Welcome to episode 141 with Dr Caroline Leaf

Caroline Leaf, PhD is a mental health expert, neuroscientist, and host of the popular podcast, Cleaning Up the Mental Mess. She is leveraging her 40 years of clinical experience to help adults and children unravel toxic thoughts and regain control of their minds.

Since the early 1980s, Dr Leaf has researched the mind-brain connection. She’s also looked at the nature of mental health, and the formation of memory. As a highly sought-after expert on mental health, she is the host of the top-rated podcast, Cleaning Up the Mental Mess. Dr Leaf is also the author of several bestselling books, including Switch On Your Brain, Think and Eat Yourself Smart, The Perfect You, Think, Learn, Succeed, and many more. She has a master’s and PhD in Communication Pathology. She also has a BSc on Logopaedics. Dr Leaf does ongoing research and clinical trials in the field of psycho neurobiology to improve mental health interventions.

What did we cover in this episode?

This is the first of two episodes from Caroline and in this first part she did an amazing job of offering the science behind why we think the way we do and the impact it can have. All of us go through a lot in life and some of it can be significant or damaging, so we believe we cannot change it. But it doesn’t have to continue to damage us. Caroline explains how thoughts stick together and form tree like structures.

As you access one memory, so a tree begins to grow connecting with other thoughts as you make associations. For example, if you give a presentation and it doesn’t go well, you will start to make value judgements about it and adopt a belief that you aren’t good at giving presentations. Each time you are asked again, your thought ‘tree’ comes up in your mind further encouraging you to believe this. In reality, Caroline has a 5-point plan for altering these perceptions.

Whilst we can’t change the fact that something has happened, we can alter the way we think about it.  That’s very powerful. So many people I have met in life suffer from anxiety and depression, something which has negative thinking and ‘stuck’ thoughts at its heart. So, if Caroline has a process for us to adopt this is important and it gives many people hope,

You can hear more of this episode this week, and next week we’ll cover her tips and tools for helping younger children. It includes the use of a toy she has called ‘brainy’. I hope you find this week’s guest as valuable to listen to as I did.