Unabridged Interview: Lee Warren

**Lee C. Camp** (0:02)
Hello, friends, Lee C. Camp here. You're listening to No Small Endeavor. This is our unabridged interview with Dr. Lee Warren. Dr. Warren, I love this interview. I've listened back through it several times, found it very helpful, and I've actually gotten to be friends with Dr. Warren subsequent to this interview, and I'm grateful for our continued conversations that we've had.
This is a remarkable story. Dr. Warren was an Iraq War veteran, a neurosurgeon, practiced brain surgery under some of the most horrific conditions in his deployment, came back to the home, and as you'll hear, I experienced grave PTSD, and then in subsequent to that, lost his son in a horrific murder.
So much of the work that he has done since then is grounded in his own pain, in his own trauma, and what he's tried to learn about navigating that, and then could speak about that in a way that perhaps only a brain surgeon can, because he's talking about the ways in which we do have the capacity to change our brain, what we might call the good news of neuroplasticity, that you can teach an old dog new tricks, which is indeed good news for a lot of us.
Here's Dr. Lee Warren. I hope you find this immensely helpful, as I did. Hey, friends, Lee here. If you enjoy our conversations at the intersection of faith, purpose, and living well, then I have the perfect podcast recommendation for you, With and For, hosted by Dr. Pam King. With and For's latest season brings together psychology and spiritual wisdom in a way that feels thoughtful, grounded, deeply human, and it's hosted by my friend, Dr. Pam King, a developmental psychologist and ordained minister who offers practical guidance towards a life of thriving. I'd recommend starting with their episode featuring Parker J. Palmer, world-renowned writer, speaker, activist, Quaker elder, who focuses on issues in education, spirituality, and social change. A moving and instructive conversation, can't recommend it enough. Also, check out With and For's special summer series of wisdom practices, released each Monday. They're short exercises shared by guests that will become a toolkit for thriving. Consider them your experiment in becoming more fully alive. So go ahead, follow With and For, hosted by Dr. Pam King, wherever you're listening now.

**SPEAKER_2** (2:21)
This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When you're advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at accenture.com/spotify.

**SPEAKER_3** (2:51)
This episode is brought to you by Facebook.
So you were scrolling on Marketplace and there it was, the bike you'd been searching for. You sent a message and it turned out the seller was super chatty, kind of funny, and an avid cyclist. The next thing you know, you're in a cycling crew, well, a community cycling group. The thing about Facebook, you might find more than what you're looking for.
From a browse to a bike ride, this summer, find more on Facebook.

**Lee C. Camp** (3:22)
Dr. Lee Warren is a practicing neurosurgeon and Iraq war veteran and award-winning author. His work bridges the gap between neuroscience and faith, offering practical frameworks for mental and emotional healing.
Today, we're discussing his newest book, The Life-Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery. Delighted to get to sit with him here in person as he passes through Nashville on his book tour. Welcome, Dr. Warren.

**W. Lee Warren** (3:45)
Thanks, Lee. It's good to be with you. Call me Lee.

**Lee C. Camp** (3:47)
Good to be with you. And good to have two Lee's at the table today. Yes. So thank you for the book. It's a very helpful, very beautiful book. Thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you so much. I'm excited to get to talk to you about it today. I'm grateful to be here. So self-brain surgery sounds a little daunting. It does.
So give us kind of a paragraph long definition of what you mean by self-brain surgery.

**W. Lee Warren** (4:12)
Self-brain surgery is this process of commanding the processes that God has already put in place in your brain. Most people are unaware that we have tremendous amount of control over what our brains do and what they become. I think most of us believe that we're sort of at the mercy of the brain we inherited. And once you understand that you actually can change what your brain does, and you don't have to be the victim of it, but you can have agency and control over where it goes.