Allan’s first workshop that I sponsored in Colorado in the late 1990s sparked tremendous interest in his teachings. Word spread quickly, and participants flocked to subsequent workshops not only from Colorado but from all over the US, and the “Schore Groups” were born. For a couple of decades, small local groups gathered each month (at least two of the groups are still meeting), and once a year we all came together for an intimate, stimulating and inspiring weekend of learning with Allan.
What made these groups so compelling was Allan’s passion for his work, his commitment to our learning, his precise, research- supported teaching about the importance of the right brain implicit self and the therapeutic relationship, and the personable, intimate way he engaged with group members. Allan provided us with massive amounts of research papers, and in his own masterful way, rendered the science accessible and relevant to our clinical work. People found regulation theory eye opening and revolutionary.
For myself, as a body therapist, the therapeutic relationship, regulation and implicit phenomena have always been my focus, but under Allan’s guidance and mentoring, this focus acquired new meaning and validity. He generously offered needed support for my own work in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and his endorsement has been significant in the transition of my approach from an alternative method to becoming more accepted by mainstream psychology.
Learning from Allan in the “Schore Group” has been a unique experience and remains a primary highlight of my professional education. Now through his new online learning format – The Right Brain Psychotherapy Institute (RBPI)– this unparalleled learning opportunity will be available to professionals throughout the world and I cannot recommend it highly enough!
I have been in the Schore study group for over a decade, and can’t get enough of it!
Allan has been an incredible mentor. I have learned so much from him, not only about the the brain and field of interpersonal neurobiology broadly, but also about the history of psychology, and the social politics surrounding our field. This includes how to navigate through peer review processes and journal and book publishers in the current climate. In addition, the range, breadth, depth, and quality of the professionals that are drawn to Allan’s work could not be higher. This is definitely my tribe, and I encourage others to join in!
Studying with Dr. Allan Schore for the past 12 years has fundamentally shifted my perspective and practice of psychotherapy. Through continued learning and deepening my understanding of regulation theory, I’m more relaxed, present, and available for interactive regulation with my patients. The benefit of this new way of “knowing” and being with another allows us to move through their various defenses in service of reclaiming disowned self-states and becoming whole, integrated people – sometimes for the first time. Dr. Schore generously encouraged and championed the writing of my book, Sex Addiction as Affect Dysregulation: A Neurobiologically Informed Holistic Treatment.
Dr. Allan Schore has an incredible capacity to curate diverse and complex interdisciplinary material and weave it into a comprehensive clinical lens. His brilliance, keen mind, and generous heart have opened me to new frontiers of clinical understanding and application that continue to break ground and are foundational to my clinical and teaching practice. Learning with Allan is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Buckle up and prepare to soar.
When writing revisions for the Psychology Chapter of the MCAT Review for Barron’s Educational Publishing, Allan was helpful when I was creating vignettes and test prep questions for use in test banks. We brainstormed about a few possible ways of looking at cases and incorporating the biology into the vignettes to first demonstrate the concepts to students and then test their understanding and mastery of the concepts. Thanks, Allan!
I am honored to be a part of Dr. Schore’s study group. The insight I have gained has transformed the way I practice. Not only have I learned more about the neurobiology of the brain but most importantly, current information about relational communication that happens between therapist and client through right brain to right brain communication. In the study group we have done a deep dive into Dr. Schore’s work as well as that of other eminent scholars and researchers. Dr. Schore has taken attachment theory to the next level applying current science. My deeper understanding of his modern attachment theory informs my work and has benefitted not only me but my patients as well.
Attending Dr. Schore’s Developmental Neuroscience and Clinical Application workshop has been quite illuminating in my own self growth which has made me a wiser clinician. It has deepened my knowledge of my work using affective neuroscience in my own professional work. The discussions of attachment and developmental neuroscience have greatly instructed how I view the world and myself in that world.
Studying with Dr. Allan Schore has transformed all aspects of my professional career as a therapist, educator and public speaker. As a licensed psychologist in private practice, the knowledge and skills I have gained have helped me deepen my work and efficacy with patients. His revolutionary ideas on “being with” my patients (vs. “doing to”) has fostered a deeper connection that facilitates rapid healing and progress. The workshop content and format constitutes a bridge from the theory to clinical practice, and I value the varied perspectives on clinical application from the other workshop participants. I highly recommend these workshops to all professionals who want to deepen their understanding of human relationships.
