Why Love Matters

Part 1: The Foundations: Babies and their brains 1. Before we meet them 2. Back to the beginning 3. Building a brain 4. Corrosive Cortisol. Conclusion to Part 1. Part 2: Shaky Foundations and their Consequences 5. Trying Not to Feel 6. Melancholy Baby 7. Active Harm 8. Torment 9. Original Sin. Part 3: Too Much Information, Not Enough Solutions 10. 'If all else fails, hug your teddy bear' 11. Birth of the Future.

Dr Sue Gerhardt has been a psychoanalytic psychotherapist in private practice since 1997. She co-founded the Oxford Parent Infant Project (OXPIP), a pioneering charity that today provides psychotherapeutic help to hundreds of parents and babies in Oxfordshire and is now the prototype of many new 'PIPs' around the country. She is also the author of The Selfish Society (2012). 　

"This book provides an interesting and eminently readable account, compressively set out, with a clear description, assisted by case studies, as to how the interaction between automatic physiological responses and biochemical reactions function to help maintain a good state." - Nicola Miller, in Seen and Heard

"For a reader acquainted with psychology, this truly is an all-encompassing book on early human development and presents fascinating links between genetic expression and socio-cultural and environmental influence. " - Michael Fiorini, International Journal of Psychotherapy

"This book is a rare achievement. It succeeds in combining the most accessible and readable account of the neurobiology of early development I have come across with an impressive level of scholarship. Though written with a light touch this fascinating updated volume eloquently describes how very recent advances in neuroscience are being used to re-define and deepen our understanding of the relational origins of human nature, and how this knowledge can be used to address the early roots of many of the common problems that all societies are now facing. A best seller in the UK, Sue Gerhardt's book deserves to be more widely read in the USA." - Allan N. Schore, Ph.D., UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine

"A sensational read. Combining cutting edge research on the brain, parenting and emotional development with wonderful writing, this is popular science at its best. A page-turner of a book which packs a powerful and life-changing message and is a must-read for parents, policy-makers, childcare professionals, students and indeed anyone interested in a healthier and happier future." -  Dr. Graham Music, consultant psychotherapist, Tavistock Clinic, London, and author of Nurturing Natures