Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more!

Transcript Gary Small, M.D. is co-author (along with his wife, Gigi Vorgan) of the 2010 book, The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head: A Psychiatrist’s Stories of His Most Bizzare Cases. I interviewed Dr. Small two years ago on episode #188 about their earlier 2008 book, iBrain: Surviving The Technological Alteration of The Modern Mind. Dr. Small is a professor of psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute and directs the Memory and Aging Research Center and the UCLA Center on Aging. He is one of the world’s leading experts on brain science and has published numerous books and articles. Scientific American magazine named him one of the world’s top innovators in science and technology, and he frequently appears on The Today Show, Good Morning America, 20/20 and CNN. Dr. Small has invented the first brain scan that allows doctors to see the physical evidence of brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease in living people. Among his numerous breakthrough research studies, he now leads a team of neuroscientists who are demonstrating that exposure to computer technology causes rapid and profound changes in brain neural circuitry. Discover these discount codes for you!: Angie’s List and 10% off on printer ink at 4inkjets and 10% off on Shoes and other apparel at ShoeBuy.com. A psychology podcast by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. #254 – A Psychiatrist’s Most Bizarre Cases with Gary Small, MD is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more! #254 – A Psychiatrist’s Most Bizarre Cases with Gary Small, MD is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more!

Shelley Carson, PhD is a researcher and instructor of creativity, psychopathology and resilience. She is the author of Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity and Innovation in Your Life (Jossey-Bass/Wiley). Based on scientific findings from studies involving brain imaging, brain injury cases, neuropsychological testing and interviews with hundreds of highly creative individuals, Dr. Carson has created a model of seven different brain states related to creative thought, which she calls the CREATES brainsets model. In her book she offers a route to greater creative productivity through a series of engaging exercises and problem sets (based on cognitive behavioral therapy methods) that enable us to strengthen our brainsets and switch among them with ease. Dr. Carson’s research has been widely published in national and international scientific journals, and her findings have been featured on the Discovery Channel, CNN, NPR, the BBC and Radio Free Europe, as well as in Newsweek, Scientific American, and Psychology Today. She has won multiple awards for her unique Harvard course, Creativity: Geniuses, Madmen and Harvard Students. Dr. Carson hosts “Your Creative Blog” on her interactive Web site www.ShelleyCarson.com, and she is a featured blogger for The Huffington Post with her “Creativity in the 21st Century” blog and Psychology Today with her “Life as Art” blog. She maintains an active speaking schedule outside of the classroom, talking to such groups as the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus, the National Council on Disability, the Massachusetts Manic Depressive and Depressive Association and the One Day University lecture series. Since 2006, Dr. Carson has served as a senior consultant and subject matter expert for the Department-of-Defense project afterdeployment.org, which provides innovative online mental health assistance to service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Discover these discount codes for you!: Angie’s List and 10% off on printer ink at 4inkjets and 10% off on Shoes and other apparel at ShoeBuy.com. A psychology podcast by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. #253 – Creativity and The Brain with Shelly Carson, PhD is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more! #253 – Creativity and The Brain with Shelly Carson, PhD is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more!

Mark Epstein, M.D., is a psychiatrist and author of Psychotherapy Without The Self: A Buddhist Perspective (Yale University Press, 2007), Going to Pieces: Without Falling Apart (Broadway Books, 1999), and Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective (Basic Books, 1995). Dr. Epstein is a graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Medical School. He is a psychotherapist with a private practice in New York City and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology at New York University. Dr. Epstein has been a contributing editor to Tricycle: The Buddhist Review since it was founded in 1991. He writes for Yoga Journal, O, The Oprah Magazine, Buddhadharma, Body and Soul and other periodicals. Additionally Mark Epstein is the author of well-respected books that deal with the difficult and counter-intuitive Eastern teachings of non-self, a concept which has sometimes proved so alien to the western mind as to be out of reach for many western Buddhists. As a student of Vipassana meditation, he teaches periodically with Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman at Tibet House in New York and lectures to therapists around the country on the relationship of Buddhist and western approaches to psychotherapy. Discover these discount codes for you!: Angie’s List and 10% off on printer ink at 4inkjets and 10% off on Shoes and other apparel at ShoeBuy.com. A psychology podcast by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. #252 – A Buddhist Perspective on Psychotherapy with Mark Epstein, MD is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more! #252 – A Buddhist Perspective on Psychotherapy with Mark Epstein, MD is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more!

