Healing the Hardware of the Soul

Zusatztext Diane E. Hough! M.S. Counseling Professionals Northwest! Mercer Island! Washington Dr. Amen's work brings science to character traits once considered to be moral or psychological flaws and opens up a door of opportunity to optimize the strength of the human spirit. His book allows people to create behavior changes worthy of trust! leading to healthier relationships by integrating physiology! psychology! and spirituality. Informationen zum Autor Daniel G. Amen, M.D., is a clinical neuroscientist, a psychiatrist, and the medical director of The Amen Clinics in California. The author of a number of books, he is the country's foremost pioneer in applying brain-imaging science to clinical practice. Dr. Amen lives in Newport Beach, California. Klappentext The maverick author of "Change Your Brain! Change Your Life" presents his proven program for repairing and strengthening relationships. Guided by this book! each person can learn to balance and optimize the parts of the brain responsible for inner growth! intimacy! and spiritual health. Chapter One: The Brain Is the Soul's Fragile Dwelling Place The Feedback Loop Between the Brain and the Soul Offers New Answers The brain is the violin and the soul is the violinist. They both need to work together in order to make beautiful music. -- FATHER CHARLES ARA, CATHOLIC PRIEST Josey experienced a living hell. Not as a far-off place where people burn for unforgiven sins, but in her everyday life. Josey suffered from panic disorder, the most common psychiatric disorder in the United States. It began in her early twenties. She worried constantly, saw the future as negative and frightening, and endured many anxiety attacks. The attacks, which came on suddenly, were associated with crushing chest pain, her heart pounding hard against her chest wall; she also had trouble catching her breath, and she felt that something terrible was about to happen. The attacks made her hide from the world. They came in waves, eight to ten in a month, and then months with none at all. They were unpredictable. Her life started to revolve around the fear of attacks. She dropped out of college after her sophomore year, stopped driving, stopped seeing her boyfriend, and worked at home doing transcription so that she would not have to go out unaccompanied. She did not seek help for years for fear of being labeled crazy. Josey prayed to God for deliverance from the anxiety attacks. As a child she had felt close to God and prayed every night before bed. Like many young adults, she had drifted away from her prayers but had still believed in a loving, present God, as her parents had taught her. When the attacks first occurred, she prayed many times a day that God would take this curse from her. Over time, as the anxiety attacks persisted, she prayed less and finally stopped. She became angry at God, and wondered why He was punishing her with the attacks. On several occasions the attacks were so bad that she contemplated suicide. When her parents heard about her suicidal ideas, they forced her to see me because I had helped her cousin with similar problems. The day I met Josey I thought this young woman was in hell -- years of torture and torment from her anxiety disorder and disconnection from her friends, her work, her future, and even her God. Many theologians believe that hell is disconnection from God. The illness had caused Josey to lose herself, her relationship with God, and nearly her life. As part of Josey's evaluation, I ordered a brain SPECT study -- an amazing test that examines how the brain works. Josey's scan showed a number of "hot spots," overactive areas, in the part of the brain that generates fear and anxiety. Seeing the physiological problem in her brain for herself was the first step in the healing process that would unfold over the next several months. Rat...

Diane E. Hough, M.S. Counseling Professionals Northwest, Mercer Island, Washington Dr. Amen's work brings science to character traits once considered to be moral or psychological flaws and opens up a door of opportunity to optimize the strength of the human spirit. His book allows people to create behavior changes worthy of trust, leading to healthier relationships by integrating physiology, psychology, and spirituality.

Autorentext

Daniel G. Amen, M.D.

Klappentext

The maverick author of "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life" presents his proven program for repairing and strengthening relationships. Guided by this book, each person can learn to balance and optimize the parts of the brain responsible for inner growth, intimacy, and spiritual health.

Zusammenfassung
Dr. Daniel Amen's breakthrough brain-healing program has helped hundreds of thousands to overcome depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and attention deficit disorder. The maverick author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Life and Healing ADD now presents his proven program for repairing and strengthening our relationships, child-rearing practices, work and study routines, and, ultimately, our soulful connections, in the deepest ways possible. Guided by this book, each of us can learn to balance and optimize the parts of the brain responsible for inner growth, intimacy, and spiritual health.
Drawing upon his experience with over fourteen thousand brain-imaging studies of patients from all walks of life, Dr. Amen has developed an essential tool called the Amen Brain System Checklist, a 101-question self-test used to evaluate the five brain systems that are key to achieving and maintaining a healthy brain-soul connection. The questionnaire identifies the problem brain areas readers may need to work on, offers insight into the degree to which these imbalances affect their lives, and provides targeted strategies for each area of the brain involved with spiritual issues.
These are just a few of the many "brain prescriptions" to be found in Healing the Hardware of the Soul:

• Develop focus and improve decision-making with the One-Page Miracle for the Soul
• Use prayer, meditation, and diaphragmatic breathing exercises for superior emotional and spiritual flexibility
• Heal painful deep soul memories through thought and behavior exercises
• Learn how forming strong, positive new bonds actually controls impulsive behavior and stabilizes mood swings
  Dr. Amen's recommendations include cutting-edge advice on diet, nutritional supplements, and the judicious use of medication when needed. He also explains which medications can unbalance the brain when used improperly. Dramatic before-and-after pictures of the brain demonstrate the medical effectiveness of these clinically based healing techniques.
  Whether we learn the self-help strategies of cognitive reprogramming, self-hypnosis, or nutraceutical therapy, seek out psychotherapy, or rely on prescription antidepressants and antianxiety medications, Dr. Amen's sage advice and comprehensive treatment programs give us all the tools we need to optimize our work, relationships, and spiritual connections to become the people we want to be.

Leseprobe
Chapter One: The Brain Is the Soul's Fragile Dwelling Place

The Feedback Loop Between the Brain and the Soul Offers New Answers

The brain is the violin and the soul is the violinist. They both need to work together in order to make beautiful music.

-- FATHER CHARLES ARA, CATHOLIC PRIEST

Josey experienced a living hell. Not as a far-off place where people burn for unforgiven sins, but in her everyday life. Josey suffered from panic disorder, the most common psychiatric disorder in the United States. It began in her early twenties. She worried constantly, saw the future as negative and frightening, and endured many anxiety attacks. The attacks, which came on suddenly, were associated with crushing chest pain, her heart pounding hard against her chest wall; she also had tro…