190: Self-Brain Surgery, Overcoming Trauma, and the Courage to Change How You Think with Dr. Lee Warren

The Best of You

Dr. Alison Cook

Mental Health, Health & Fitness

4.9 • 959 Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What if healing doesn’t start with managing your emotions—but with understanding how your brain responds to fear, grief, and hope? In this episode, Dr. Alison sits down with neurosurgeon, author, and Iraq War veteran Dr. Lee Warren to explore trauma, loss, faith, and the brain’s God-given capacity to change. After unimaginable loss, Dr. Warren shares how “self-brain surgery”—learning to notice and interrupt destructive thought patterns—helped him restore hope and agency without bypassing grief. This conversation will help you understand: —Why most of our thoughts are repetitive, negative, and often untrue —How trauma wires automatic thoughts—and how those patterns can change —How faith and neuroscience meet in practical ways —The difference between the mind and the brain, and why that distinction matters for healing This episode offers hope without shortcuts. It honors the reality of suffering while reminding us that our past does not get the final word — not neurologically, not emotionally, and not spiritually. 📖 Preorder Dr. Lee Warren’s Latest Book, The Life Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery Listen to the Dr. Lee Warren Podcast here. 📥 Grab your 3 free Soul Mending resources here If you liked this episode, then you’ll love the following: Episode 186: Stuck in Overthinking? A Simple Practice to Interrupt Stress, Overwhelm, and Habit Loops Episode 170: The Truth About Venting, Numbing, and Finding Real Relief - Science-Backed Tools to Actually Restore Your Brain and Body 📖 Find a full transcript and list of resources from this episode here 💬 Got a question? Call 307-429-2525 and leave a message for a future episode. Thanks to our Sponsors! Quince - Go to ⁠Quince.com/bestofyou⁠ for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Remi - Start the New Year right with a Remi nightguard and use code BESTOFYOU and get 50% off your purchase. Go to ShopRemi.com/BESTOFYOU and use code BESTOFYOU. AirDoctor - Eliminate 99.9% contaminants in your home with AirDoctor by visiting AirDoctorPro.com and use promo code BESTOFYOU to get UP TO $300 off today! MOSH - Save 20% shipping plus FREE shipping on the Best sellers Trial Pack or the plant-based trial pack when you visit MoshLife.com/BESTOFYOU. *Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this podcast and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this podcast are for informational purposes only.‍ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Why do growing businesses love working in Slack?
0:02.8	Let's ask Christia Ari Bikes.
0:04.6	Running things in Slack saves me so much time.
0:07.3	AI summaries save 97 minutes per week.
0:10.4	What say you?
0:11.4	Rocks from Gosney.
0:12.4	Slack helps us build community.
0:13.9	It helps us build connection.
0:15.2	Your partners, vendors and customers all in one place.
0:18.3	Take us on home, Ashley from Carraway.
0:20.3	If we did have Slack tomorrow, I would explode.
0:23.4	Well, let's not let that happen.
0:25.1	Visit Slack.com slash podcast to get 50% of Slack Business Plus.
0:29.7	Can't change what happened, but if I change how I'm thinking about what happened,
0:33.7	my brain will change too, and maybe I won't feel quite the same tomorrow that I feel today.
0:38.3	About 80% of the things that we think on a given day aren't true.
0:42.3	I found that science and faith began to align themselves, and that neuroscience actually was pointing to
0:47.3	when God writes a prescription for how we can flourish, that neuroscience is sort of backing that up now.
0:52.3	And I started feeling like maybe
0:54.2	there was a path forward for me.
0:55.5	Hey everyone and welcome back to this week's episode of the best of you.
1:08.6	This week marks the very first full week of something new we're doing
	...

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