Consciousness has always been a particularly elusive concept and one vigorously argued in the scientific community. This new volume takes on the task of defining normal and altered consciousness in their most relevant clinical terms.

In States of Consciousness, Andrzej Kokoszka expands on the pioneering work of J.H. Jackson, offering contemporary models for studying consciousness as it applies to both pathology and normal altered states, e.g., relaxation, sleep, meditation, and hypnosis. He makes clear distinctions between the neuroscientific and psychiatric components of consciousness; at the same time, his theories are rooted firmly in the biopsychosocial approach.

Highlights of the coverage:

-Historical overview of studies of consciousness and its altered states

-Evolutionary/dynamic model of consciousness and information processing, based on the structure and principles of cell behavior

-Comparison of altered states of consciousness in healthy persons and patients with schizophrenia

-New perspectives on the role of consciousness in pathology

-Case illustration of altered states in a patient with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, integrating neurobiological, cognitive-behavioral, and psychodynamic data

-Applications of the model in clinical practice

States of Consciousness lends itself to theoretical and practical, research and classroom use. It is relevant to a range of scientists and practitioners in cognition, clinical psychology, social psychology, and neuropsychology The book's scope and the author's attention to detail make it a work of great versatility, much like consciousness itself.

Altered states of consciousness are reconsidered within an integrated evolutionary-psychodynamic model of the main states of consciousness Illustrated by the comprehensive description of a patient with PTSD, whose diagnosis integrates neurobiological, cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic findings and data The model is described in terms of mathematical, dynamic systems theory

Autorentext

Dr. Kokoszka is currently the head of the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical University of Warsaw, Poland and author of more than ten books in Polish. He is a psychiatris, psychologist, psychotherapist, and group analyst trained at the Institute of Group Analysis in Heidelberg, Germany; cognitive-behavioral therapists with the certificate of Italian Association of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy and has been a visiting fellow at University of Oxford, University of California at Irvine, Cleveland State University, and Wayne State University in Detroit.

Inhalt
General Presumptions and Concepts Referring to Consciousness and Its Altered States.- Theoretical Inspirations.- The Variety of Subjective Experience.- Research on Altered States of Consciousness.- Models of the States of Consciousness and Information Metabolism.- Applications and Extensions of the Models.- Information Metabolism in the Framework of Exact Sciences.- Metabolism of Information as a Model for Multiaxial Psychotherapeutic Diagnosis.