The Neurobiology of 'We'

How Relationships, the Mind, and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are

By: Daniel J. Siegel

Narrated by: Daniel J. Siegel

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

If you think your brain and mind are one, think again. According to the interpersonal neurobioligy pioneer Daniel J. Siegel, the mind actually emerges out of the interaction between your brain and relationships. Now, with The Neurobiology of "We", Dr. Siegel invites you on a journey to discover this revolutionary new model of human development - one that can positively transform trauma, move you from stress to calm and equanimity, and promote well-being for you, your family, or even your community.

©2011 Sounds True (P)2011 Sounds True

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I had to play it at 1.25 speed as 1x sounded "off". Once I got that fixed, the performance and reading were fantastic. As a psychotherapist- this was all relevant and applicable to my life and practice. The writing is great and ideas are clearly presented. This is a great place to start with Dr. Siegel's work.

Interesting but would have changed a few things

I really got a lot out of The Neurobiology of We, but I wished the thesis had been tightened a little. What I mean is instead of in Chapter 2 and 3 talking so much about the ins and outs of the attachment studies, just summarize many studies throughout the book to strengthen the Relationship thesis. I guess I got a bit too much information about various studies like attachment, and not enough back to back supporting evidence for the Relationship theory.

New favorite author

Amazing!
Brings a western science foundation to what the eastern mystics have been saying for years. Incredibly easy to follow the in depth biological descriptions while allowing for understanding of the practical nature of the context. 10/10. Onto next!

A rich resource

Dan Siegel presents complex material in his usual comprehensible style, making this a fascinating, enjoyable and practical book. It provided many tools, both for my psychotherapy clients and for myself as I continue to study and practice mindfulness. Like other reviewers, I appreciated the fact that this was narrated by the author. His style is so down to earth that I felt as if I were sitting in a room having a casual conversation with him.

Good Book

Have listened to this book over and over again. Wonderful work - should be read by someone other than the author.

among the best

What made the experience of listening to The Neurobiology of 'We' the most enjoyable?

I think it is so important that nonfiction audiobooks be given by the researcher/teacher. These topics are complex and just reading them from a script by a vocal performer can be brutal to a listener, so I truly loved hearing Siegel talk about his work. I could not tell if he was reading the book/script but the information was effectively delivered in a way that felt like we were having a conversation.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole "book" moved me. The whole field of neuroscience "moves" me. I am a different person because of it and I highly recommend this text for those interested in the subject. I will also say I listened to this book cleaning my house during the day while reading The Body Keeps the Score when I went to bed a night--and between these two very complementary texts everything has changed for me.

Any additional comments?

I would like to personally thank the author for sharing his work in a way that is accessible to the broad public. He has been given a true gift for teaching and research. No, it wasn't always easy to understand some of the science but he asked his listeners to bear with him, and so I stopped my cleaning or whatever and hung on trying to do so.


Which leads to my one minor but really important suggestion, and that is to provide the listeners with a few handouts of some of the brain roles and processes described within if this is at all possible. As I listened I found myself with a burning desire to plot out some of what was presented on a big chalkboard so I could get a grip on these big brain ideas that had my forehead bunched up and aching as I searched for understanding and clarity on a subject (brain science) I know very little.


Siegel did provide good verbal direction for visualizing the brain stem as your arm, and reptilian brain as thumb, with other parts folded over but somehow I didn't get that until a friend showed me. Maybe even just offering little suggestions for visual learners to draw and map out a few of these processes on a piece of paper might offer an additional accessibility to the ideas presented. Of course, listeners could just buy the book in it's physical form, but buying twice isn't always an option.

So, fellow "readers," if you are wondering if to click that button to purchase, I would highly suggest that you do.

Enlightening and thought provoking

I have listened to two other books by Daniel J Siegel and have found a lot of information that is greatly needed on our society today. I am a beginner at mindfulness and have found his explanations very helpful. The science behind it is just being explored but I am hopeful that more people will take it seriously and help to change our world for the better. I really enjoy listening to the author read his own book. It adds to the experience greatly. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand themselves and what they can do to change this broken world in which we live.

Awesome review of neurobiology applied to relationship

I highly recommend this book !! It hit me at just the right place : enough detail, not dumbed down, spoken slowly and carefully enough to follow without stopping and relistening, great organization of ideas in an extremely logical order.

great book excellent performance

great book excellent performance toughy with passion and deep knowledge. really good to listen to

Very Clear

This book was super well done. An intro to neuroscience is helpful before you begin but is not necessary. I thought the way he laid out his teaching was very systemic and allowed me to follow along very well throughout the whole teaching. Great for anyone who is exploring our brains in relation to relationships.