We often hear that awareness is the greatest agent for change. Our guests teach me it's also a gift of understanding.

Insight around how dopamine influences our behavior is one I carry with me from Dr. Anna Lembke, Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford and Chief of their Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. Her description of dopamine deficit states offers a moment of clarity when I find myself engaged in a habit I know doesn't serve me.

Habits can be a source of stress or sustenance. In this episode snippet, Dr. Lembke illustrates the pain-pleasure balance that drives them and how we can harness them for good.