Psychobiology and cognitive therapy of the neurose

Hans Lungwitz began to formulate his concept of cognitive therapy in 1924, and continued to develop it until his death in 1967. From his long experience with patients, he arrived at a comprehensive theory of psychobiology, which describes mental processes as biological/physiological functions of neural structures in the human brain. Lungwitz's approach directly relates thought and experience to brain function and reflex behavior, and provides a holist biological view of the human being. Consequently, the psychobiological theory of neuroses formulates the concept of biological development to explain the functional disturbance of experience and behavior. Derived from psychobiology, the Lungwitz approach to cognitive therapy constitutes a method of treatment with which the divisions between the divergent schools of psychotherapy, ranging from psychoanalysis to behavioral therapy, can be overcome by communication of biological thinking. Though Lungwitz's writing dates back to the first half of the century, it is very modern in many respects, and is still a source of fresh impetus for psychotherapists, psychologists, general practitioners, behavioral scientists and interested general readers. This is the first comprehensive single monograph to combine psychobiology and cognitive therapy to be available in English. Contents: Preface 1 The taxonomy of the neuroses 1.1 The types of neuroses 1.2 The trophoses and the genoses 1.3 The perversions 1.4 The neuroses of feeling 1.5 The neuroses of sensory perception 1.6 The neuroses of concept 2 The structure of the neurotic experience 2.1 The neurotic direction 2.2 The neurotic task 2.2.1 Main task and secondary tasks 2.2.2 All-responsibility 2.2.3 Tasks that are internal, external and beyond 2.2.4 Near-normal and far from normal solution 2.2.5 Abstinence and abuse 2.2.6 The neurotic habit 2.3 The recovery task 2.3.1 The horizontal and the vertical task 2.3.2 The stages on the vertical path to recovery 2.3.3 Crises 2.3.4 Destruction of suggestion 2.3.5 Cognition and experience 2.3.6 False approach by the sick person 2.3.7 Prognosis 2.3.8 Therapeutic mobilization 2.3.9 Conclusion 3 Appendix 3.1 What is psychobiology? 3.2 The terminology of psychobiology 3.3 Chronological table of the history of Lungwitz's cognitive therapy 3.4 Literature 3.5 Sources of figures and illustrations 3.6 Index