive response and the "yes" is a receptive response. Siegel claims that in order for the couple to resolve issues they need to learn how to be in a receptive mode. Therefore, when each person becomes sensitive to their walls going up, the moment they are feeling the no, the reactivity, is the time for them to stop and take a break. They can actually ask for a time out, say that they feel their walls coming up, or find an easy way to separate from the situation momentarily. Once they calm down (calm the amygdala), they can come back and maintain the responsive position. Siegel says that love encapsulates three qualities; openness, acceptance and curiosity. When you are in a responsive state it is much easier to tap into these curiosity.

In reverse let's say you are overly sensitive, and find that emotions overwhelm you. Then you want to stimulate the left hemisphere. One of the ways to do that is with the meditation or self-hypnosis. Another suggestion is to learn to name the feeling. When you properly name the feeling you are using language to articulate what is going on in your inner experience. I had first learned about "proper naming" from Stephen Gilligan in a training supervision. Dr. Siegel uses the phrase, "name it and tame it." I think this is useful especially for the client who becomes overwhelmed by feelings.

In the NLP training classes and with my clients we often practice "reframing symptoms". Siegel does something similarly with his patients who have obsessive thoughts. When we reframe we rename the symptom or behavior by identifying the positive aspect (positive intention) of the symptom or behavior. For example when a child has a tantrum it is often understood that the behavior is undesirable, but the communication of the behavior is that they need attention. With obsessing thoughts Siegel explains the brain to his clients. He says, " I explain that this circuitry involves the fight-flight freeze system of the brainstem, the fear-producing amygdala of the limbic area, and the worrying and planning prefrontal cortex. The activation of the survival reflexes and the emotion of fear push our cortical areas to find danger-sometimes when a threat is truly there, and sometimes when the sense of danger is only our brain's creation. Because this brain system checks for danger, I like to call it the checker." (Siegel, p. 242).

Once Siegel explains the brain's function he encourages the client to understand that the repeating thoughts are the result of an over active checker and that ultimately it wants to protect the individual. Once the client reframes the meaning of their thoughts then they have more control, and now the prefrontal cortex can be more engaged, and a balance will develop. He teaches the client to identify when the thoughts come up, name it the checker, and evaluate whether there is actually any reason to be protected. (Sometimes there is danger and this has to be a trusted response if an true emergency exists). It is not necessarily changing the thought, but developing a communication with the thought that will help the client have more control. For example he offers this dialogue, " Checker: "Don't get too close to the edge of that pool. They might jump out and grab you."

Client: (says inside their own head), "Thank you, for you love and concern. I know you want to keep me safe, and I want to be safe, to. But your enthusiasm is too much, and it `s not necessary to keep me safe." (Siegel, p. 247).
When I work with clients who have obsessive thoughts and/or compulsive behaviors this is a similar way in which I work as well. We often reframe the thought or behavior, find an alternative behavior that would satisfy the positive intention, and develop a constructive communication relationship with the part of us that is generating that symptom or behavior. Most recently one of my clients described his experience as welcoming a visitor, yet realizing that he was much bigger than the visitor, and thus could welcome the symptom, but also have control over him. Once again, the prefrontal cortex finding a way to assuage the amygdala.

I hope this review has been helpful. There is more information in the book than I discussed. The pieces that I have written about were most relevant to me for myself, my teaching and private practice.

An excellent book. Should be mandatory reading for anyone, Especially those in authority. Important ideas for our
Society to foster a more humane, close & connected relationships with people of all kinds, including ourselves.

For those that strive to see life through different lenses, this is the book for you! In the pages I have read, it has helped me understand myself and the people in my life. The way one looks at things/events/life do affect how one responds or reacts.

How many books can you really say that about? For a beginner in this field,the combination of clearly explained scientific foundations, and actual case studies, is a compelling demonstration of the purpose of the book. The book is comprehensive, and the writing is clear, moving, utterly inspiring. I have been back to this book many times for clarification and fresh insights for work and for life.

Mindsight lays out a clear picture and several suggestions on how one might go about developing the brain to serve as a powerful tool for health and happiness. Utilizing modern knowledge of how the brain works physically, the author encourages us to grow into our human potential for love and relationship. Very empowering.

I do not recommend picking this up. It is extremely academic, case study driven and a summary of other significantly more helpful books (see the Mindsight appendix).

A quick summary of the book is: do aerobic exercise, keep your mind active, write in a journal, meditate and focus on where you want yourself to be (see Tony Robbins or Wayne Dyer).

