THE BRAIN MECHANIC
What people are saying about "The Brain Mechanic"


“Concise, accessible, and indescribably powerful.”
—David Geffen, cofounder of DreamWorks SKG
“It keeps the smiles coming.”
—Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple
“I feel brighter and better having read it!”
—Carole Bayer Sager, singer, painter, Oscar & Emmy-winning songwriter
“Spencer's 'Brain Mechanic' is an indispensable survival guide in a world that often seems upside down.”
—Gerald Posner, Pulitzer finalist, author of 13 books, incl. Mengele, Case Closed, Why America Slept, God’s Bankers, + PHARMA
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"Only the brightest minds can distill a complex subject into drinkable parts. Spencer Lord does just that in his ‘Brain Mechanic.’ Drink it up. It goes down smooth, and will change the way you view the world."
—Carole Radziwill, Emmy-winning journalist, author of What Remains, Real Housewife of NYC
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Follow the CBT research links!​
"If you read Spencer's concise and poignant book it might spare you seeing a psychiatrist three times a week for ten years. It’s a game changer for how to think about psychology of mind."
—Ross Bleckner, artist, painter
“Great book.”
—Sheri Salata, executive producer of The Oprah Winfrey Show
“A good brain mechanic is hard to find. Usually you wind up in a chop shop. And the replacement parts are inferior. Spencer has changed all that. He offers a one-stop service and you’re out and running smooth before lunch. This may sound glib, but you’ll feel the same way when you realize how simple it is and how stupid you were not to have realized it before you drove into that wall.”
—Bruce Vilanch, comedy writer for the Academy Awards, and multiple Emmy winning writer
“Spencer Lord is a not only a mechanic of the brain but a life enlightener and surgeon of the soul.”
—Mario Cantone, writer, comedian, and Tony-nominated actor.
"I was using Spencer’s ‘Brain Mechanic’ cognitive skills the very same day I read the book. The elevator in my building was under repair, and I used the ‘alternate positive scenario’ to avoid feeling angry about the inconvenience, and actually be happy about taking the stairs. I love Spencer's book, and highly recommend it for everyone.”
—Sally Kirkland, Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe winning actress
"Having gone through Freud and Jung therapies and am still a bit crazy, Spencer Lord’s, brilliantly simple 'Brain Mechanic' has changed my mental and physical life. He teaches how to take a situation that burdens one, and through his method of confrontation, takes the weight of habitual negativity and makes it a positive, lightweight action. By use of the conscious brain, rather than relying on the id or unconscious, he makes any negative situation work positively for the actor. Spencer’s 'Brain Mechanic' is essential reading for those who want their lives to work for them, not against them."
—Norman Sunshine, artist, author, coined the phrase “What becomes a legend most?”
“Spending one night with Spencer Lord’s Brain Mechanic can change your life.”
—Lori Andrews, professor of law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, legal chair for the Human Genome Project, and author of The Silent Assassin
"A prescient read in the early 21st century, which provides timely practical insights educators can readily integrate into courses analyzing international relations and conflict resolution in the broader context of peace education. ‘Spencer Lord’s Brain Mechanic' is a wonderful addition to the literature as the rise of AI transforms learning, thereby offering unprecedented opportunities to utilize communications technology to create innovative pedagogies across continents and cultures.”
—Colette Mazzucelli, MALD, EdM, PhD: NYU SPS Center for Global Affairs, Associate Producer, The Brain Mechanic Film & Author, France and Germany at Maastricht Politics and Negotiations to Create the European Union
“This is heavyweight psycho-spiritual guidance doled out with a ladle of honey. Spencer is the quintessential affable guru—friendly, approachable, flexible. His ‘emotional algebra’ provides an invaluable formula for liberation, empowering each of us to be our own brain mechanic instead of a sniveling victim to the false self. A ‘should read’ for spiritual seekers—one which I will be using at Columbia College with my Mystical Consciousness students.”
—Elizabeth-Anne Stewart, PhD, and professor at Columbia College
“Spencer Lord’s Brain Mechanic empowers its readers with a simple, straightforward ‘equation’ for change. Perhaps EV + B = EM should be offered to all middle-school youngsters as part of the standard curriculum. How skillfully they would navigate through life learning this tool early on!”
—Rhonda J. Noonan, MS, LPC, clinical director, private practitioner
“Your brain can’t run without a good mechanic. Spence is mine.”
—Howard Bragman, founder of Fifteen Minutes, publicist, and author of Where’s My Fifteen Minutes
“Spencer is the ultimate connector—of our friends, our dreams, and our brains.”
—Hilary Rosen, editor-at-large, The Huffington Post and political contributor at CNN
"Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the gold standard of psychotherapy. I am happy that Spencer Lord has written a book about it which is easily read and comprehended by people from non-psychological backgrounds.”
