Harnessing Mindfulness to Combat Cravings, Anxiety, and Addiction in Mental Health Practice

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Presented by Judson Brewer, MD, PHD

Presenter Bio

Dr. Jud Brewer is a New York Times best-selling author, neuroscientist, addiction psychiatrist, and thought leader in the field of habit change. He is the director of research and innovation at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center, where he also serves as an associate professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences in the School of Public Health. He is the chief medical officer at Sharecare, a digital health company and a research affiliate at MIT.
Dr. Jud has developed and tested novel mindfulness programs for habit change, including treatments for smoking, emotional eating, and anxiety. He is the author of “Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind” and “The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love, Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits”.
Dr. Jud Brewer’s website
Follow Dr. Jud Brewer on Instagram and Twitter, Facebook
Unwinding by Sharecare (app)
Unwinding Anxiety (app)
Eat Right Now (app)
Craving To Quit! (app)

What if the root of addiction isn’t in the substances itself, but somewhere deeper? While addiction can be difficult to overcome, mindfulness may offer a promising step forward in treating it. Through his clinical work and neuroscience research studies, as well as by developing digital therapeutics for habit change, Brewer will discuss the elementary mental mechanism that promotes cravings and addictions which dates back to prehistoric days. He will explain how our brains employ reward-based learning and intermittent reinforcement to construct habits gradually; these habits are hard to break. In this presentation, Brewer will describe why habits form and simple ways that we can break unhealthy ones ranging from smartphones to stress eating and even anxiety. He will also show how we can use these to build our natural capacities of awareness, kindness, and curiosity.

Course Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:

  1. Discuss how in attention deepens habitual ruts in the mind that set the foundation for addiction and cravings
  2. Demonstrate through examples how mindfulness affects reward valuation in the brain
  3. Discuss how mindfulness approaches can help change habit patterns and reduce cravings

Instructional Level

Advanced

Licensed mental health professionals employed through Kaiser Permanente and psychological assistants performing under supervision of a licensed psychologist.

This CE program is free to Kaiser Permanente employees.
Instructional Methodology
Lecture
Audio/Visual
On-line Presentation

Continuing Education Information

Kaiser Permanente Northern California Mental Health Training Program is approved by the California Psychological Association to provide continuing professional education for psychologists. The Kaiser Permanente Northern California Mental Health Training Program maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Refund and Attendance Policy

All programs offered on KP Learn for CE credit through the KP Northern California Mental Health Training website are free of charge to Kaiser Permanente Staff and trainees. Once a course is selected in the KP NCAL MH Training Website, the registration process begins, and it will appear in the individuals KP Learn profile for completion within 90 days.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Those who attend the program in full and complete the appropriate evaluation form will receive CE credits. Please note that credit will only be granted to those who attend the entire program. An attestation of attendance will be given once the individual has completed viewing the program, which will then initiate the final steps of completing the evaluation forms to receive a certificate of completion.

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