Patrick Thornton, PhD, who had been an evangelical clergy at the time, left the church because, as he often will say—quoting the Hebrew Prophet Isaiah— “the bed [was] too short to stretch out on, and the covering so narrow that [he could not] wrap himself in it.” He applies this quote to the doctrine and dogma of the church. Having left the church, Patrick still had a longing for spiritual direction and practice. Through the writings of Thomas Merton, especially his biography, The Asian Journals of Thomas Merton, and The Zen And The Birds of Paradise, and the writings of another Catholic priest, William Johnston—The Mysticism of ‘The Cloud of Unknowing, Christian Zen, and Mirror Mind: Spirituality and Transformation)—Patrick developed a deep interest in contemplative practice. From that influence, he wanted to learn about contemplative practice through direct experience. Finding a flyer advertizing a beginning class in Insight Meditation in the early ’80s, he took the 6-week course, and came home to the practice. In ‘91, Patrick attended a 28-day silent residential retreat with Zen Master Thich Nhât Hânh at Plum Village, France, where he received ordination and was given the dharma name, Chân Bî Hânh (“True Compassionate Practice,” or literally, “To Suffer Compassion”). In ’92, Patrick met Jon Kabat-Zinn (Full Catastrophe Living and Where Ever You Go There You Are), and with Sylvia Boorstein, a founding teacher with Spirit Rock Meditation Center, taught his first Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program for physicians. Since then, Patrick has taught Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Cognitive Therapy for thousands of patients, and medical and mental health provider, at medical centers and residential retreats on the West Coast and in the Heartlands. During this period, he has also served as a direct provider and executive director with community and hospital based hospice programs, and as clinical director for the San Francisco Cancer Support Center. He has also been a conference presenter on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy with such programs as Aging, Spirituality and Death at St. Mary’s in San Francisco, the Redwood Psychology Association in Santa Rosa, the VA Post-Doctoral Conference in Palo Alto, and most recently, the American Psychotherapy Association in Orlando, Fl. Over the years, he has had a keen interest in the intersection of Spirituality, Psychology and Neurology. Patrick has a private practice in Santa Rosa, CA. Discover these discount codes for you!: Angie’s List and 10% off on printer ink at 4inkjets and 10% off on Shoes and other apparel at ShoeBuy.com. A psychology podcast by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. #251 – Mindfulness and Psychotherapy with Patrick Thornton is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more! #251 – Mindfulness and Psychotherapy with Patrick Thornton is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more!

Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a neuropsychologist and founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom. A summa cum laude graduate of UCLA, he teaches at universities and meditation centers in Europe, Australia, and North America. His work has been featured on the BBC and in Consumer Reports Health, U.S. News and World Report, and other major magazines. Dr. Hanson’s most recent book is Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom, which is being published in eleven languages. An authority on self-directed neuroplasticity, he edits the Wise Brain Bulletin, has a weekly e-newsletter, Just One Thing, and his Your Wise Brain blog is on Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and other major websites. He has several audio programs with Sounds True, and his first book was Mother Nurture: A Mother’s Guide to Health in Body, Mind, and Intimate Relationships (Penguin, 2002). Discover these discount codes for you!: Angie’s List and 10% off on printer ink at 4inkjets and 10% off on Shoes and other apparel at ShoeBuy.com. A psychology podcast by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. #249 – Buddha’s Brain: The Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, & Wisdom with Rick Hanson is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more! #249 – Buddha’s Brain: The Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, & Wisdom with Rick Hanson is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more!

Barry Krakow, MD is a board certified internist and sleep disorders specialist who has spent over 30 years in medicine in the fields of internal, emergency, addiction and sleep medicine. He has conducted more than two decades of research in the treatment of chronic nightmares and disturbing dreams at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine (1988-1999) and the Sleep & Human Health Institute (2000-current). Dr. Krakow graduated magna cum laude from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He was residency trained and board certified in internal medicine and also has ten years of clinical work in emergency medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society and is the former medical director of University Hospital Sleep Disorders Center. Dr. Krakow has published two books, Insomnia Cures and his most recent, Sound Sleep, Sound Mind, is the first book of its kind to focus on mental, emotional and physical causes to sleep disturbances. Dr. Krakow and his wife, Jessica Kohr-Krakow have also published Turning Nightmares into Dreams, an innovated self-help, audio series and workbook to eliminate bad dreams. Dr. Krakow is the medical director of Maimonides Sleep Arts & Sciences, Ltd, in Albuquerque, NM as well as the principle investigator of the Sleep and Human Health Institute, a non-profit research facility. Also, you can find information about his upcoming workshops on his Web sites, which include www.sleeptreatment.com http://www.nightmaretreatment.com/. Discover these discount codes for you!: Angie’s List and 10% off on printer ink at 4inkjets and 10% off on Shoes and other apparel at ShoeBuy.com. A psychology podcast by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. #248 – Sound Sleep, Sound Mind with Barry Krakow, MD is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more! #248 – Sound Sleep, Sound Mind with Barry Krakow, MD is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more!

