How IPNB and Relational Neuroscience Can Help Us Care for the World, Ease Systemic Racism and Marginalization, and Feed Everyone

A Conversation with Bonnie Badenoch and Kirke Olson

Bonnie Badenoch, PhD, LMFT is a mentor, therapist, speaker, and author. Over the years since she first encountered IPNB at a presentation by Dan Siegel in 2003, she has translated her passion for relational neuroscience into immersive training experiences for clinicians and others to support their embodiment of the principles of IPNB. Through her books,Being a Brain-Wise Therapist, The Brain-Savvy Therapist’s Workbook, and most recently, The Heart of Trauma, she shares her conviction that developing our capacity for nonjudgmental receptivity is the foundation for being a therapeutic presence in our daily walk with each other. Recent events have turned her attention toward the cultural underpinnings of the enormous challenges we face and how IPNB can help us align with a possible path through. Bonnie is one of the co-founders of GAINS and is currently part of our Advisory Board.

Below is the beginning of a paper Bonnie is writing about seeking clarity about where we find ourselves culturally and individually at this moment and how we might begin to imagine and bring into being a path toward a more humane way of living.

Bonnie and Kirke are old friends from the early days of GAINS. They are delighted to be discussing how the core principles of IPNB and relational neuroscience may give us both depth of understanding and the embodied experiences we need to reorient our cultural expectations so we can actively contribute to care for this planet, offer respect and tenderness for our fellow human beings, and provide relief for those who live in fear each day.