Steven Resnick
ON THE RECORD · 23 verbatim quotes · every quote source-verified
“When it scans for danger, then you have that autonomic nervous system pushing the accelerator.”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick explained how scanning for danger activates the autonomic nervous system.
“The solution can be done later,”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick said the solution can be addressed after patients feel heard and their nervous system begins to calm.
“They don't understand what they're feeling is actually authentic, it's real — it's the nervous system that is actually activated.”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick explained that patients' symptoms are real and caused by an activated nervous system.
“It's something that is very sneaky. It goes under your level of consciousness.”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick described a trigger as a stimulus that operates below the level of consciousness.
“I would never have done that by just fixing the problem right away.”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick said he would not have understood patients' feelings by immediately trying to fix the problem.
“The brain is scanning for danger,”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick described how the brain scans for danger during information overload and overstimulation.
“Your nervous system’s job is to protect you from harm.”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick explained that the nervous system's role is to protect a person from harm.
“It keeps going back to that because the brain understands it, retrieves it and does the same thing over and over again.”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick explained why the brain repeatedly returns to familiar patterns and behaviors.
“Rewards are very important,”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick emphasized the importance of rewards in forming healthier habits.
“You want to allow it. You want to feel it.”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick advised allowing and feeling anxiety rather than fighting it.
“Give your new habit a reward you can feel,”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick advised giving a new habit a reward that can be felt.
“Even the small ones are important.”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick stressed that even small rewards are important for reinforcing healthier behaviors.
“Even checkboxing something on a piece of paper feels good,”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick noted that even checking off something on paper can feel good as a small reward.
“It could be your boss' face. It could be a telephone. It could be a chair or a couch in a room. It could be a smell or a feeling.”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick gave examples of possible triggers, such as a boss's face, a telephone, or a smell.
“Imagine your own helicopter — that is your nervous system,”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick used the metaphor of a helicopter to describe the nervous system's constant state of high alert.
“I hear patients say, ‘I'm scared, I'm fearful, I'm concerned, I'm worried,’ and then you start to realize what their nervous system is telling you,”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick told Fox News Digital that listening to patients' fears helps reveal what their nervous system is communicating.
“After you have that experience where you felt safe and you went toward it, then your brain and body … pair it as being safe,”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick explained that safely experiencing a feared situation helps the brain and body associate it with safety.
“Float instead of fight.”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick recommends a counterintuitive approach of floating instead of fighting when anxiety or panic strikes.
“They end up going to see a neurologist, who sends them to the gastroenterologist, who sends them to the cardiologist, then the rheumatologist,”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick described how some patients are referred through multiple specialists before identifying an explanation for their symptoms.
“And we have to stop using the word ‘fixing,’ because a lot of things cannot be fixed — but over time, you can start feeling better.”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick said the word 'fixing' should be avoided because many things cannot be fixed, though people can feel better over time.
“to teach the brain safety through your body and through your brain and mind.”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick said the goal is to teach the brain safety through the body, brain, and mind.
“The brain wants to resort to what is familiar, what is safe and what is known,”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick explained that the brain gravitates toward what is familiar, safe, and known.
“Mindfulness is not just about meditation; it's about noticing,”
Steven Resnick · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-12
Resnick said mindfulness involves noticing, not just meditating.