How The Brain Forms New Habits: Why Willpower Is Not Enough

How The Brain Forms New Habits: Why Willpower Is Not Enough is organized by Institute for Brain Potential (IBP).

• Initial Release Date: 09/02/2020
• Expiration Date: 09/02/2023

Description: 
Why are habits so difficult to change? Habits govern how we think and act. They influence who needs care and who stays well in medical, dental, psychological, and educational settings. This program describes
how the brain forms new habits and how to facilitate meaningful change.

Participants completing the program should be able to:

• Name several characteristics of reward-centered habits.
• Identify several evidence-based strategies for managing reward-centered habits.
• Describe how threat-based mental habits are connected to maladaptive emotions and actions.
• List one or more strategies for coping adaptively with threat-based mental habits.
• Identify several evidence-based principles for initiating and maintaining health-promoting habits.

Reward-Centered Habits

• Understanding Reward-Centered Habits
• Neurotransmitters
• Features of Addiction
• Addictive Features of Comfort Foods
• Storehouse of Addictive Habits
• Changing Reward-Based Habits

Using Your Brain to Form New Habits

• Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex
• Ventral Striatum
• Anterior Cingulate Cortex
• Temporal Lobe Neocortex

Threat-Based Mental Habits

• Stress-Based Habits
• Generalized Anxiety
• Recurrent Anger
• Depression
• OCD
• Chronic Pain

Overcoming Threat-Based Mental Habits

• Cataloguing Automatic Thoughts
• Graded Exposure to One’s Fears
• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Positive Psychology
• Mindfulness

Initiating and Maintaining Healthful Habits

• Preschool
• Repetition of Skilled Movements
• Temporal Habits
• Spatial Habits
• Habit Substitution
• Mastering the Five Brain Challenges