The Interpersonal Neurobiology of Clinical Intuition

Abstract

This article addresses clinical intuition from the standpoint of interpersonal neurobiology, the study of how brains, minds, and bodies are shaped through relationship. First, clinical intuition is placed in a developmental framework consistent with nonlinear science. Then, the operation of intuition is described in terms of implicit processes, which operate automatically in bottom-up fashion, as guided by the right brain, under the radar of conscious awareness. A case example of intuition in action demonstrates the holistic potential of a single image to illuminate the nature of a problem plus point the way toward resolution. This article ends with a cautionary note about the limitations of clinical intuition.

KEYWORDS:

• clinical intuition
• interpersonal neurobiology
• implicit processes
• nonlinear science
• embodied metaphor
• clinical imagination

Notes

1. 1. Patient permission obtained; all identifying data disguised.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Terry Marks-Tarlow

Terry Marks-Tarlow, PhD, is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Santa Monica, California, who teaches affective neuroscience at Reiss Davis Child Study Center and is author most recently of Clinical Intuition in Psychotherapy (2012, Norton) and Awakening Clinical Intuition (2014, Norton).