Genre: Non-fiction, Psychology,
Page Count: 250+
Published: 2010 (Bantam Books)
Potential Triggers: Abuse, Trauma, Neglect, Alcohol Abuse, Flashbacks,
Mental Health Topics: Depression, PTSD, Dissociation, Anxiety, Panic Attacks,
What's it called when a person is self-aware? According to Dr. Daniel J. Siegel in his book "Mindsight," it's called... well, mindsight. In this rather conclusive compilation of Dr. Siegel's experiences, he goes over what mindsight can play a role in. Your relationships, how you react to things, what you think, what you do, how you feel on a regular basis, etc. As you read through this book, he briefly goes over what kind of things he sees as a therapist while illustrating his points on mindsight.
When I say illustrating, I mean that he included stories from his own life and therapy sessions where he shows real life examples of the points he's explaining as he goes through all the different aspects of mindsight. He shares his theories and findings in a "scene" that makes it feel like you're learning this stuff in real time right alongside him. He explains what he sees fairly well and includes this thought processes and reasoning behind what he's doing, then illustrates that happened as a result.
By his tone alone, you can tell that Dr. Siegel is fascinated by the complexity of the human mind and how your internal perception can affect every aspect of your being—along with how you can change it with therapy and practice. He approaches things that those of us without a psychology degree wouldn't have ever known about but that are absolutely incredible.
What I do have to mention, though, is the fact that while he clearly tried to simplify things, he still was a bit too technical for me to understand at times. Considering how many books like this I've read and the fact that I didn't manage to understand concepts he was bringing up about things that—as far as I could tell—I'd done a lot of research on before, I was a bit disappointed that his simplification only went so far.
Another thing I appreciated about this book was the attention to detail. In some parts, I wished for a little bit more detail, but there was one section where he took the time to note the year when some research was changed. The fact that he noted such a minute detail impressed me, especially since he was already spending so much time and effort in being so detailed and simplifying all this technical talk.
In the occasional times where he does swap to more technical talk for a bit, he uses a simple "brain model" that he describes using a hand. He'll tell you where your fingers go and where to look and then explain what part of the brain it "shows."
One thing I'd say about Dr. Siegel is that he's unafraid to explain things that to him might be clear. There's a whole section where he explains dissociation—a lesser-known-about condition—and does his best not to overcomplicate it or say it in an overtechnical way.
If you ever want to learn more about the internal senses and how being conscientious of your thoughts, emotions, and actions can affect your mental health, this would be a great book to pick up. The only thing you'd have to be aware of is that you most likely aren't going to be able to pick up on all the technical stuff that has made its way into the book on the first read-through.