—Manvendra Singh Gohil, humanitarian, activist, crown prince of Rajpipla, India
“If there were ever a time for a complete mental , emotional , spiritual and physical tune up, the time is now! Page after page walks you through to a bright path of clarity, calm and understanding. It so makes sense!”
—Joey Santos, Columnist for The Eden Magazine and Host of The Two Guys From Hollywood Podcast
“Well, I thought I knew everything. Apparently not. This book has, if I say so myself, made me brilliant. I have only two words for anyone who wants to unlock the potential of his/her brain: You. Should. Read. This.”
—Elayne Boosler, writer, comedian, and founder of Tails of Joy
“Mr. Lord uses letters like words, words like thoughts, thoughts like tools, tools like dreams, and dreams like reality...”
—Christopher G. Ciccone, artist, film director, artistic director, dancer, interior and furniture designer, and author of Life with My Sister Madonna
"I'm not sure which sexologist once quipped that the average man utilized the clitoris in much the way an orangutan might play a violin, but I thought of him when I read ‘Spencer Lord’s Brain Mechanic.’ Not, of course, because I have a clitoris (that is NOT what is in my jar by the door), but because most of us use our brains as ineptly and as rarely. I do know that Neil Simon used to read ‘How To Be Your Own Best Friend’ twice a day with a glass of water, because it got him back in his best frame of mind, flushed out the toxins. Nora Ephron thought the book might be magical. That was more than thirty years ago. Today, I think they would find this book to be their magic pill. I like how the book distills a lot of knowledge that we are SUPPOSED to know and think we already know, but rarely utilize. I want to quip some more (because the book gets your engines going and the synapses aflame), but to be as clear and as precise as the book, let me just say that it allows you to begin living the examined life we always thought was a myth. Like that clitoris. And that musical orangutan.”
—Jim Grissom, HBO, writer/editor; author of Follies of God: Tennessee Williams and the Women of the Fog
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From Dr. Cheryl Saban:
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"'The Brain Mechanic' is by far the most uncomplicated and easy-to-absorb discourse on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy I’ve ever read. I breezed through this little tome within hours, marking page after page with a yellow highlighter so that I could refer to it later, and most importantly, so I could share it with my kids and friends. I came away from reading this book with a smile on my face. It’s entertaining, it makes perfect sense, it’s easy to follow, and any one of us can benefit immediately from reading it. Spencer Lord introduces the reader to several important parts of the brain, but with a slightly unorthodox methodology – he cuts to the chase, and makes his material accessible to everyone. He describes the Prefrontal Cortex; the Amygdala; and the Cingulate Gyrus in layman’s terms. In other words, he takes the medical school, out-of-my-pay-scale mystery out of these important structures, and turns them into neighborhood friends that we can get to know, and understand. Mr. Lord makes the argument that we can indeed control our behaviors once we understand emotional algebra. He has devised a way to teach this equation (EV + B = EM) quickly, and creatively. I highly recommend The Brain Mechanic. I would venture to say that as you seek knowledge and actualization of mind-body wellness, self-worth and self-esteem, emotional algebra could end up being one of the best lessons you ever learned.”
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—Dr. Cheryl Saban, Ph.D,
author of "What is Your Self Worth? A Woman’s Guide to Validation"


From Dr. Jack Apsche:
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"'The Brain Mechanic' is Spencer Lord's personal journey and interpretation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy through his life. He has developed an easy to read and understand blueprint for others to "tune up" their lives. This book should be read by any adult who has ever felt depression, anxiety or unresolved emotional pain. It is a self help bibliotherapy that can be used as an auxiliary to individual therapy or perhaps a path to personal solutions to negative thoughts, beliefs, and feelings. I suggest that we look at the results of "The Brain Mechanic" in the life of the author. He is focused, energized, and resiliently engaged in life, learning, and service to humanity. He's setting a shining example of the power and effectiveness of 'The Brain Mechanic.'"
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—Dr. Jack Apsche: board certified clinical psychologist, founder and director of the Apsche Clinic, program director for forensic psychology at Walden University, and author of "Mode Deactivation Therapy to Treat Aggression and Oppositional Behavior in Adolescents" (New Harbinger Press)
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​The most powerful tool of psychotherapy explained in 100 pages!​
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Life can be brutal. When it deals you a heavy blow, you may feel anger, anxiety, rage, jealousy, or even depression. Most people think they have to just live with these destructive emotions, or struggle (mostly in vain) to mitigate their impact. Wrong. CBT is the most powerful, evidence-based form of modern psychotherapy, and it teaches you how to stop these destructive emotions before they get started. In less than two hours you can read this book, and learn the basics of CBT. If you want the most powerful and effective relief modern psychology has to offer, make the most important investment you’ve made in your future: give yourself two hours to read “The Brain Mechanic”—a layman’s guide to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It will fundamentally Change Your Life... forever.