Barry Spector is a Harvard grauduate who writes about American history and politics from the perspectives of myth, indigenous traditions and archetypal psychology. He has published three articles in Jung Journal: Culture and Psyche and is the author of the 2010 book, Madness At The Gates Of The City: The Myth Of American Innocence. (

Darold Treffert, M.D., a Wisconsin psychiatrist, has been studying Savant Syndrome for over 40 years. His most recent publication, Islands of Genius: The Bountiful Mind of the Autistic, Acquired and Sudden Savant, was published by Jessica Kingsley, Inc. in April 2010 in both the United States and England. His earlier book, Extraordinary People, was the first work to comprehensively summarize what is known about this fascinating condition, originally described a century ago, and to introduce the reader to a number of present day prodigious savants such as Leslie, Alonzo and George. Many persons remember these three remarkable persons from the 1980 60 Minutes program about them. Dr. Treffert was also a consultant to the movie Rain Man, in which Dustin Hoffman portrayed an autistic savant. In addition to his work in the area of Savant Syndrome, Dr. Treffert has lectured nationally for a number of years on the topic of “Mellowing”. His booklet, Mellowing: Lessons from Listening, has been widely distributed. Another area of writing and speaking has been the rights of the mentally ill with respect to balancing clinical realities with legal rights. Discover these discount codes for you!: Angie’s List and 10% off on printer ink at 4inkjets and 10% off on Shoes and other apparel at ShoeBuy.com. A psychology podcast by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. #246 – Exploring Savant Syndrome with Darold Treffert, MD is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more! #246 – Exploring Savant Syndrome with Darold Treffert, MD is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more!

Sheena Iyengar, Ph.D. is the inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychology, and the Research Director at the Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business. Sheena’s primary research interest is how people perceive and respond to choice, and for her research on this topic she has been the recipient of numerous honors, including the prestigious Best Dissertation Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology in 1998 and the Presidential Early Career Award in 2002. She is currently recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on choice. Her work is regularly cited in the popular press, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Time magazines, the BBC and National Public Radio, as well as in bestselling books such as Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. She has recently written her first book, The Art of Choosing, which explores the mysteries of choice in everyday life. Discover these discount codes for you!: Angie’s List and 10% off on printer ink at 4inkjets. A psychology podcast by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. #245 – The Art of Choosing with Sheena Iyengar is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more! #245 – The Art of Choosing with Sheena Iyengar is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more!

Dan Ariely, Ph.D. is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University, where he holds appointments at the Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, the School of Medicine, and the department of Economics. He is also a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight. In addition, Dan is the author of the New York Times Bestseller Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions and The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home. Using simple experiments Dan studies how people actually act in the marketplace, as opposed to how they should or would perform if they were completely rational. His interests span a wide range of daily behaviors such as buying (or not), saving (or not), ordering food in restaurants, pain management, procrastination, dishonesty, and decision making under different emotional states. His experiments are consistently interesting, amusing, and informative, demonstrating profound ideas that fly in the face of common wisdom. Dan earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tel Aviv University, his master’s and doctorate degrees in cognitive psychology from the University of North Carolina, and a doctorate in Business Administration from Duke University. His research has been published in leading psychology, economics, and marketing and management research journals, and has been featured occasionally in the popular press (The New York Times, the New Yorker Magazine, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, etc). He is a regular contributor to Marketplace on National Public Radio. Discover these discount codes for you!: Angie’s List and 10% off on printer ink at 4inkjets. A psychology podcast by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. #243 – Exploring Behavioral Economics with Dan Ariely is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more! #243 – Exploring Behavioral Economics with Dan Ariely is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more!

Richard Chachere has lived in Lafayette, Louisiana for the last 32 years practicing Jungian therapy, after founding The Acadiana Friends of Jung in 1978, and after attending the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego and working in analysis with Jack Sanford and getting to know the Southern California Jungian community, especailly the work of Edward Edinger and Diane Cordic. He has also worked with Dr. Theo Abt in Zurich. Richard has written 2 books: American Beauty, A jungian Commentary; as well as Legends of the Fall;, a Jungian Commentary. His “Tears for Louisiana” is an outpouring after the Oil Spill near his home in Lafayette, and summer home, Cypremort Point, La., where he has been working on the life of Laurens Van Der Post for the past 5 years, witnessing the ravages of Hurricanes Katrina, as well as Ike and Gustav; and now BP’s massive Oil Spill! Which has also brought to life his boy’s story, The Fisher Boy, not yet printed, along with Gone With The Wind, A Jungian Commentary. Richard reports he is now 70 years old. A psychology podcast by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. #241 – Jung in The Louisiana Gulf with Richard Chachere is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more! #241 – Jung in The Louisiana Gulf with Richard Chachere is a post from: Shrink Rap Radio Psychology Interviews: Exploring brain, body, mind, spirit, intuition, leadership, research, psychotherapy and more!