Overcoming Anxiety with Dr. Judson Brewer

The Mindspace Podcast: Inspiring Wellbeing

“How do we resist anxiety? We can hold it with kindness.”

In this episode of the Mindspace podcast, Dr. Joe speaks with Dr. Judson Brewer. Jud is a psychiatrist, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine at Brown University and the Director of Research and Innovation at Brown’s Mindfulness Center. He has become an authority on the application of mindfulness in the treatment of anxiety, addictions, and eating disorders and his work has been featured in some of the top medical and neuroscience journals as well as in the popular media. His 2019 TED talk is ranked the 4th most popular of the year.

Jud’s research and clinical work are highly innovative, partly because of his integration of traditional Buddhist psychology with modern neuroscience and psychology. In recent years he has focused on making his work accessible to the general public and has produced online programs for helping people reduce anxiety (Unwinding Anxiety), overeating (Eat Right Now), and smoking (Craving to Quit). He is also the author of The Craving Mind: from Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love - Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits.

Joe and Jud discussed:

• Jud’s theory that anxiety is actually an addiction to worry
  
• The reward-based learning model that underlies the development of all habits, including anxiety, addictions and eating disorders
  
• How mindfulness can help “unwind” anxiety and other unhelpful habits
  
• The role of the brain’s Default Mode Network in getting us caught in unhelpful habit loops
  
• Why episodes of mental illness often recur
  

If you’d like to learn how to practice mindfulness to help with your anxiety or any other unhelpful habits, please reach out to Mindspace: mindspacewellbeing.com

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