Speed Addiction: Our Invisible Mental Health Threat — Dr Stephanie Brown

Dr Brown is a licensed psychologist with more than 40 years of clinical experience, a researcher, and lecturer in the field of addiction.

She is an internationally recognised expert on treatment of alcoholics, adult children of alcoholics and all addicts and their families.

Dr Brown is the author of eleven academic and popular books on addiction and recovery, including her 2014 book: Speed, which this interview focuses on.

In this conversation, we explore:

— The invisible and insidious addiction to speed that has slowly been taking hold in Western Culture, and how this is causing widespread mental health problems

— Dr Brown’s definition of addiction as: “A deep self destructive conflict of interest” and a “war within the self”

— Why our inability to face and embrace our limitations may be the central issue in addiction and how this is causing us to lose control

— Strategies for overcoming speed addiction in therapeutic work.

And more.

You can learn more about Dr Brown’s work at: https://stephaniebrownphd.com.

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Stephanie Brown, PhD, is a distinguished figure in the addiction field, renowned as a clinician, educator, author, and researcher. In 1977, she pioneered the Alcohol Clinic at Stanford University Medical Center, where she held the helm for eight years. Dr. Brown's groundbreaking work led to the development of the dynamic model for alcoholism recovery, a paradigm she skillfully applied to the long-term treatment of entire alcoholic families. She played a pivotal role in the California State Alcoholism Advisory Board and co-founded the National Association for Children of Addiction (NACoA). Throughout her career, she earned numerous accolades, including the Norman Zinberg Memorial Award and the Miracles Breakfast Constellation Behavioral Health Hope Tribute Award.

To delve deeper into her impactful journey through her book and website, you can go to https://www.stephaniebrownphd.com/about.

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Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro
00:41 - The Complexity of Addiction
15:59 - 'Speed' Book Discussion
21:08 - Technology and Addiction
27:14 - Changing Landscape of Addiction
40:29 - Slowing Down in the Digital Era
47:23 - Strategies for a Meaningful Life
54:29 - Reflections on Addiction

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Books Dr Brown Recommends Every Therapist Should Read:

— The Cybernetics of "Self": A Theory of Alcoholism — Gregory Bateson - https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1971-2...

— Drinking: A Love Story — Caroline Knapp - https://amzn.to/3rltmPz

— Speed: Facing Our Addiction to Fast and Faster- And Overcoming Our Fear of Slowing Down — Stephanie Brown - https://amzn.to/3NEStoe

— reStart (Training Program) — Dr. Hilarie Cash - https://www.restartlife.com/why-trust...

— Video Games & Your Kids: How Parents Stay in Control — Dr. Hilarie Cash - https://amzn.to/3PMI6By

— Child, Disrupted — Krista Riihimaki - https://www.childdisrupted.com/trailer