Biography
Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a neuropsychologist and Affiliate Faculty of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. and founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom. He’s the author of the bestselling Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom (with Rick Mendius, M.D.; Foreword by Dan Siegel, M.D. and Preface by Jack Kornfield, Ph.D.), published in 20 languages. Founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom, he’s taught at Oxford, Stanford, and Harvard, and in meditation centers in Europe, North America, and Australia.
An authority on self-directed neuroplasticity, Dr. Hanson’s work has been featured on the BBC, NPR, Consumer Reports Health, and U.S. News and World Report, and his articles have appeared in Tricycle Magazine, Insight Journal, and Inquiring Mind. He edits the Wise Brain Bulletin, and his weekly e-newsletter – Just One Thing – has over 20,000 subscribers, and also appears on Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and other major websites. He has several audio programs with Sounds True, and his first book was Mother Nurture: A Mother’s Guide to Health in Body, Mind, and Intimate Relationships (Penguin, 2002).
A summa cum laude graduate of UCLA, Dr. Hanson is a trustee of Saybrook University. He also served on the board of Spirit Rock Meditation Center for nine years, and was President of the Board of FamilyWorks, a community agency. He began meditating in 1974, trained in several traditions, and leads a weekly meditation gathering in San Rafael, CA. He enjoys rock-climbing and taking a break from emails. He and his wife have two adult children.
For more information, please see his full profile at www.RickHanson.net.
Publications
When my wife, Jan, and I had the first of our two children, we were delighted by what has continued to be the most fulfilling experience of our lives. But we were also startled – to put it mildly (stunned is more like it) – by the stress and depletion of parenthood, especially when the so-called “village it takes to raise a child” is more like a ghost town these days. In particular, I was struck by the effects on mothers – especially the more vulnerable ones – who (unless they adopt) ride the physiological roller-coaster of pregnancy and childbirth, and often breastfeeding and weaning, and who also typically handle most of the stressful aspects of making a family. While there are many books about childrearing – certainly a vital subject – there is almost nothing about how to actually address the impacts of making a family on mothers, fathers, and couples. So, with Jan – who is an acupuncturist specializing in clinical nutrition – and Ricki Pollycove, MD, an OB-GYN, I wrote Mother Nurture: A Mother’s Guide to Health in Body, Mind, and Intimate Relationships (Penguin, 2002), which shows how to support the long-term health, well-being, and intimate partnership of mothers. Written for the general public, that book is solidly referenced, and was endorsed by Christiane Northrup, MD, among others. Many related articles and other resources can be found at www.NurtureMom.com.
As our children grew older – they’re now college-age – I became increasingly interested in the historically unprecedented meeting of modern brain science and ancient contemplative practices. With Rick Mendius, MD, I founded the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom. The Institute publishes the monthly Wise Brain Bulletin, hosts the www.WiseBrain.org website, sponsors the Skillful Means wiki (a growing encyclopedia of psychological and spiritual methods), and facilitates low-cost/high-return research at the intersection of brain science and contemplative practice.
My latest book is Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom (with Rick Mendius, MD; Foreword by Dan Siegel, MD and Preface by Jack Kornfield, PhD). Praised by Sharon Salzberg, Roger Walsh, Joseph Goldstein, Jennifer Louden, Fred Luskin, Tara Brach, Jerome Engel, James Baraz, and numerous others, the book shows readers many effective ways to light up the brain circuits that relieve worry and stress, and promote positive relationships and inner peace.
Related offerings include the Meditations for Happiness audio download and the Meditations to Change Your Brain CD set – both from Sounds True.
My writings have been published in Therapy Networker, Tricycle Magazine, New Beginnings (the magazine of the Le Leche League), and Inquiring Mind; in the Insight Journal, my latest article is Mind Changing Brain Changing Mind. I have a regular blog, Your Wise Brain, at Psychology Today, and I’ve just started offering a unique, free e-newsletter – Just One Thing– which presents a new, simple practice each week that you can do a few minutes a day to help you feel greater happiness, love, and wisdom.
I really enjoy teaching continuing education courses for mental health professionals (e.g., Taking in the Good). My talks on the self-transforming brain and how to take in the good – from the FACES conference in 2009 – are available on DVD.
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Taking in the Good course (class 8 of 8)
From Heartache to Love
ACCESS RESTRICTED TO COURSE MEMBERS
Week 8 of the course Taking in the Good: Weaving Peace, Happiness, and Love into Your Brain and Yourself.
This final class of this series focuses on healthy narcissistic supplies, managing longing for what’s intimate, feeling seen, included, valued, and loved, and why a healthy brain is a benevolent one.
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Taking in the Good course (class 7 of 8)
From "Greed" to Happiness
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Week 7 of the course Taking in the Good: Weaving Peace, Happiness, and Love into Your Brain and Yourself.
This class deals with neural nodes of liking and wanting, managing grasping for what’s pleasant, taking in goal attainment, and feeling glad, grateful, and fulfilled.
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Taking in the Good course (class 6 of 8)
From "Hatred" to Peace
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Week 6 of the course Taking in the Good: Weaving Peace, Happiness, and Love into Your Brain and Yourself.
This class, guest-taught by Cassandra Vieten, PhD, focuses on activating the calming, soothing parasympathetic nervous system, building inner strength, feeling safer, managing aversion to what’s unpleasant, and giving no one cause to fear you.
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Taking in the Good course (class 5 of 8)
Filling the Hole in Your Heart
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Week 5 of the course Taking in the Good: Weaving Peace, Happiness, and Love into Your Brain and Yourself.
This class deals with how losses and wounds affect us. Key “antidote experiences” for disturbances in the brain’s avoiding, approaching, and attaching systems. How to pair positive and negative experiences to heal distress and dysfunction.
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Taking in the Good course (class 4 of 8)
Resourcing Yourself
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Week 4 of the course Taking in the Good: Weaving Peace, Happiness, and Love into Your Brain and Yourself.
This class focuses on the importance of inner resources, and turning toward the good facts in the world, relationships, and yourself. Working with methods of clearing obstructions to taking in the good.
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Taking in the Good course (class 3 of 8)
The Good Brain
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Week 3 of the course Taking in the Good: Weaving Peace, Happiness, and Love into Your Brain and Yourself.
This class deals with the reptile, mammal, and primate/human layers of the brain that evolved to meet our three fundamental needs: avoiding harms, approaching rewards, and attaching to others.
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Taking in the Good course (class 2 of 8)
The Power of Mindfulness
ACCESS RESTRICTED TO COURSE MEMBERS
Week 2 of the course Taking in the Good: Weaving Peace, Happiness, and Love into Your Brain and Yourself.
This class looks at the critical role of attention in changing the brain, neurological diversity: from “turtles” to “jackrabbits,” and brain-savvy ways to deepen mindfulness.
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Taking in the Good course (class 1 of 8)
The Enchanted Loom
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Week 1 of the course Taking in the Good: Weaving Peace, Happiness, and Love into Your Brain and Yourself.
This first class addresses brain basics, including how the mind changes the brain, getting on your own side, and self-compassion.
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"Neuroscience of Well-being Panel" with Cassandra Vieten, Rick Hanson, and Michael Spezio
IONS Research Director Cassandra Vieten leads a panel on the Neuroscience of Well-being with Rick Hanson and Michael Spezio for the Next Evolution of Health Summit.
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"The Buddha's Brain" with Rick Hanson
The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom
Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and other great teachers were all born with a brain built essentially like anyone else’s. Then they used their minds to change their brains in ways that changed history. With the new breakthroughs in neuroscience, combined with insights from thousands of years of contemplative practice ...