Give Your Mind a Name
Distance yourself from the chatter by naming the mind that makes it.
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 80%
Giving your mind a name is a psychological-distancing technique that separates you from your mental chatter. By naming your mind, you can observe its terrible pop-up thoughts as coming from a character rather than from you. Amen named his mind Hermie, after a troublemaking pet raccoon he had at 16, so when his mind produces terrible thoughts he can tell it to go back in the cage. The distance lets him decide not to listen on a given day while still checking in periodically. It complements the ANTs technique by changing your relationship to thoughts rather than the thoughts themselves.
Origin
Amen based the technique on the concept of psychological distancing and named his own mind Hermie, after a mischievous pet raccoon from when he was 16.
Core principles
- 01You are not your thoughts, and you can distance yourself from the chatter.
- 02Naming your mind separates you from its terrible pop-up thoughts.
- 03You can choose not to listen to your mind on a given day.
- 04Psychological distancing reduces the grip of intrusive thoughts.
How to run it
- 1
Choose a name
Give your mind a name, ideally one tied to a mischievous character, so it becomes a separate entity you can address.
Pro tip A slightly comic name makes it easier to not take the chatter seriously.
- 2
Address the pop-up thoughts
When your mind produces terrible thoughts, speak to it by name, as Amen does with 'oh Hermie, I need to put you in the cage.'
- 3
Choose not to listen
Consciously decide you don't need to listen to your mind today, using the distance the name creates.
Pro tip Check in periodically to see how it's doing rather than suppressing it entirely.
In the wild
Amen named his mind Hermie after a pet raccoon that TP'd his mother's bathroom, ate his sister's fish, and left poo in his shoes. When his mind pops up terrible thoughts, he tells Hermie to go back in the cage.
→ He gains distance from intrusive thoughts and can decline to listen to them on any given day.
Common mistakes
Fusing with the chatter
Treating every thought as 'you' leaves no distance, so intrusive thoughts feel like commands instead of noise.
Is it for you?
Best for
Anyone who ruminates and needs a light, memorable way to detach from intrusive thoughts.
Not ideal for
People who need structured clinical therapy for severe intrusive thought disorders.
From the transcript
“give your mind a name so it's based on a concept called psychological distancing you can distance yourself from the chatter”
“all of a sudden my mind will pop up with these terrible thoughts and i'm like oh hermie i need to put you in the…”
From the episode
Dr. Daniel Amen: Brain Boosting Habits
Dr. Daniel Amen