Summary
Without the mind, the heart cannot be wise. Feelings are necessary but unreliable in human relationships. Just as excessive rationalizing can kill emotional connection, feelings run amok between people makes happiness impossible. In this month’s program, we examine the critical balance between mind and heart, and why the admonition to trust your feelings can be so misleading. The Talmud tells us that “the heart is the seat of the mind,” but what does it mean to be reasonable with our emotions? To put feelings to the test of truth before we act upon them? What sort of wise balance could this bring to our relationships? Research findings in this field may surprise you.
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GUEST INTERVIEW WITH DR. AMIR LEVINE
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About Amir Levine
Dr. Amir A. Levine is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Columbia University. Dr. Levine is also the co-author of a popular science book titled Attached, The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find and Keep Love, which has been translated to 11 languages.
Dr. Amir Levine’s research focuses on the gene regulation of various mental states with a special interest in the molecular processes that are unique to the developing brain. He is especially interested in how experiences during development shape the adult phenotype. Dr. Levine is among a handful of child psychiatrists who are trained both in clinical as well as molecular and biochemical approaches to study normal and pathological human development. He has a special interest in how changes in the brain during adolescence pose greater risk for the development of addiction and mood disorders. His findings have been patented and may lead to new approaches in the treatment of addiction and mood disorders in both adolescents and adults.
In the past several years, he had worked at Columbia as a Principal Investigator, together with Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Eric Kandel and distinguished researcher Dr. Denise Kandel, on a National Institute of Health sponsored research project. Currently Dr. Levine continues his investigation of adolescent brain development in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He is combining the study of intrinsic molecular processes of adolescent development with risk factors for developing mental illness and ways to build resilience.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
What Is Your Attachment Style?
This short video produced by The School of Life in London, focuses on a well-known 1985 questionnaire that first introduced the public to “attachment styles” as predictors of well-being in relationships. While the questionnaire was aimed at romantic connections, its illuminating principles (as presented by psychologists Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver) are applicable to relationships of all kinds.
VIDEO REFLECTION
Final thoughts and takeaways from this month’s program.