• Mindsight

  • The New Science of Personal Transformation
  • By: Daniel J. Siegel
  • Narrated by: Daniel J. Siegel
  • Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (2,577 ratings)

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Mindsight  By  cover art

Mindsight

By: Daniel J. Siegel
Narrated by: Daniel J. Siegel
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Publisher's summary

From a pioneer in the field of mental health comes a groundbreaking book on the healing power of "mindsight", the potent skill that allows you to make positive changes in your brain - and in your life.

Foreword by Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence

  • Is there a memory that torments you, or an irrational fear you can't shake?
  • Do you sometimes become unreasonably angry or upset and find it hard to calm down?
  • Do you ever wonder why you can't stop behaving the way you do, no matter how hard you try?
  • Are you and your child (or parent, partner, or boss) locked in a seemingly inevitable pattern of conflict?

What if you could escape traps like these and live a fuller, richer, happier life? This isn't mere speculation but the result of twenty-five years of careful hands-on clinical work by Daniel J. Siegel, MD. A Harvard-trained physician, Dr. Siegel is one of the revolutionary global innovators in the integration of brain science into the practice of psychotherapy. Using case histories from his practice, he shows how, by following the proper steps, nearly everyone can learn how to focus their attention on the internal world of the mind in a way that will literally change the wiring and architecture of their brain.

Through his synthesis of a broad range of scientific research with applications to everyday life, Dr. Siegel has developed novel approaches that have helped hundreds of patients. And now he has written the first book that will help all of us understand the potential we have to create our own lives. Showing us mindsight in action, Dr. Siegel describes:

  • a sixteen-year-old boy with bipolar disorder who uses meditation and other techniques instead of drugs to calm the emotional storms that made him suicidal
  • a woman paralyzed by anxiety, who uses mindsight to discover, in an unconscious memory of a childhood accident, the source of her dread
  • a physician - the author himself - who pays attention to his intuition, which he experiences as a "vague, uneasy feeling in my belly, a gnawing restlessness in my heart and my gut", and tracks down a patient who could have gone deaf because of an inaccurately written prescription for an ear infection
  • a twelve-year-old girl with OCD who learns a meditation that is "like watching myself from outside myself" and, using a form of internal dialogue, is able to stop the compulsive behaviors that have been tormenting her

These and many other extraordinary stories illustrate how mindsight can help us master our emotions, heal our relationships, and reach our fullest potential.

©2010 by Mind Your Brain, Inc. (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with Bantam Books, an imprint of Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.

What listeners say about Mindsight

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK!

Even if you hated your college psych classes, you will love this book. Siegel brilliantly shows--through case histories with his own patients--the connection between what we experienced as children and the physical responses our brains had to those experiences. And how it all adds up to how we act as adults.

With all the talk about right brain/left brain going on these days, this books shows how we become more one than the other. And how you can change that if you need to.

I especially love how he uses mindfulness meditation (nah, don't be scared) to help his patients get in touch with their inner workings. And what revelations come from it!

This book is touching, funny, incisive, and truly beautiful.

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122 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Lots of information, perhaps too much.

While it's clear to me that the author is quite knowledgable when it comes to the psychotherapeutic and physiological aspects of the topic, my overall experience was one where I found my attention wondering amidst a sea of rationale, stories, descriptions, and advice. The information appears to be solid and Mr. Segel seems like a genuine, caring person with lots of experience and a great degree of knowledge. What was lacking, for me, was a clear description of the PRACTICE of "Mindsight." This book does a good job of making the argument for mindsight, talking about the many benefits, recalling stories having to do with various subject matter, etc., but when I was done listening to it, I didn't feel like he showed me how to use the information. This is more of a description of how the author thinks of and used Mindsight principles with his own clients, as opposed to helping the listener create a practice for actually personally transforming through the application of his methods. I found the use of 'story' and detailed descriptions of how the brain works overly complex and unnecessary. Still, the information is solid and holds promise as an integrated self-care practice. Perhaps a volume II will describe more fully how to actually practice Mindsight.

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112 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent Book, with one small exception

I would have given this book 5 stars except that I found author's voice so distracting. He has a gravelly voice (think Rod Serling) and I kept wanting to clear my (his) throat and therefore found it a bit difficult to concentrate on the content of what he was saying. That said, it was an excellent book for those who enjoy case studies and want to know how Mindfulness is practiced. Other readers found the explanations of various brain functions to be a bit heavy-going. I felt it answered exactly those questions I had been wondering about. I look forward to more from Dr. Siegel, but hope next time he opts for a professional reader.

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61 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Good Insight into the Brain

I've been practicing something like what Siegel talks about for the past 4 months. People that know me well say that I'm a very different person; more relaxed and more focused. I'm surprised when friends will tell me this out of the blue.
Listening to this book has helped put it all into context. Having practiced this, I'd have to agree that the author knows what he is talking about.
Great book. Very insightful.

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58 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Provokes thought long after...q

Truly wonderful and useful! Don't let the Latin names of brain structures deter you from surfing the fascinating arc of this book, and the richness of observation that fertilizes our understanding of the Human Animal. The implications of the human brain's capacity for adaptive, structural change are radical for our lives. The implications for society and humankind are beyond staggering.

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42 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Best psychological model I've heard of..

Essentially illuminating inner conversations which form personality traits and actions, Daniel's self-awareness meditation based therapy empowers clients to dissect their inner motivation for abnormal behavior. I've never heard someone get more clearly to the root of the problem. Grounded in reality and respectively fact, his case studies are relevant to the point that I have suggested this book to friends with exact same issues.

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40 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book a little to much detail.

This is a great book about why we feel things and how to understand them. I found a little too much detail in the naming parts of the brain. I would have given it 5 stars, but for the mono tone voice of the reader. Daniel is no doubt a very good clinician and his voice would be very calm in that context but not for keeping the listeners interest. I will however be listening to this book several time to get the most out of it.

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34 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, must read

Truly enjoyed this book. Not one to read unless you can give your undivided attention but definitely worth your time. Looking forward to listening to it again! Fascinating theories of the mind and great neurological explanations for why we react the way we do. Made me want to read more of Siegel's work!

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Midiocre/Semi-Autobiographical Book

I hate when author dive so lavishly into their own life experiences in a book that suppose to be scientific. Almost half of the book is taken from Authors clinical practice which is pretty redundant even for a self-help book.
and.. whats up with this "Mindsight" meme ? he is using it like an advertisement buzzword. Author is trying to repackage the ancient knowledge with his own buzzwords..which is not appreciated.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book, but the narrator is horrific!

Don't be deceived by listening to the provided clip on audible, that is the forward, narrated by someone else. I can't help but wonder if something went wrong with the download, Siegels voice is extremely slow, warbled, nasally. I listened to it high speed on my IPOD, which makes it a normal reading speed, but you still have his warbly voice, if you don't have high speed feature, you may need lots of mindsight to listen to this book, else you'll shoot yourself!

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21 people found this helpful