To study with Allan Schore is to be in discussion with an extraordinary, creative mind drawing from a vast accumulation of knowledge and wrapped in a warm and generous personality. His asides alone are worth the price of admission. For many, myself included, it is a turning point in their way of working.
I have studied and worked with various modalities for the past two decades. This is the first time though that I am immersing myself in an approach to Neurobiology that has its roots in psychoanalysis. At first it took me a while to become familiar with the terminologies used and the epistemology of this way of thinking as well as being as a therapist. As I gained speed on that front, I found the concepts deeply grounding and tangible. The concept of Right Brain Psychotherapy is one I personally found helpful in working with individuals and couples. The atmosphere of the group is highly stimulating, involved and engaging. Allan is the teacher as well as the facilitator. We read as much of Allan’s work as we do of others who would enrich the concepts in hand. I learn from Allan as much as I learn from other esteemed colleagues in the group. The fact that we are all from various backgrounds, philosophical approaches and see varying cliental groups makes the content of our interactions even more intriguing.
As a intrigued participant in Allan Schore’s Seattle Study group for the past 15 year I have found his work life changing, not only as a psychotherapist and educator of somatic psychotherapy, but for the development of a radically new perspective on the human experience that is gradually shifting global culture. Schore’s impeccable research offers a firm foundation for a paradigm shift into a culture of empathy, compassion and the long-term prevention of trauma. As a teacher, Allan takes a genuine interest in the thoughts of his learners and offers a step-by-step educational process that never fails to fascinate. I plan to sign up for his new on-line course as I continue to internalize the art and science of healing trauma with right brain psychotherapy.
By synthesizing interdisciplinary studies, Allan Schore has deciphered and translated a new language – a key to understanding the psychobiological origins of self. From sub-cortical underpinnings (bottom-up, limbic system) and cortical laterality (top-down left-right hemispheric shifts, verbal to pre-verbal, explicit to implicit) Schore’s developmental affect regulation theory is informed by tenets of psychoanalysis, somatic studies, and modern neuroscience. His research guides me in my own clinical practice – to further explore and better understand a patient’s individual experience of early infant development. Mutual regression is another way to conduct and explore the unconscious worlds of both client and therapist. I enthusiastically share his concepts when teaching graduate students and post-doc professionals. A good friend once told me, “When you’re done learning, you’re done living.” There is so much more to learn, we have a lot to look forward to. I consider it a real privilege to be a member of the two o’clock study group, sitting in Allan Schore’s living room and always learning more.
Both contemporary psychoanalysis and somatic psychotherapy have been revolutionized by Schore’s right brain psychotherapy model. We are now eternally indebted to his scholarship and clinical insights which have advanced our clinical praxis, I am forever grateful for his mentorship and inspiration towards a more embodied science of connection.
I have been a long time member of the Allan Schore study group. This membership has completely changed my professional approach and the treatment process for me. I am more engaged, more knowledgeable and more effective than I ever thought I could be. Personally, I am stimulated and my mind is sharpened in an ongoing dialogue with Allan and the group. I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to be a member of this study group after every time we meet.
I have been a member of Allan’s Seattle study group since the beginning. Although there are many wonderful things I could say about those 15 years, what I most wish to convey is Allan’s generosity to me in terms of his support of my own work, much of which has grown out of what I have learned from him. In short, he is a great blesser—fueling and inspiring a confidence in my own experience and thinking for which I am deeply grateful.
The genius of Allan Schore emerged the moment he chose to substantiate with neurobiological research all that he knew as a clinician—this giving rise to more effective approaches to treatment. The effectiveness of my clinical work rests upon his work more than on any other theoretician— such is the result of his integration. It is my fondest wish that you embrace the fundamental knowledge Schore has to offer you; that you struggle with the complexity he presents. Eventually you will experience the poetry of the language of science flowing from his pen. Both you and your patient clients will benefit beyond measure.
