Evolution and Consciousness: From a Barren Rocky Earth to Artists, Philosophers, Meditators and Psychotherapists(28 Contemporary Psychoanalytic Studies)

This volume provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the emerging concept of the evolution of consciousness. The simple, but dynamic, theory of evolving consciousness blends the powerful insights of modern science with the deep wisdom of age-old cultures, synthesising the traditions of East and West, of the head and heart, of the feminine and the masculine and of science and spirituality. By integrating diverse multi-disciplinary approaches, it provides an overarching and transcending model that moves us to a new level of meaning and understanding of our place in the world. An appreciation of the evolution of consciousness can deepen our connection to ourselves, to others and to the natural world, while bringing a new dimension to the work of psychotherapy.

Table of Contents:
Foreword emsp;Ivor Browne emsp;The Systems Perspective emsp;Consciousness in Evolution Preface Acknowledgements Introduction The Evolution of Consciousness: a New Perspective on Our Search for Meaning emsp;1 Models of the Evolution of Consciousness emsp;2 The Goal of the Journey emsp;3 Evolution and Consciousness: an Incredible Journey 1 The Evolution of Matter and Mind emsp;1 Introduction emsp;2 Methods of Inquiry: the Search for Meaning emsp;3 Evolutionary Psychopathology emsp;4 Consciousness and Learning emsp;5 Ultimate Causes emsp;6 Is Evolution Really Blind? emsp;7 The Evolution of Matter emsp;8 The Emergence of Life on Earth emsp;9 The Anthropic Principle emsp;10 The Evolution of Proteins and of Higher Forms of Life emsp;11 Quantum Biology emsp;12 From Rocks to Musicians, Engineers and Philosophers: the Problem of Entropy emsp;13 The Primacy of Mind over Matter? emsp;14 From Matter to Culture: a Co-operative Journey? emsp;15 The Animal Mind—Ethology emsp;16 The Missing Ingredient: Mind? emsp;17 Are There Limits to Darwinian Theory? emsp;18 Wallace’s Perspective: Teleological Considerations emsp;19 Evolutionary Patterns emsp;20 Circular Causality: a Systemic Approach emsp;21 The Mind/Brain Issue emsp;22 Genetic Expression: a Systemic View emsp;23 Evolution: a Systemic Approach emsp;24 Relevance to Psychotherapy emsp;25 Conclusions 2 Awareness: Constructivist, Psychodynamic and Eastern Perspectives emsp;1 Introduction emsp;2 Language and Awareness emsp;3 The Continuum of Experience emsp;4 The Experience of Meditation emsp;5 Maps and Territory: Kelly and Piaget emsp;6 Levels of Awareness: Kelly and Freud emsp;7 Reality: Kelly and Lacan emsp;8 Group Construing emsp;9 The Unconscious emsp;10 Pre-verbal and Somatic Construing emsp;11 Suspension emsp;12 Constriction and Dilation emsp;13 Submergence emsp;14 Loosening and Tightening emsp;15 Constructivism, Buddhism and Duality emsp;16 The Healing Essence of Buddhism emsp;17 Transcendence, Ascendance and Descendance emsp;18 Somatoform Disorders emsp;19 Catharsis, Insight and Integration emsp;20 Non-Dual States emsp;21 Critique and Conclusions 3 Consciousness and Mindfulness emsp;1 Introduction emsp;2 Suffering emsp;3 The Talking Cure emsp;4 The Inner Observer emsp;5 The Role of Meditation emsp;6 Mindfulness and Dis-Identification emsp;7 Awareness Training emsp;8 Attention, Awareness and Self-Regulation emsp;9 Somatisation versus Symbolisation emsp;10 Attachments emsp;11 Attachment and Loss emsp;12 Defensive Detachment emsp;13 Adaptive Dis-Identification emsp;14 Non-Attachment Techniques of the Orient emsp;15 More Advanced Mindfulness Meditation Practice emsp;16 The Silence of Meditation emsp;17 Mindfulness in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy emsp;18 Psychoanalysis as Mindfulness emsp;19 Gestalt Therapy Perspective emsp;20 Abreaction, Insight and Integration emsp;21 Potential Problems with Detachment and Dis-Identification emsp;22 Pathological Regression emsp;23 Suitability emsp;24 Conclusions 4 The Development of Symbolisation from the Pre-Verbal to the Trans-Verbal: an Evolving Consciousness emsp;1 Introduction emsp;2 Individual Development of Symbolisation emsp;3 Symbolisation and Communication emsp;4 Levels of Symbolic Development emsp;5 Pre-Verbal Symbolisation: an Evolutionary Perspective emsp;6 Projective Identification emsp;7 Hysterical Identification emsp;8 Co-Ontogeny, Identification and Transference emsp;9 Failures of Symbolisation: Somatisation emsp;10 Transitional Objects emsp;11 Symbolic “Castration” emsp;12 Sublimation emsp;13 Dreaming and Verbal Symbolisation emsp;14 Lacan and the Symbolic Order emsp;15 Society and Verbal Symbolisation emsp;16 Para-Verbal Symbolisation emsp;17 Trans-Verbal Symbolisation emsp;18 Summary and Conclusions Conclusion Bibliography Name and Subject Index Author Index

About the Author :
Michael Michelo DelMonte, Ph.D. (1982), Trinity College Dublin, is Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College. He was Principal Clinical Psychologist at St. Patrick’s Hospital and he co-founded the Transnational Network for Physical, Psychological and Spiritual Well-Being (1990) in Tokyo.
Maeve Halpin is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist (PSI) and founder-manager of the Appletree Health and Wellness Therapy Centre in Dublin. She compiled and published How to be Happy and Healthy: the Seven Natural Elements of Mental Health in 2014.