John A. “Jay” Faber, MD
John A. “Jay” Faber, MD is a clinical and forensic psychiatrist with more than two decades of experience in Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatry and Pharmacological Management, treating patients in clinical private practices in Colorado, California and Georgia. Currently he is on the medical staff at the Amen Clinics in Costa Mesa, CA
1. How did you get interested in functional neuroimaging?
At the time I was introduced, I was the National Medical Dir. of Behavior health for a large insurance company. I had made one of my final trips to California and a good friend of mine suggested I meet Dr. Amen.
I met Dr. Amen, we were supposed to spend 30 minutes together. We actually spent about 2 hours together. I had become rather intrigued by the fact that he actually had outcome studies. The only other clinic that had outcome studies at the time was the Cleveland Clinic.
Moreover, Dr. Amen had saved all of his scans in in electronic data warehouse. After trying to integrate behavioral health and medical data with a legend’s insurance company, I knew how challenging this task can be. I was quite impressed.
So that’s the first half of how I got interested. The second half has to do with where medicine, particularly psychiatry, is going. Over the last 10 years, there has been an increasing number of research articles in our main journals regarding functional neuroimaging. That trend is only going to continue. Having an inclination to wanting to help patients with the safest and most technologically advanced equipment, I thought this would be a great time to get more engaged in this particular area.
2. Who would be good candidates to get such a scan conducted?
Certainly, those individuals who are not getting better with traditional therapy that I’ve been on a number of pharmaceutical agents and treatments would be great candidates. Individuals who had unfavorable responses to medications would be good candidates.
Also, individuals who are interested in helping the brain’s functioning be optimized would be great candidates. The world is changing. We are becoming much more of an information focused society. Anyways we can help our brains work at a higher level in this new era can be quite helpful.
3. I see that you just wrote a book, Escape: Rehab Your Brain to Stay Out of the Legal System. Can you tell me a bit about the book?
Escape was written to help those individuals involved in the legal system get out and stay out…forever. From the data standpoint, 85% of individuals involved with the legal system have a substance abuse problem. There is a 7 times higher likelihood of having a traumatic brain injury if you are involved in the legal system. From a statistical standpoint, these individuals don’t necessarily appear to be “bad” people. Instead, they have “Bad Brains!”
From a personal standpoint, I thought it was time we try to create a paradigm shift and start to rehabilitate brains rather than continuing to create the largest prison population in the world.
Moreover, I had a patient come in who had been living on the streets and selling drugs. His mother had become increasingly concerned and thought it best for him to see myself. This individual was not motivated at all. He had no desire to stop drugs or changes lifestyle. After he saw scans, he at least contemplated that maybe he needed to change. Two months later, this individual came back and was highly motivated to stay sober. When asked what made him want to change, he stated that he lost 10 pounds. “Umm,” I thought, “ That’s interesting. Maybe there’s something to this whole brain body connection that I need to pay more attention.” Subsequently, this individual and myself continue to work on brain rehabilitation but also body rehabilitation. At his next visit, one month later, the patient had found a job at a local gym. He was starting to help physically train others. Next month, the patient decided to go after a certified training degree. Then, three months later, the patient got his degree and told me he wanted to become a Navy Seal! “Whoa, talk about a great story,” I pondered. What if we could help more people of this nature start to change?
Hence, I decided to write Escape. I primarily love the book for those individuals needing brain rehabilitation were involved in the legal system. However, I also book for two other reasons. In addition to the prisoners, I thought it would be advantageous for all law-abiding tax paying citizens to have this book written. If we could help decrease our prison population by 50% and create new revenue/tax paying individuals, what would that do to our national debt? Finally, I wrote the book is a “thank you” to the United States Government. Personally, I have to face the facts. Through loans, I was able to get through medical school. I would not have been able to do that endeavor without them. All my loans, by the way, have been paid back to the government. Although we whine and complain a lot in our society about the government, I thought it best to vocalize my gratitude by writing a book to help our great American society become even greater.
The book was written for free. It can be downloaded at https://drjayfaber.com. If an individual wants to pay for the book, they can go to Amazon.com and purchase it. All proceeds will be going to brain research, not my own personal pocketbook.
In addition to this book, I’m excited to announce that I am beginning to write a book summary for my next literary piece. Although I currently cannot go into details, this book will be a game changer to help all individuals take advantage of the current technological trends such that brain health can be maximized and capitalized upon to have successful lives.
