I’ve selected these videos based upon three criteria. First, I find them valuable enough that I have watched them more than once. Second, they are either short enough to enjoy briefly, or long enough to cover a topic in some detail with precision. Third, they encompass ideas that I find helpful in working with people in my practice of psychiatry and addiction medicine. The first video I’ve chosen to post is from Martin Seligman. Also: discussions of pseudoscience, a TED talk by The Monk Guy (with guitar), and Kabat-Zinn on mindfulness.
At the very bottom of the page (since most visitors aren’t doctors) I have the video about electronic medical records and why doctors hate them.
RECENTLY ADDED:
WHY DOCTORS HATE ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS
REPORT ON WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING FROM PBS (07/01/2015)
DR. KEVIN MCCAULEY ON ADDICTIONS
DR. SANDRA BOND CHAPMAN ON BRAIN HEALTH
DR. IAN ROBERTSON ON HIS RESEARCH ON “THE WINNER EFFECT”
DR. HOWARD SOMERS & JEAN SOMERS ON VETERAN SUICIDES
At the very bottom of the page (since most visitors aren’t doctors) I have the video about electronic medical records and why doctors hate them.
RECENTLY ADDED:
WHY DOCTORS HATE ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS
REPORT ON WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING FROM PBS (07/01/2015)
DR. KEVIN MCCAULEY ON ADDICTIONS
DR. SANDRA BOND CHAPMAN ON BRAIN HEALTH
DR. IAN ROBERTSON ON HIS RESEARCH ON “THE WINNER EFFECT”
DR. HOWARD SOMERS & JEAN SOMERS ON VETERAN SUICIDES
WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING
Newly added on 7 July 2015: Research on the brain and how we think and act is influencing the way some teachers teach. Special correspondent John Tulenko of Learning Matters goes into a classroom where the instructor uses different methods to engage different parts of the students’ brains, then checks with a neuroscientist about whether that strategy actually works.
Newly added on 7 July 2015: Research on the brain and how we think and act is influencing the way some teachers teach. Special correspondent John Tulenko of Learning Matters goes into a classroom where the instructor uses different methods to engage different parts of the students’ brains, then checks with a neuroscientist about whether that strategy actually works.
MARTIN SELIGMAN AND POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
According to Martin Seligman, widely considered the founder of the field, there’s more to positive psychology than happiness—and, more importantly, there’s more to life than happiness as well. Seligman has come to believe that the term “happiness” is too often confused with just feeling good; instead, leading a good, truly happy life requires more than positive emotions. To truly maximize our well-being, we need five crucial elements, which Seligman summarizes in an acronym he recently created, PERMA: positive emotions, engagement (the feeling of being lost in a task, aka “flow”), relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. “Well-being cannot exist just in your own head,” Seligman says. “Well-being is a combination of feeling good as well as actually having meaning, good relationships, and accomplishment.”
“If we just wanted positive emotions, our species would have died out a long time ago,” Seligman says. “We have children to pursue other elements of well-being. We want meaning in life. We want relationships.”
This doesn’t suggest that pursuing happiness is totally unimportant and irrelevant to a good life. But it does suggest that we should broader our notion of true happiness—it’s much more than momentary feelings of joy and a positive mood.
JON KABAT-ZINN AND MINDFULNESS MEDITATION
In 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn recruited chronically ill patients not responding well to traditional treatments to participate in his newly formed eight-week stress-reduction program, which we now call Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Since then, substantial research has mounted demonstrating how mindfulness-based interventions improve mental and physical health—comparably so to other psychological interventions. But let's take a step back—what is mindfulness?
"Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally," says Kabat-Zinn. "It's about knowing what is on your mind."
TED TALK BY MY FRIEND “THE MONK DUDE” AND HIS SINGING MEDITATION
People who know me as a medical school professor, or as an old fuddy-duddy, or as a more-or-less square guy, may be surprised by this video. Last year I made a new friend when I encountered Dada Nabhaniilananda (don’t even try to pronounce it), better known as “The Monk Dude.” This fellow is simply fascinating. In this video, he talks about love, and then he takes out his guitar and performs a beautiful, lyrical, “singing meditation” with the audience at TED. Maybe it’s not for everybody, but I really enjoy it, and I’ve listened to it many times, often singing along with him. He is an eloquent correspondent, and he will be in Austin, Texas, this year teaching one of his courses.
Dada Nabhaniilananda, also known as The Monk Dude, is originally from New Zealand. He has been a yoga monk and meditation teacher since 1979. Author of 'Close Your Eyes & Open Your Mind - a Practical Guide to Spiritual Meditation' and winner of eight international song writing awards, his unique talents have brought him invitations from all over the world. Dada currently lives in Los Altos Hills, California where he runs the Ananda Marga meditation center and teaches a course in Meditation at UC Berkeley, California. You can find his website here.
