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Conquer Your Negative Thoughts: The Secret to Emotional Freedom and Happiness
Don’t let negative thoughts steal your happiness. . . learn to take charge of your thoughts and rewire your brain.
Thoughts that we allow to circle again and again in our minds build ruts or roads in the brain, making those thoughts more likely to dominate and control our lives. But we aren’t doomed to feel down when life doesn’t go our way.
In Conquer Your Negative Thoughts , psychiatrist and clinical neuroscientist Dr. Daniel G. Amen applies his knowledge of how the mind works to help you take back control of your thoughts, consistently generate positive feelings, and master your emotions no matter your age, income, or situation. By retraining your brain to focus on happiness and purpose, you’ll feel healthier, calmer, and more resilient and be fully prepared to face life’s ups and downs.
Conquer Your Negative Thoughts offers
Empower yourself to change your mind’s habits and improve your mental health, for good.
Thoughts that we allow to circle again and again in our minds build ruts or roads in the brain, making those thoughts more likely to dominate and control our lives. But we aren’t doomed to feel down when life doesn’t go our way.
In Conquer Your Negative Thoughts , psychiatrist and clinical neuroscientist Dr. Daniel G. Amen applies his knowledge of how the mind works to help you take back control of your thoughts, consistently generate positive feelings, and master your emotions no matter your age, income, or situation. By retraining your brain to focus on happiness and purpose, you’ll feel healthier, calmer, and more resilient and be fully prepared to face life’s ups and downs.
Conquer Your Negative Thoughts offers
Empower yourself to change your mind’s habits and improve your mental health, for good.
176 pages, Paperback
Published May 9, 2023
82 people are currently reading
291 people want to read
About the author
Daniel G. Amen
193 books1,446 followersThe Washington Post called Dr. Daniel Amen the most popular psychiatrist in America and Sharecare.com named him the web's most influential expert and advocate on mental health.
Daniel Amen is a life-long Christian and graduate of Oral Roberts University School of Medicine. He is a double board-certified psychiatrist and multiple NY Times bestselling author, with such blockbuster books as Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, Healing ADD, Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, and The Daniel Plan, co-authored by Pastor Rick Warren and Dr. Mark Hyman. In November 2016, he and his wife Tana published The Brain Warrior's Way.
Dr. Amen is the founder of Amen Clinics, which has 6 locations across the United States. Amen Clinics has the world's largest database of brain scans related to behavior, totaling more than 125,000 SPECT scans on patients from 111 countries.
Dr. Amen's research team has published more than 70 scientific articles on a wide variety of topics related to brain health. He is the lead researcher on the largest brain imaging study on active and retired NFL players and was a consultant on the movie Concussion starring Will Smith. In 2016, Discover Magazine named his brain imaging work for psychiatric diagnoses as one of the top 100 stories in all of science.
Dr. Amen has also hosted 11 national public television shows about the brain, which have aired more than 80,000 times across North America and raised more than 75 million dollars for stations.
You can connect with Dr. Amen on Facebook and Twitter
Daniel Amen is a life-long Christian and graduate of Oral Roberts University School of Medicine. He is a double board-certified psychiatrist and multiple NY Times bestselling author, with such blockbuster books as Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, Healing ADD, Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, and The Daniel Plan, co-authored by Pastor Rick Warren and Dr. Mark Hyman. In November 2016, he and his wife Tana published The Brain Warrior's Way.
Dr. Amen is the founder of Amen Clinics, which has 6 locations across the United States. Amen Clinics has the world's largest database of brain scans related to behavior, totaling more than 125,000 SPECT scans on patients from 111 countries.
Dr. Amen's research team has published more than 70 scientific articles on a wide variety of topics related to brain health. He is the lead researcher on the largest brain imaging study on active and retired NFL players and was a consultant on the movie Concussion starring Will Smith. In 2016, Discover Magazine named his brain imaging work for psychiatric diagnoses as one of the top 100 stories in all of science.
Dr. Amen has also hosted 11 national public television shows about the brain, which have aired more than 80,000 times across North America and raised more than 75 million dollars for stations.
You can connect with Dr. Amen on Facebook and Twitter
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 25, 2023
Great pick up. Easy to read good tips for immediate improvement. Nothing in here is impossible to do and there are many references in the appendix to aid you. This is one you could give as a gift to a friend or family member who may be in need. Highly recommend.
May 8, 2023
Great book! Finished in a day.
Focuses on positive thinking for a happier, healthier life and sprinkles in the Gospel truth here and there throughout 😊
Focuses on positive thinking for a happier, healthier life and sprinkles in the Gospel truth here and there throughout 😊
October 12, 2025
A very good and informative book. A lot of the ideas in this book reminds me of CBT. The book is short and to the point. With many helpful techniques. I like the mix of religion, psychology and stories. The book finishes with a couple of starter exercises to put you on the right path to defeating your personal ANTs.
December 27, 2024
really really good information and practices for you to consider when you begin your journey into bettering your mental health, it amazes me when people can put together information like this - only down a star because of religious stuff but that’s just because it’s not for me! this guy clearly knows his stuff :)
January 16, 2024
Easy to read and enjoyable.
“The world is like a Rorschach test, where a person is asked to describe what they see in 10 inkblots that mean absolutely nothing. What we see in the inkblots is based on our inner view of the world; our perceptions bear witness to our state of mind. As we think, so do we perceive.”
