Book Review: Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human

Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human, by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., W. W. Norton and Company, New York, NY, ISBN 9780393710533, 2017, 378 pages. $26.95.

    As a clinician and a supervisor, I have always sought to describe to others how rapport and empathy happen in the therapeutic relationship. Often, in session, there is a feeling of energy between the clinician and client that is indescribable, but that has guided my own understanding of the client experience and of the direction that I need to take in session. 

     I was stunned to discover this phenomenon described thoroughly within the text of Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human. This book provided a comprehensive examination of the purpose and role of the mind as the core of human experience. The book defines the mind as a system that maintains and shares energy and information with its environment. This energy and information creates a mindsight that forms our understanding of self and others, and that affects ease and disease.   

     Dr. Siegel explores the topic of the mind as a neuroplastic system. However, he presents the mind as influenced by culture, purpose, values, science, spirituality, and the moment. The book invites readers to understand the existence of the mind as key to the understanding of who they are.   

     This book is more than a review of neuroscience and the brain. It delivers the message that the mind connects us to our existence. Dr. Siegel describes how the family mind helps us to understand each other and the context of a situation, which helps us develop our identity within our subjective and cultural experience.      

     At the end of each chapter, Dr. Siegel describes the development of his own awareness and how his journey has affected his understanding.

     As a social worker, I found the discussion of the system of the mind and its impact on our subjective experience and our identity to be invaluable. The topic of who we are is a consistent question within the therapeutic session. This book encourages the reader to consider not only the impact of the mind on clients in their experience of self and others, but also how the mind affects us as clinicians and as humans. This understanding of self is essential for the new and experienced social worker.  

     Dr. Siegel’s writing style is conversational throughout the book. As a clinician, I was amazed that I had found a book that addresses many intangible experiences that I have had in session. Readers will come away with a new understanding of what the mind is and what it can be.  

Reviewed by Michelle Evans, DSW, LCSW, LSOTP, CADC, Clinical Supervisor, Cobra Clinical Services, Aurora, IL, and bilingual therapist, Nickerson and Associates, P.C., in Winfield, IL.