SOP 12: Terry Marks-Tarlow talks complex systems, fractals, and non-linear dynamics for therapists

Part 1 of a two part conversation with Terry Marks-Tarlow.

She received her B.A. in psychology from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from UCLA. During graduate school, she was trained primarily in cognitive-behavioral work and sought additional training at the Gestalt Therapy Institute of Los Angeles (GTILA), eventually becoming President.

She has received training in hypnosis from Jean Holroyd and Michael Diamond at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute, plus studied guided imagery with Muriel Fuller. Terry has also pursued analytic self-psychology from Lynne Jacobs.

For over a decade, she has been studying interpersonal neurobiology and regulation theory with Allan Schore, taught developmental neurobiology at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute and at Reiss Davis Child Studies Center, and is currently part of the teaching faculty at the Insight Center in Los Angeles where she is conduct continuing education workshops and classes.

Terry’s Current Positions /affiliations:

Private Practice, Santa Monica, California

Teaching Faculty, the Insight Center, Los Angeles, California

Visiting Professor, Italian Universita Niccolo Cusano London

Research Associate, Institute for Fractal Research, Kassel, Germany

Community Outreach Chair, Board, Los Angeles County Psychological Association

Advisory Board, California Dance Institute

Editorial Board, American Journal of Play

Member, Panel of Experts, The Neuropsychotherapist

We had a wealth of different topics to talk with Terry about. The non-exhaustive list below are just some of the things she is teaching and doing!

Complex systems (interpersonal neurobiology and nonlinear dynamics; Chaos and Complexity Theories Applied to Clinical Practice; “Psyche’s Veil,”- fractals & the mathematics of nature )
Yoga, music, dance, painting/drawing & writing opera librettos (“Cracked Orlando” & “Oroborium”)
Intuition in therapy
Play

We kicked off our time with Terry by asking her the following…

In 2013 you wrote in The Neuropsychotherapist that “I believe the next important revolution in mental health involves the full embrace of nonlinear science. This holistic paradigm is large and flexible, with methods and models that span the full complexity of how one mind/body/brain system can interact and emerge out of other mind/body/brain systems.” What does this mean? Is this still your opinion?

And so the journey began. We are sure you will get a lot out of this interview.

Resources:

Terry Mark-Tarlow’s website https://www.markstarlow.com/

Books by Terry:

Play and Creativity in Psychotherapy Distinguished clinicians demonstrate how play and creativity have everything to do with the deepest healing, growth, and personal transformation.
Awakening Clinical Intuition Exercises to help mental health practitioners at all levels of experience recognize gut feelings and produce deep therapeutic change.
Clinical Intuition in Psychotherapy A systematic look at the role of “gut feelings” in psychotherapy.
Psyche’s Veil (all about fractals that we covered in the interview).
Truly Mindful Coloring
Creativity inside out
Simultaneity: Temporal Structures And Observer Perspectives – Th an interdisciplinary approach to the question of how observer-participant perspectives are generated, what constrains them and how they may be modified.