We are honored to welcome esteemed scientist and author

Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, MD

To Present

From Fish to Freud: The 500-Million-Year History of Psychoanalysis

Dr. Natterson-Horowitz is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Zoobiquity: A Species-Spanning Approach to Medicine. The Nobel Assembly selected Zoobiquity’s theme of bio-inspired medicine for its 2019 Nobel Conference. Invited as Keynote Speaker, Dr. Natterson-Horowitz opened this year’s conference with her address at the Nobel Forum in Stockholm, Sweden.

“Why Does Psychotherapy Work?” – A unique perspective

Join Dr. Natterson-Horowitz as she presents her new multi-disciplinary research connecting the social brain networks and relationship dynamics between crustaceans, fish, birds and mammals over hundreds of millions of years to the modern human interaction.

The dynamic elements of modern, analytically oriented psychotherapy—from transference to defense mechanisms—are rooted in these ancient systems. Looking across species and evolutionary time at the natural history of relationships offers a new understanding of how and why psychotherapy works. This evolutionary framework provides the connective tissue needed to integrate psychodynamic and neurobiological explanations for the effectiveness of psychotherapy. Dr. Natterson’s research and concepts will be presented through narration of wildlife videography, scientific animation, and a traditional lecture format.

Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, MD, is a Visiting Professor at Harvard in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology and Professor of Medicine at UCLA. Her research focuses on the natural world as a source of insights into human pathology and developmental challenges. Her New York Times bestseller, Zoobiquity, was a Finalist in the American Association for the Advancement of Science Excellence in Science Books Award, a Smithsonian Top Book of 2012 and a Discover Magazine Best Book of the Year. It has been translated into seven languages and has been chosen as a Common Read at universities across the country.

Her Harvard course, Coming of Age on Planet Earth, and newly published book, Wildhood, use the lenses of evolutionary biology, neuroscience and animal behavior to better understand the species-spanning challenges of growing up.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.