You Are Not Your Brain : The 4-Step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life

by Schwartz, Jeffrey; Gladding, Rebecca

• ISBN13: 9781583334836
• ISBN10: 1583334831
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-06-05
• Publisher: Avery Trade

Summary

Two neuroscience experts explain how their 4-Step Method can help identify negative thoughts and change bad habits for good. A leading neuroplasticity researcher and the coauthor of the groundbreaking books Brain Lock and The Mind and the Brain, Jeffrey M. Schwartz has spent his career studying the human brain. He pioneered the first mindfulness-based treatment program for people suffering from OCD, teaching patients how to achieve long-term relief from their compulsions. Schwartz works with psychiatrist Rebecca Gladding to refine a program that successfully explains how the brain works and why we often feel besieged by overactive brain circuits (i.e. bad habits, social anxieties, etc.) the key to making life changes that you want-to make your brain work for you-is to consciously choose to "starve" these circuits of focused attention, thereby decreasing their influence and strength. You Are Not Your Brain carefully outlines their program, showing readers how to identify negative impulses, channel them through the power of focused attention, and ultimately lead more fulfilling and empowered lives.

Author Biography

Jeffrey M. Schwartz, M.D., is a research psychiatrist at UCLA School of Medicine and a seminal thinker and researcher in the field of self-directed neuroplasticity. He lives in Los Angeles.

Rebecca Gladding, M.D., is a psychiatrist specializing in anxiety and depression. She recently was Medical Director of the UCLA Adult Inpatient Eating Disorders Program. She lives in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xi
A Sense of Self
You Are Not Your Brain	p. 3
Using Your Mind to Change Your Brain: The Power of Self-Directed Neuroplasticity and Meaningful Goals	p. 30
Why Habits Are So Hard to Break	p. 60
Why These Sensations Feel So Real: The Biology of Deceptive Brain Messages	p. 73
A New Sense of Self: Overcoming Your Deceptive Brain Messages with the Four Steps	p. 82
The Skills
Ignoring, Minimizing, and Neglecting: How Deceptive Brain Messages Distort Your View of Yourself	p. 103
Moving Forward with the Four Steps: Tips and Recommendations	p. 125
You Can't Change What You Can't See. The Power of Awareness and Step 1: Relabel	p. 144
Changing Your Relationship to Deceptive Brain Messages with Step 2: Reframe	p. 179
Reframing Your Thinking Errors	p. 200
The Power Is in the Focus: Step 3: Refocus	p. 238
Progressive Mindfulness and Step 4 Revalue	p. 274
Applying the Four Steps to Your Life
What Is Going On Here? Is This a True Emotion or an Emotional Sensation?	p. 297
Using the Four Steps to Help You Move Forward in Your Life	p. 309
Putting It All Together	p. 335
Acknowledgments	p. 347
Recommended Reading	p. 351
Index	p. 353
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