I too was excited to read this book, expecting new insights in to the application of mindfulness and healing the mind. There was nothing new but the neuroscience to prove what thousands of years of meditation and yoga have already proven out.

Unfortunately I felt like I was rereading all of the meditation and yoga texts I have read since the 1990's. He even reinvents the exact meditations from one of Jon Kabat-Zinn's books. While the assertions and research he refers to are interesting, I have read them before in an easier presentation.

Gave me concepts to reflect on I have not yet encountered, with science of the brain to back it up as more than just another self help theory. Renewed my dedication to continue trying meditation, as he explains the mechanics of what meditation does to the brain. Awesome mix of science and themes of meditation/mindfulness.

Great case studies on which to reflect on.

This book is little more than recycled new age nonsense wrapped in a web of jumbled anecdotes, case studies, and neurophysiology. Despite his attempts to use graphic organizers such as wheels and rivers to model learning tools and techniques leading to better mental health, the solutions proffered are age old ones. And not the age old ones derived from eastern philosophies and religion.

No, after wading through 100 pages, the reader finds these keys to an integrated, healthy mental state: exercise, music and a reward system for tasks completed. You need a Phd to figure that out? I think I'll put myself in a more positive mental state by picking up my guitar instead of reading the rest of this dubious text.

I purchased this book on the recommendation of my therapist stating that he had read it and he believed it would offer great insight as to how the human mind works. Maybe it helped him but I find it as appealing as watching sap run in January. That's the up side. The down side is that trying to slog through it takes away time better spent in Bible study. It also runs contrary to my lack of belief in evolution.

This book is long and somewhat tedious. I kept looking for methods to implement what the author was saying. I found these methods on his web site in a series of online lecture that you must pay for.
This was not the book I was looking for.

I began reading "Mindsight" eagerly because I have a strong interest in mindfulness therapy and Siegel comes highly recommended. I found, however, that I could never get really engaged in the book. I pushed forward and read the whole thing, because Siegel obviously knows his stuff and writes in a clear and easy manner. But I didn't find what I was looking for.

It took a while to figure out why this book was not for me. Three reasons:

First, this book isn't primarily about mindfulness as its title suggests. Siegel has his own well-developed system of therapy. It includes mindfulness, yes, but also a lot of neuroscience, interpersonal therapy, and psychoanalysis (i.e., using insights about one's upbringing to bring about a cure.) Though the word psychoanalysis is never used, it seems to me that it is the dominant strand in his system.
For example, he writes, "With mindsight I was able to make use of the reflections that arose from that conflict [a run-in with his son] to arrive at more clarifying insights into my own childhood experiences."
So because mindfulness is not the main theme, or for some other reason, it is not very thoroughly developed--certainly not as much as in many other books I've read. Hence my disappointment.

The second problem I had is that the bulk of the book is made up of clinical cases (stories of the lives of the author's patients and the therapy he does with them) and stories from the author's life. I find that a few such cases in this kind of book can be illuminating, but reading one story after another becomes tedious.

Third, this book is not directed at helping the reader use the techniques that are mentioned.

None of these observations are meant as criticisms--just some information for anyone trying to make a decision. But if you are mainly interested in mindfulness therapy and would like to use it in your own life, I would recommend "The Mindful Way Through Depression" -- a clear, insightful, and practical book, written by researchers in the field.

No need for mindfulness and self reflection for years and years anymore. Just use neurofeedback. What would take years in therapy now can only take a few months, and thousands of dollars less in spending. And the results are permanent.
Although this book definitely has a great approach for dealing with mental disorders - a much different approach then the typical "medicate them!" - I just think that, with the discovery of the field of neurofeedback, traditional mindfulness techniques are becoming archaic, unnecessary, and time consuming.

The author explained and gave some psychological concepts and demonstrating cases in patients with mental disturbance.

As a reader who is seeking interesting facts about how mind works, I gained some knowledge of the circuits and information processing flow of the brain but felt many description of the cases is lengthy and unnecessary while understand that the author was trying to make the science-telling more vivid and interesting. The book's word counts could be reduced to at least half to make the point more concise and efficient.

I was so excited to get the audiobook but was very disappointed that I couldn't listen to more than a few minutes of his voice. It was very gravelly and unpleasant. Hopefully I'll have time to read the book some day.

One of the most important books about personal change I’ve ever read. The brain model presented here is incredibly helpful to an understanding of how our minds work and how our brains can be rewired for a more integrated life.