DR. DAVID TOLIN ON PSEUDOSCIENCE
The public has very little understanding of what works, and what does not work, in mental health. If you have seen my FAQ page, you may have noted my critical comments about quackery, junk science, pseudoscience, and the challenge of finding competent help.
Here is a Stockholm Psychiatry Lecture given at Nobel Forum, Karolinska Institutet May 28 2013 by Dr David Tolin, Director, The Institute of Living and Adjunct Associate Professor at Yale University. Dr Tolin is well known for his research and has was the host of the TV series "The OCD project". Dr. Tolin discusses the contribution of scientific and pseudoscientific theories and methods to mental health.
BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY, DISCUSSES PSEUDOSCIENCE
Not into academic lectures on pseudoscience? Need a little more sizzle, humor, and entertainment on the subject? Then check out Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and his program discussing junk science. James Randi, magician and debunker, also shows up. Look into your screen and knock the pencil off the platform.
RICHARD ROHR ON “BREATHING UNDER WATER”
I have followed Richard’s work for over 25 years, and his series called “Breathing Under Water” was deeply meaningful to me both in my personal recovery and in my studies at The Anglican School of Theology. We have never met, but we have many mutual friends, and he is also a wise teacher of The Enneagram, an instrument often used in spiritual direction. Activist, author and spiritual teacher Richard Rohr presented "Breathing Under Water" in the All Saints Church, Pasadena Rector's Forum on Sunday, March 25, 2012.
DR. ROY BAUMEISTER ON WILLPOWER
A new understanding of how people control themselves has emerged from the past decade of research studies. Self-control depends on a limited energy supply, and each person's willpower fluctuates during the day as various events deplete and then replenish it. Decision-making and creative initiative also deplete the same willpower supply, while eating and sleeping can restore it. Some circumstances propel people to perform well despite depleted willpower, including power and leadership roles, local incentives, and personal beliefs.
Dr. Roy Baumeister is the Eppes Professor of Psychology and Head of Social Psychology Graduate Training Program. He grew up in Cleveland, the oldest child of a schoolteacher and an immigrant businessman. He received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Princeton in 1978. At Case Western Reserve University, he was the first to hold the Elsie Smith professorship. He has also worked at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Texas, the University of Virginia, the Max-Planck-Institute, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
Dr. Baumeister's research spans multiple topics, including self and identity, self-regulation, interpersonal rejection and the need to belong, sexuality and gender, aggression, self-esteem, meaning, and self-presentation. He has received research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and from the Templeton Foundation. He has over 400 publications, including 22 books.
The Institute for Scientific Information lists Dr. Baumeister among the handful of most cited (most influential) psychologists in the world. He lives by a small lake in Florida with his beloved family. In his rare spare time, he enjoys windsurfing, skiing, and jazz guitar.
MY FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE (AND MY BOSS), DR. SANDI CHAPMAN
Sandra Bond Chapman, Ph.D., founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas, Dee Wyly Distinguished University Chair and author of Make Your Brain Smarter, is committed to maximizing human cognitive potential across the entire human lifespan. As a cognitive neuroscientist with more than 40 funded research grants and federal, state and private philanthropic support, Dr. Chapman’s scientific study elucidates and applies novel approaches to build brain resilience, advance creative and critical thinking, strengthen healthy brain development and repair brain function after brain injury or brain disease.
Dr. Chapman collaborates with scientists across the country and around the world to solve some of the most important issues concerning the brain and its health. On the frontier of brain research, her scientific study melds interdisciplinary expertise to better understand how to evaluate and achieve optimal brain performance through preserving frontal lobe function, the area of the brain responsible for reasoning, planning and decision-making. Dr. Chapman is actively studying the informative pathways to brain change in health, injury and disease; identifying brain health biomarkers and novel non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatment approaches, and testing the effect of brain training to exploit brain potential. Dedicated to improving lives today and changing how the public thinks and acts about the brain and its health, Dr. Chapman is committed to promoting brain health fitness, developing futuristic thinkers, and helping individuals, young or old, think smarter.
Sandra Bond Chapman, Ph.D., founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas, Dee Wyly Distinguished University Chair and author of Make Your Brain Smarter, is committed to maximizing human cognitive potential across the entire human lifespan. As a cognitive neuroscientist with more than 40 funded research grants and federal, state and private philanthropic support, Dr. Chapman’s scientific study elucidates and applies novel approaches to build brain resilience, advance creative and critical thinking, strengthen healthy brain development and repair brain function after brain injury or brain disease.