Probably my favorite quote from the book.
“The world is like a Rorschach test, where a person is asked to describe what they see in 10 inkblots that mean absolutely nothing. What we see in the inkblots is based on our inner view of the world; our perceptions bear witness to our state of mind. As we think, so do we perceive.”
Probably my favorite quote from the book.
December 13, 2023
Short but effective, I recommended this book to anyone who wants to work for happiness and self-improvement. This easy read provides incredible simple yet powerful methods to help yourself, so why not take advantage of them?
August 25, 2024
I appreciate Dr. Amen's work, so I picked up this quick, easy read at an airport newsstand. Explains how our habits of thinking rewire our brains, for better or worse. After finishing, passed it on to someone who needs it more than I do and noticed some positive shifts in that person.
June 12, 2024
Super quick read with really interesting and helpful points.
July 31, 2024
The religious aspect was not necessary but otherwise helpful suggestions.
Read
September 21, 2025It was good, but not as good as “Conquer Worry and Anxiety” by him and it was also very similar.
September 22, 2025
Read for work, but I got something out of it, too! A nice little book about the power of positive thinking with actionable steps.
December 31, 2023
Dr Amen has practical tips to be mindful about creating a positive thinking pattern in general and deliberately keeping the brain 0n the "positive" track. Good, lean book without the unnecessary fat.
October 12, 2024
Interesting pick up!
It was pretty easy to read, it's full of life-changing tips for immediate improvement. Nothing said in there is impossible to achieve.
Moreover, the articles mentioned at the end of the appendix were so interesting to read (I usually never pay attention to the articles mentioned). They were as relevant as the book itself. I'd highly recommend to look over them at least.
I'd advise to give it as a gift to a loved one who may be in need or not because this book can help everyone.
It was pretty easy to read, it's full of life-changing tips for immediate improvement. Nothing said in there is impossible to achieve.
Moreover, the articles mentioned at the end of the appendix were so interesting to read (I usually never pay attention to the articles mentioned). They were as relevant as the book itself. I'd highly recommend to look over them at least.
I'd advise to give it as a gift to a loved one who may be in need or not because this book can help everyone.
June 11, 2025
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
This was another one from my dad—he knows I’m into self-help stuff, especially when it’s rooted in science and actually usable. I’d seen Dr. Amen’s content on TikTok and figured this book would be more of that in long form. And honestly, it delivered. It’s not perfect, but I came away with techniques I actually started using right away, which is more than I can say for a lot of self-help books.
The book is built around this core idea: you are not your thoughts, and the negative ones don’t need to have the final say. Dr. Amen lays out different types of distorted thinking patterns (what he calls “ANTs”—Automatic Negative Thoughts), then walks you through how to catch them, challenge them, and retrain your brain toward more constructive thinking. It’s clear, digestible, and not overly clinical. He keeps the tone grounded and focused on what’s actionable.
One thing I liked is that it’s structured almost like a workbook. You don’t just read—you reflect, and if you’re serious about applying the info, you get a lot out of it. It’s empowering without being too rah-rah. That said, I did feel like the book played it safe sometimes. There were spots where I wanted a deeper explanation—especially on the science side—or maybe just more variety in examples. Some points felt recycled chapter to chapter.
Still, even if it doesn't reinvent anything for people already deep into mental health reading, it makes a solid foundation. It's practical, optimistic, and clear about the fact that change is possible—but it takes consistent, intentional work. That message alone made it worth it for me.
If you’ve been trying to take your mindset more seriously, and want something that’s simple to apply without oversimplifying everything, it’s worth picking up. You won’t walk away “cured,” but you’ll walk away with real tools. And sometimes that’s exactly what you need.
This was another one from my dad—he knows I’m into self-help stuff, especially when it’s rooted in science and actually usable. I’d seen Dr. Amen’s content on TikTok and figured this book would be more of that in long form. And honestly, it delivered. It’s not perfect, but I came away with techniques I actually started using right away, which is more than I can say for a lot of self-help books.
The book is built around this core idea: you are not your thoughts, and the negative ones don’t need to have the final say. Dr. Amen lays out different types of distorted thinking patterns (what he calls “ANTs”—Automatic Negative Thoughts), then walks you through how to catch them, challenge them, and retrain your brain toward more constructive thinking. It’s clear, digestible, and not overly clinical. He keeps the tone grounded and focused on what’s actionable.
One thing I liked is that it’s structured almost like a workbook. You don’t just read—you reflect, and if you’re serious about applying the info, you get a lot out of it. It’s empowering without being too rah-rah. That said, I did feel like the book played it safe sometimes. There were spots where I wanted a deeper explanation—especially on the science side—or maybe just more variety in examples. Some points felt recycled chapter to chapter.
Still, even if it doesn't reinvent anything for people already deep into mental health reading, it makes a solid foundation. It's practical, optimistic, and clear about the fact that change is possible—but it takes consistent, intentional work. That message alone made it worth it for me.
If you’ve been trying to take your mindset more seriously, and want something that’s simple to apply without oversimplifying everything, it’s worth picking up. You won’t walk away “cured,” but you’ll walk away with real tools. And sometimes that’s exactly what you need.
December 28, 2024
Easy quick read with great tips on how to take control of your thinking patterns
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews