Judson Brewer | The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Cupcakes to Smartphones, the Mechanisms Underlying How Mindfulness Helps Change Habits

Description

We are all vulnerable to craving. Whether it’s a compulsion to constantly check social media, overeat, smoke, excessively drink, or any other behavior, we may find ourselves uncontrollably repeating. Why are bad habits so hard to overcome? Can we learn how our minds work, and even tap into this very process to find a key to conquer the cravings we know are unhealthy for us and foster our natural capacities for awareness and kindness? Drawing on his clinical work, research studies and development of next-generation therapeutics for habit change, Dr. Brewer will discuss the underlying behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms of why habits are formed and how mindfulness can paradoxically tap into these very processes to uproot them. He will also discuss how we can apply these insights to our own lives. Judson Brewer, MD, Ph.D, is a psychiatrist and internationally-renowned expert in the science of mindfulness, habit change, and the “science of self-mastery” for addiction. Judson has developed novel treatments to help individuals with substance abuse and eating disorders. He has studied the neural mechanisms of mindfulness using standard and real-­time EEG and fMRI, and is translating these findings into clinical use. In 2012, Judson founded Claritas MindSciences to combine mindfulness and neurofeedback techniques for habit change; the latest apps include programs for overcoming stress and emotional eating (www.goeatrightnow.com) and quitting smoking (www.cravingtoquit.com). Judson Brewer’s TED talk: A simple way to break a bad habit: https://www.ted.com/talks/judson_brewer_a_simple_way_to_break_a_bad_habit