4. Treating those with a criminal history seems to go against the grain of punishing those with crimes. Can you discuss?
This is a great question. Certainly, all individuals with committed a crime have to be held accountable for their actions. Hence, it would appear reasonable to have some repercussion for untoward acts. However, would it not make sense to help rehabilitate these individuals so that they don’t have to come back into the legal system again? Would it not make sense to help these people leave jail or leave prison, find a job, seek constructive relations, and stay away from drugs/alcohol? If we don’t, our society is really kicking ourselves. We end up spending more tax dollars rather than making tax dollars.
This whole concept of brain rehabilitation in the prison system is a paradigm shift. Whenever there is change, there is fear. Whenever there is change, there is anxiety. One could think of several scenarios that would make this paradigm shift be unsuccessful and the failure. The bottom line is that there will be failures. But, the bottom line is is that we can successfully learn from these failures and continue to develop a stronger, more vibrant, more resilient, and more successful system that becomes a “win-win” for all parties involved.
5. Where do you see brain health going in the next 10 years?
This is another great question. As a psychiatrist, I’m also trained as a medical doctor. That means that I have been given a great deal training and understanding psychotherapy as well as biological mechanisms that help the brain work at a higher level. Currently, I believe psychiatry is at a place where we must start to integrate the mind and body and a much more sophisticated and scientific level. Why do individuals with diabetes have higher levels of depression? Why do depressed people seem to be overweight? Why do the highest 10% of insurance utilizes (by the way the use about 80% of all insurance dollars) seem to have behavioral health problems?
We need to get better at understanding these concepts. We need to look at lifestyles. We need to look at how living in a lower socioeconomic environment effects brain and body metabolism. We need to look at how nutrition affects brain and body development. In addition to medications, we also need to look at how we might be able to use supplements and other nutritive agents with less side effects can be used to help decrease depression, decrease anxiety, diminish obesity, reduce hypertension, and promote overall well-being.
6. What other projects are you working on?
As mentioned above, I am starting to write another book summary. I’m hoping to have this book done within the next year.
Second, I’m setting up a non-profit organization to help support division projects for those involved in the ligand system.
Finally, I will soon be starting another company that focuses on leadership. Without going into great details, I would like to develop a cost-effective program that is entertaining, enlightening, and life-changing for our 13-30 year-olds. Our educational system does great in teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic. Unfortunately, it does not do such a tremendous job at teaching mental toughness, resilience, dream building, goal setting, vision, self-discipline, confidence… and the list goes on.
I think it is time that our society has an available system to help our young generation learn these vital skill sets. Parents are often too busy working to instruct their children. Schools have their own legislative curriculum that needs to be taught. From my perspective, it is time to have another system available that teaches our young adults how to get to the “next level.”
Dr. Jay Faber’s Bio:
John A. “Jay” Faber, MD is a clinical and forensic psychiatrist with more than two decades of experience in Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatry and Pharmacological Management, treating patients in clinical private practices in Colorado, California and Georgia.
Currently he is on the medical staff at the Amen Clinics in Costa Mesa, CA. Founded in 1989, the Amen Clinics put into practice the groundbreaking brain research and decades of professional experience of Dr. Daniel Amen, a highly-lauded advocate of brain imaging and pioneer of natural, brain-oriented treatment for some of humanity’s most common ailments. Using SPECT imaging and other diagnostic tools, such as QEEG and laboratory studies when appropriate, Dr. Amen and his staff of highly-trained, board-certified professionals help people across the country and the world with a wide range of psychiatric issues.
In addition to his work at the Amen Clinics, Dr. Faber writes, creates, and produces a series of programs to help guide teens to go from being good students to great leaders. The first of these programs — “Fortified Friendships” — is a 3-part CD-Rom series for adolescents, teaching them how to build successful relationships.
In 2014 he authored his first book “Escape – Rehab Your Brain to Stay of the Legal System.” The book was specifically written to those who have been incarcerated and what they need to do to get their lives back such they never get involved in the legal system…again.
Dr. Faber has also presented at multiple professional conferences. In November 2011, he addressed the National Association of Managed Care Physicians annual conference on the topic Assessment and Treatment of Bipolar Disorders. Dr. Faber delivered a keynote speech entitled “Targeted Treatment Successes in Those Involved in the Legal System” at the “Crime and ‘Punishment “Treatment Legal Conference” in November 2013.
Along with presenting at conferences, Dr. Faber also has been asked to speak on different subject matters for both radio and television audiences. Moreover, Dr. Faber has testified in numerous cases throughout his career working as a clinical psychiatrist.
Dr. Faber is double Board Certified in Child /Adolescent and Adult Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology at University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., and an MD from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Faber completed his Residency in Adult Psychiatry, and went on to receive a Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Harbor UCLA Medical Center. In addition, Dr. Faber completed a Fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry at USC Institute of Psychiatry and Law in 1995.
Dr. Faber is a member of the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
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