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Julie Smith
Clinical Psychologist and Author of Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Judson Brewer
Director of Research and Innovation at the Brown University Mindfulness Center
Anxiety · Habit Change · Mindfulness
Speaking Fee
Fee on request
Based In
United States
Signature Topic
Unwinding Anxiety
Format
Keynote and Workshop
About Judson
Judson Brewer is an addiction psychiatrist who found that the mechanism behind smoking is the same one behind checking a phone, eating when not hungry, and worrying, and that naming the mechanism is most of what it takes to interrupt it.
He is a professor of psychiatry and of behavioral and social sciences at Brown's schools of medicine and public health, and director of research and innovation at Brown's Mindfulness Center. His work is on the habit loop, trigger, behavior, reward, and on why willpower fails against it: an organization telling people to try harder is competing with a reward system that has been reinforced thousands of times. What works instead is curiosity about what the behavior actually delivers, which is a strange instruction until the evidence behind it is laid out.
Unwinding Anxiety, published in 2021, is a New York Times bestseller and applies that finding to anxiety specifically, treating worry as a habit with a reward rather than as a personality trait. He has developed and clinically tested app-based programs for smoking, emotional eating and anxiety, which is unusual: most speakers on this subject have a framework, and he has trial data.
His 2016 TED talk on breaking a bad habit has been viewed more than fourteen million times, and his work has been covered by 60 Minutes, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time and NPR.
He suits wellbeing and mental health programming, high-pressure workforces where anxiety is affecting performance rather than only comfort, and leadership audiences interested in why behavior change initiatives fail. Sessions run as a keynote and as a keynote plus workshop, since the technique is a practice rather than an idea.
Keynote Topics
Unwinding Anxiety: Worry as a Habit With a Reward
Why Willpower Loses to the Habit Loop
Curiosity as the Tool That Actually Interrupts a Habit
Focus and Attention in a Distraction Economy
Best For
- Wellbeing and mental health programming
- High-pressure workforces and frontline teams
- Healthcare and clinical audiences
- Leadership development and behavior change initiatives
- Technology and knowledge-work organizations
Booking Judson Brewer: Frequently Asked Questions
What is Judson Brewer's speaking fee?
Judson Brewer's fee is not published here and is quoted per event. It is driven by event date, location and travel, session length, whether the session is delivered in person or virtually, and whether a workshop or program follow-up is added to the keynote. Submit an inquiry with your date and audience size for a current quote and availability.
Why does he say willpower does not work?
Because willpower competes against a reward system that has been reinforced thousands of times, and loses. The habit loop is trigger, behavior, reward, and the intervention that works is curiosity about what the behavior actually delivers, which tends to reveal that the reward is smaller than assumed. That is a strange instruction until the evidence is laid out, which is what the session does.
Is the material clinical or practical?
It comes from clinical research and is delivered for a general audience. He has developed and clinically tested app-based programs for smoking, emotional eating and anxiety, so the claims carry trial data behind them rather than a framework alone, which is what distinguishes it on a wellbeing agenda.
Which audiences book him?
Wellbeing and mental health programming, high-pressure workforces where anxiety is affecting performance rather than only comfort, healthcare audiences, and leadership groups interested in why behavior change initiatives fail. A workshop is often added, since the technique is a practice rather than an idea.
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Judson Brewer
Director of Research and Innovation at the Brown University Mindfulness Center
Fee on request
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