Where Relational Cultural Theory Meets Neuroscience
FIGHTING TIME by Amy Banks & Issac Knapper
Fighting Time is my first attempt at writing about the personal and familial trauma of my father’s murder – a tragedy amplified by the wrongful conviction of my co-author, Isaac Knapper when he was just seventeen. I am deeply grateful that Fighting Time has found a home at Regal House Publishing and Pact Press and am hoping that our story helps people appreciate the urgent need to reform the American system of justice.
Awarded as one of Women’s National Book Association 2022 Great Group Reads
FIGHTING TIME Merchandise
- Fighting Time Crew Neck Sweatshirt$39.00Crew Neck sweatshirt featuring Fighting Time book cover image. Please choose your preferred color and size below to place your order.
- Fighting Time Hooded Sweatshirt$47.00 – $49.00Hooded sweatshirt featuring Fighting Time book cover image. Please choose your preferred color and size below to place your order.
WIRED TO CONNECT by Amy Banks, M.D. with Leigh Ann Hirschman
We all experience moments when we feel isolated and alone. A 2006 Purdue University study found that twenty-five percent of Americans cannot name a single person they feel close to. Yet every single one of us is hardwired for close relationships. The key to more satisfying relationships—be it with a significant other, a family member, or a colleague—is to strengthen the neural pathways in our brains that encourage closeness and connection. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Banks gives us a road map for developing the four distinct neural pathways in the brain that underlie the four most important ingredients for close relationships: calmness, acceptance, emotional resonance, and energy.
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO MENTAL HEALTH FOR WOMEN by Jessica Henderson Daniel, Pd.D., ABPP & Amy Banks, M.D.
As women, we know how important it is to take charge of our health care-to be informed and proactive. But too often we forget that our mental wellness is an integral part of our overall health. The Complete Guide to Mental Health for Women is the definitive resource for women looking for answers to their mental health questions, whether those questions concern a disorder like depression or adjusting to major life changes like motherhood or divorce.
FOUR WAYS TO CLICK by Amy Banks, M.D. & Leigh Ann Hirschman
Wired to Connect is the updated version of Four Ways to Click.
Research shows that people cannot reach their full potential unless they are in healthy connection with others. Dr. Amy Banks teaches us how to rewire our brains for healthier relationships and happier, more fulfilling lives.
FIGHTING TIME by Amy Banks & Issac Knapper
Fighting Time is my first attempt at writing about the personal and familial trauma of my father’s murder – a tragedy amplified by the wrongful conviction of my co-author, Isaac Knapper when he was just seventeen. I am deeply grateful that Fighting Time has found a home at Regal House Publishing and Pact Press and am hoping that our story helps people appreciate the urgent need to reform the American system of justice.
FIGHTING TIME Merchandise
- Fighting Time Crew Neck Sweatshirt$39.00Crew Neck sweatshirt featuring Fighting Time book cover image. Please choose your preferred color and size below to place your order.
- Fighting Time Hooded Sweatshirt$47.00 – $49.00Hooded sweatshirt featuring Fighting Time book cover image. Please choose your preferred color and size below to place your order.
ABOUT DR. BANKS
Dr. Amy Banks is a psychiatrist, speaker, writer and educator dedicated to spreading the scientific knowledge that people need healthy human relationships for emotional and physical growth and well-being and that promoting a culture of individualism and power over others leads to chronic stress and chronic disease.
Amy’s latest book Fighting Time (2021), a collaboration with Mr. Isaac Knapper, shares the story of Mr. Knapper’s wrongful conviction in the murder of Amy’s father, Dr. Ronald Banks, in 1979. He served twelve years of a life sentence in Angola State Penitentiary when he was sixteen years old. After meeting in 2015, they have maintained a healing connection and are invested in educating people about the impact that systemic racism and wrongful convictions have on both the wrongfully convicted and the family of murdered victims.
Amy is the first person to bring Relational-Cultural Theory together with interpersonal neurobiology and is the foremost expert in the combined field. She has spoken nationally and internationally on the “neurobiology of relationship” and is a popular interviewee on the topics of loneliness, friendship and the neuroscience of relationship having been quoted for articles in The New York Times, O Magazine, Health Magazine to name a few. Her blog, “Wired to Love” is published on-line at Psychology Today.
Amy is the creator of the C.A.R.E. Program (featured in her 2016 book with Leigh Ann Hirschman, “Wired to Connect: The Surprising Link Between Brain Science and Strong Healthy Relationships”) an easy to use, practical guide to help clinicians and lay people assess the quality of their relationships and strengthen their neural pathways for connection.
Amy was a founding member of Relationships First, an intimate group of prestigious scientists and cultural leaders who are promoting the idea that “healthy relationships are non-negotiable in a healthy society”. She was a member of the clinical excellence board for the Renfrew Centers for Eating Disorders in Philadelphia, PA as they created the Unified Treatment Protocol for Eating disorders. which emphasizes the healing potential of empathic relational connection and evidence-based, emotion-focused treatment interventions. She is the co-editor of “A Complete Guide to Mental Health for Women” published in 2004 by Beacon Press and is the author of the popular manual, “PTSD: Relationships and Brain Chemistry” published in 2001. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters on Relational-Cultural Theory, the neurobiology of trauma and the neurobiology of relationship.
Amy has a clinical practice as a therapist and psychopharmacologist focusing on the treatment of clients who have suffered from chronic disconnections as a result of trauma, interpersonal violence and abuse. Prior to her full-time private practice, Amy’s clinical skills were enhanced as the Psychiatrist–in-Charge of the Women’s Treatment Program at Mclean Hospital, a psychiatrist for the Victims of Violence Program at Cambridge Health Alliance and the Medical Director for Mental Health at the Fenway Community Health Center. Amy currently volunteers time on the development advisory committee of the New England Innocence Program. Additionally, and often in collaboration with Dr. Maureen walker, she is passionate about helping people build the interpersonal skills needed to bridge differences and explore “othering” through the lens of RCT and neuroscience.
ABOUT C.A.R.E
The C.A.R.E. Program featured in the book, “Four Ways to Click: Rewire Your Brain for Stronger, More Rewarding Relationships” is an innovative way to build and improve relationships in your life. Listen to Amy describe the four pathways for connection.
C.A.R.E. ASSESSMENT
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NEWS
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SPEAKING
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BOOKS
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REVIEWS OF AMY’S WORK
Amy Banks is a terrific teacher and presenter on relationships and neurobiology! She has a gift for making complex topics accessible for people who might be new to the material and deeper for those with more experience. Amy is a dynamic presenter – she quickly builds rapport with the audience and her passion for the work engages the room.
Superlatives, of which Dr. Banks is most deserving, fail to aptly describe her “ousia,” her true being. To be in her presence, as a client, colleague, or conference attendee, is to be seen and to feel felt—the epitome of mutual empathy. Dr. Banks enlivens and embodies the tenants of relational cultural theory in her practice, infused with a humanizing blend of humor, levity and unselfconsciousness. She is the first to integrate neuroscientific and RCT advances, offering a holistic approach which honors and sources the inherent mind/body connection, within and between us, in the delicate service of healing. Dr. Banks is the Skin Horse of Psychiatry to the Velveteen Rabbit’s of help seekers—a passionate purveyor of truths, a fierce and gentle advocate of the healing power of connection, and a model of being real we can all hope to manifest.