Judson Brewer

Jud Brewer, MD, PhD (“Dr. Jud”) is a New York Times bestselling author and thought leader in the field of habit change and the “science of self-mastery,” having combined over 25 years of experience with mindfulness training with his scientific research. He is the Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center and professor in Behavioral and Social Sciences and Psychiatry at the Schools of Public Health & Medicine at Brown University. He is the author of “The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love, Why We Get Hooked, and How We Can Break Bad Habits,” “Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind,” and the forthcoming book “The Hunger Habit: Why We Eat When We’re Not Hungry and How to Stop.”

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Judson Brewer: Ending Worry Addiction and Unwinding An...

Do you have a habit you just can’t break no matter how hard you try or how badly you want to? Renowned addiction psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and bestselling author Judson Brewer—or Dr. Jud, as he’s widely known—has helped millions of people find freedom from excessive worry, overeating, cigarette smoking, and many other challenging behaviors. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Jud about his life-changing books—The Craving Mind, Unwinding Anxiety, and most recently, The Hunger Habit—and his compassionate and respectful approach to habit change. 

Enjoy this empowering and “aha!-inducing” conversation about breaking the cycle of anxiety; the process of negative reinforcement; fear of the future vs planning for the future; the three elements of a habit loop: trigger, behavior, reward; the pros and cons of distraction; distress tolerance—a survival skill for our times; changing the reward value of a behavior; karma and reinforcement learning; exploring gratification to its end; the brain as a smoke detector; recalibrating the nervous system after trauma; the concept of dependent origination; the superpower of interest curiosity; hedonic hunger vs homeostatic hunger; paying attention to your “pleasure plateau” when it comes to food; awareness as the key ingredient for behavior change; the mantra “What’s this?”; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

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Lisa Marchiano: Meet the Dream Maker—The Wise, Myste...

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In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with the host of This Jungian Life and author of the new book Dream Wise. Enjoy this inspiring conversation about falling in love with dreaming; simple ways to boost dream recall; meeting the dream maker, the creator of your dreams; why even your worst nightmare may not really be a “bad dream”; the practice of dream incubation; curiosity and humility: two essentials for interpreting dreams; paying attention to the emotions in your dreams; fear in dreams, and what it might represent; receiving constructive criticism from the dream maker; Jung and the concept of the Self; working on your dreams in the context of community; a case study: the dream of the gold watch; the dream ego; the practice of active imagination; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Jessica Long: Don’t You Dare Give Up

Every competitive sport has its icons. To reach the top of their game, each of the champions we celebrate and adore must travel a difficult, often grueling path. And then there is Jessica Long—one of the most decorated American athletes of all time, a six-time Paralympic Games swimmer who in September 2024 won her 31st Paralympic medal (at the time of this writing, 18 of them gold!). In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Jessica about her life in and out of the pool—including her work as an inspirational speaker and her book Beyond the Surface.

Listen now to this powerful conversation on how we can transform our greatest struggles into the best possible outcomes, as Tami and Jessica discuss: claiming your intrinsic worth; the importance of goal-setting and challenging yourself to grow; turning pain into purpose; staying open to anger, shame, anxiety, and the full range of our emotions; reframing the situations we didn’t choose for ourselves; the winner’s mindset according to Jessica Long—“don’t you dare give up”; visualization and the superpower that is your mind; faith and forgiveness; boosting the popularity of the Paralympics and hearing the stories of its many remarkable athletes; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Gabby Bernstein & Richard Schwartz: Courageous Lo...

Internal Family Systems therapy (or IFS) is transforming the field of psychology, captivating interest among professionals and laypeople alike in the relatively few years since Dr. Richard C. Schwartz first introduced his revolutionary model. Bestselling author Gabby Bernstein proclaims herself to be among the growing number of people whose lives have been improved in seemingly miraculous ways through IFS. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Schwartz and Bernstein about the unique ways in which IFS can heal and deepen our intimate relationships. 

Give a listen to this empowering discussion of “Courageous Love,” exploring: breaking the “mono-mind” paradigm; uncovering the core Self; coming into full integration and aligning with the truth of who you are; being Self-led in relationships; a four-step method for engaging compassion, curiosity, connection, and choice; asking yourself, “What do I need right now?”; IFS as a devotional practice; becoming “the primary caretaker of our exiles”; the burden of worthlessness; the intensity of our protector parts; IFS for conflict resolution and the practice of speaking about our parts instead of from our parts; calling a time-out to return to calm and presence; the cumulative nature of the energy of the Self; why we need to dialogue with our parts before we try to discuss them with others; the vulnerability of courageous love; the magic of clarity; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

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