Dr. Amen, Chris Buxton-Smith, Dr. Jeffrey Fortuna, Dr. David E. Smith, Frances Sharpe
I’m very excited to share with you what I did on a recent weekend. I headed to a recording studio in Newport Beach to record a 10 CD audio program to accompany my upcoming book Unchain Your Brain: 10 Steps to Breaking the Addictions That Steal Your Life. With me for the recording session was an incredible panel of experts, including:
- My good friend and esteemed co-author David E. Smith, MD, who is a leader in the field of addiction medicine and the founder of the Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic in San Francisco.
- My colleague Frances Sharpe, a researcher at the Amen Clinics who provided much of the research for Unchain Your Brain.
- Dr. Jeffrey Fortuna, a faculty member in the Department of Health Science at the California State University Fullerton and author of Nutrition for the Focused Brain and Recovering Brain.
- Chris Buxton-Smith, a chef who is currently working with an organic catering company called Green Truck and who was instrumental in creating the nutrition guidelines at Newport Academy, a gender-specific residential treatment center for teens with addiction and co-occurring disorders.
On this audio program, we talked about some of the 10 steps to breaking free from addictions, including the following. I’m so very excited about this audio program and how it can help you regain control of your life. Stay tuned to find out when it will be available.
- Know your motivation to change. Here we talked about what you can do to motivate yourself to make the decision to change your habits and behaviors.
- How brain imaging changes everything, even if you never get a scan. On this program, we discussed how the brain is the ultimate key to breaking free from your addictions and how brain imaging can help.
- Get the right evaluation: a bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach. Here, we explored the many factors that contribute to addiction and increase your risk for relapse, and how to deal with these four areas so you can get on the road to recovery.
- Know your brain type: the six different types of addiction. Did you know that all addicts are NOT the same, and that when it comes to treatment one size does NOT fit all? On this program, we help you figure out which type of addict you are so you can find the best treatment plan for you.
- Boost your brain to get control: and prevent lasting memory problems and brain damage. This program includes tips on how to optimize your brain so it will be easier for you to steer clear of your addiction.
- Craving control: ways to lock up the craving monster that steals your life. Here we covered a number of simple strategies to outsmart cravings.
- Eat right to think right and heal from your addiction. On this program we offered dozens of recommendations on what and when to eat to boost your self-control.
- Kill the addiction ANTs that infest your brain and keep you in chains, and stress busting. On this program we went through several examples of how to get rid of the ANTs (automatic negative thoughts) and the chronic stress that keep you chained to your addiction.
- HALT Plus: overcome the barriers that keep you from conquering your addictions. Here we discussed a variety of ways to deal with the people, places, and things that threaten your recovery.
- Hypnosis and meditation. On this very special program, I show you how you can use your mind to help you heal. I performed an actual hypnosis on my colleague Frances Sharpe (read her comments on her experience below) that you can listen to anytime (except while driving), and I performed an actual 12-minute meditation with which you can follow along.
From Frances Sharpe:
What it’s like to be hypnotized by Dr. Amen.
I’ve never been hypnotized before (unless you count the time I was asked to come up onstage by Pat the Hip Hypnotist who used to perform on the Sunset Strip back in the ’70s and ’80s), so I was a little nervous when Dr. Amen told me he wanted to hypnotize me so listeners could follow along on the Unchain Your Brain audio program.
A few ANTs started racing through my head: What if I say something embarrassing while in the hypnotic trance? What if I can’t be hypnotized and I ruin the program? What if he makes me do something stupid?
The ANTs melted away as soon as we got started with the process. I just listened to his soothing voice and let him take me on a beautiful journey. Soon, the room we were in and the chair I was sitting in disappeared, and I was walking down a long staircase toward a beautiful park and a warm healing pool. I could still feel my body, and it felt warm, relaxed, and very light as if I was floating on air.
I had expected to feel sleepy, but that wasn’t the case at all. I actually felt very focused and alive, exploring this wondrous new world with all of my senses. I had always assumed that when you were under hypnosis, you wouldn’t know what the hypnotist was saying to you or remember anything about it afterwards. But during the trance, I was very aware of everything Dr. Amen was saying and remembered everything about it later.
During the session Dr. Amen gave suggestions to help me kick my personal addiction—sugar—while addressing other addictions for listeners.
After coming out of the trance, I felt a sense of calm relaxation. He asked me how long I thought the session had lasted and I told him about seven or eight minutes. He told me it was actually 27 minutes! And I didn’t move a muscle the entire time! For a fidgeter like me, that’s amazing.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience! I certainly didn’t need to feel nervous about it and my ANTs were all completely unfounded. But will it help me stay away from the cookies and candy? We’ll see, but I did go home that night and toss out the M&Ms that were in the kitchen cupboard.