Dr. Chapman collaborates with scientists across the country and around the world to solve some of the most important issues concerning the brain and its health. On the frontier of brain research, her scientific study melds interdisciplinary expertise to better understand how to evaluate and achieve optimal brain performance through preserving frontal lobe function, the area of the brain responsible for reasoning, planning and decision-making. Dr. Chapman is actively studying the informative pathways to brain change in health, injury and disease; identifying brain health biomarkers and novel non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatment approaches, and testing the effect of brain training to exploit brain potential. Dedicated to improving lives today and changing how the public thinks and acts about the brain and its health, Dr. Chapman is committed to promoting brain health fitness, developing futuristic thinkers, and helping individuals, young or old, think smarter.
DR. IAN ROBERTSON DISCUSSES HIS WORK ON THE WINNER EFFECT
”The Winner Effect: How Power Affects Your Brain" Lecture with Dr. Ian Robertson
The Brain: An Owner's Guide, the Center for BrainHealth's annual sell-out public lecture series, delivers groundbreaking brain health research straight from renowned leaders in the field every Tuesday night in February. I really enjoyed this lecture, and now it’s available online for your enjoyment and education. The book of the same title is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
MY FRIENDS JEAN AND HOWARD SOMERS DISCUSS VETERANS AND SUICIDE
Howard, Jean, and I met at The Center for BrainHealth last year, and they returned recently to talk about the tragic loss of their son, one of the many veterans we have lost to suicide. Shortly before his death on June 10, Army veteran Daniel Somers wrote a note for his family, asking his wife, Angel, to share it as she saw fit. “I am left with basically nothing,” he typed on his laptop at their Phoenix townhouse. “Too trapped in a war to be at peace, too damaged to be at war.” His service in Iraq, including multiple combat missions as a turret gunner, left him with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. But the government, he wrote, had “turned around and abandoned me.”
Daniel Somers was caught in VA’s notorious disability claims backlog, which at its peak in March included more than 900,000 compensation requests from veterans, two-thirds of them waiting for more than 125 days. When Somers died, his case seeking full disability for his PTSD had been awaiting resolution for 20 months.
Jean and Howard Somers, are determined to use their son’s death to expose what they see as critical deficiencies in the VA system for treating mental illness. They met with congressional and VA officials in Washington this month and opened Somers’s records to The Washington Post. It is an effort, they say, to show how the agency failed their son and a way, maybe, to help someone else.
The interviewer is our own Kris Boyd, host of the remarkable program “Think” on KERA.
DR. MIKE MERZENICH ON ADDICTION AND BRAIN PLASTICITY
Dr. Merzenich is the brain behind BrainHQ and the author of Soft-Wired: How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Can Change Your Life. For nearly five decades, he has been a leading pioneer in brain plasticity research. As co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Posit Science, Michael Merzenich heads the company's science team.
Dr. Merzenich has published more than 150 articles in leading peer-reviewed journals (such as Science and Nature), received numerous awards and prizes (including the Russ Prize, Ipsen Prize, Zülch Prize, Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award and Purkinje Medal), and been granted nearly 100 patents for his work. He and his work have been highlighted in hundreds of books about the brain, learning, rehabilitation, and plasticity.
PHYSICIAN & FIGHTER PILOT KEVIN McCAULEY
A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Kevin McCauley and hearing one of his inspiring talks on addiction and recovery. Kevin is a graduate of the Medical College of Pennsylvania. He joined the Navy and became a Naval Flight Surgeon. After earning his wings at Pensacola, Florida he was assigned to a Marine helicopter squadron (The Red Lions). Later he was transferred to Marine F/A-18 Hornet squadron (Sharpshooters). While working as a flight surgeon he treated pilots with alcohol and drug problems. As a physician, he advocates strongly for addicts and alcoholics, and he's an excellent presenter and speaker. Kevin and his colleagues have produced a series of videos that are basic, very understandable, and created with great production values. The videos are available on YouTube, and the full DVD can be purchased on Amazon.
ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS: EHR SUCKS!
I’ve put this video at the bottom of the page because it’s not relevant for most folks, but it’s pretty cool. If you’re a health professional and you’ve had to deal with the terrible (but predictable) consequences of electronic medical records, you will enjoy this. If you’re a patient, and you hate it that your doctor types into the computer when you’re trying to have a conversation, you may like this as well.
I’ve put this video at the bottom of the page because it’s not relevant for most folks, but it’s pretty cool. If you’re a health professional and you’ve had to deal with the terrible (but predictable) consequences of electronic medical records, you will enjoy this. If you’re a patient, and you hate it that your doctor types into the computer when you’re trying to have a conversation, you may like this as well.