Elizabeth A. Sylvester, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist working with children and their families in Austin Texas for over 30 years. She is an Advanced Trainer of the Nurtured Heart Approach, and integrates this approach with her expertise in relational attachment and interpersonal neurobiology. She specializes in treating highly behaviorally and emotionally intense children and adolescents combining parent interventions and psychotherapy. Dr. Sylvester is a cofounder of the Heart & Work series of writings and presentations, and of Austin Child Therapy, an organization whose mission is to support the work of pediatric mental health professionals. She is married and the mother of twin sons. Kat Scherer, PhD, is a Psychologist, writer, and educator working in Austin, Texas. She has a private psychotherapy practice and offers presentations on emotional development, interpersonal neurobiology, stress management, and the applications of yoga and meditation in psychotherapy. Her trainings have been provided in professional conferences, continuing education programs, parenting workshops, and in academic settings. She co-founded Austin IN Connection, and Family Matters, both multidisciplinary collaborations focused on emotional wellness and positive attachment. She is a co-founder of the mental health blogs: Therapy Matters, and Heart & Work of Parenting. Also, she is a faculty member at the Practice School of Yoga Therapy. Noted neuropsychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel, MD, is clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, and executive director of the Mindsight Institute in LA. He is founding editor of the Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology.
"Elizabeth Sylvester and Kat Scherer?have created a readable gem for anyone helping families flourish. It teaches how to integrate neurobiology, attachment theory, emotional regulation, and relationship-based discipline into powerful helpful interventions to support and guide families. Their last sentence says it well: ""Our hope is that this integrated perspective, and the concrete steps you can take to work within it, will be your takeaway..."" It's a book that will help you be a better therapist.--Kirke Olson, PsyD, psychologist, school psychologist, and author of The Invisible Classroom: Relationships, Neuroscience & Mindfulness in School I created the Nurtured Heart Approach for parents who needed a better relational template to support challenging children to direct their intensity toward greatness.?This book integrates the Nurtured Heart Approach with attachment theory and interpersonal neurobiology in an elegant, scholarly, and approachable way that therapists can immediately apply to working with children and families. I am so excited that therapists will have this compilation of Sylvester and Scherer's wisdom and experience to guide them in their work.--Howard Glasser, creator, developer, and author of The Nurtured Heart?Approach Sylvester and Scherer are two master clinicians whose perspectives harmonize around practical and actionable ideas for clinicians and families. They explain complex topics in straight-forward and no-nonsense terminology so that you don't have to wade through jargon or settle with feel-good cliche.? Their lived?experience comes through as two non-shaming voices that can be trusted to guide clinicians through the significant challenge of helping highly strained children and families connect today.? The format of the book is straight-forward and leads the reader deeper into walking the walk, as they learn to integrate both the neuroscience and the art of effective, compassionate treatment. This is a must-read for children and family therapists and should be on the reading list in graduate schools everywhere.--Sue Marriott, LCSW, CGP psychotherapist and coproducer of Therapist Uncensored Podcast"