Welcome!
You’ve likely come to this site because of my new book with Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz, You Are Not Your Brain, or because of A&E’s show Obsessed. Whatever the reason, thanks for visiting.
I am very excited about our book for many reasons, but mostly because of the personal significance it has for me. As a recent college grad in 1997 with a major in biochemistry (but no desire to go to medical school and unsure what I was going to do), I was struggling in many ways in a bad economy and anxious about various things – much like countless people today. It was around that time that I read Dr. Schwartz’s groundbreaking book Brain Lock and it changed my life.
So inspired by his writing, I wrote to Dr. Schwartz in 1999 telling him how much his book and work meant to me. It was my fortune that he called me up a few weeks later and offered me a position as his research assistant. I learned a lot in that year with Dr. Schwartz and left for UCSF medical school in 2001 hoping that I would acquire some of the skills and experiences necessary to help people the way Dr. Schwartz has in his career.
It was with renewed vigor and interest in the mind and the brain that I came back to UCLA in 2005 to start my psychiatry residency. Beleaguered by my long hours in the hospital, seeing Dr. Schwartz in my second year in the halls of the Semel Institute was a welcome sight. When time would allow, I would meet with Dr. Schwartz and we would talk about the brain and its structures, how the mind can change the brain, how different mental health issues or problems arise and what could be done with them.
Drawing on so many new experiences, both clinical and personal, as well as my developing mindfulness meditation practice, I felt that I truly understood Dr. Schwartz’s work in an entirely new way, one that I could help explain to others. As luck would have it, the culmination of our years together resulted in our new book, You are Not Your Brain. I hope it is as helpful to you as Dr. Schwartz’s Brain Lock was for me.
