Neuroscience and Therapy w/Ana Lund | Ep 343Neuroscience and Therapy w/Ana Lund | Ep 343
The Anxious Truth - A Panic, Anxiety, and Mental Health Podcast
Therapist Drew Linsalata and psychotherapist Ana Lund talk candidly about how neuroscience really fits into therapy and where its limits lie. Their conversation cuts through neuro-myths, highlights practical uses of research, and offers a reassuring perspective for both clinicians and people dealing with anxiety.
54:19•6 May 2026
Neurobollocks, Evidence, and Real Therapy: Drew Linsalata and Ana Lund Talk Brain Science
Episode Overview
- Therapists cannot rely on single exciting studies; they need broader reviews and meta-analyses before changing how they work.
- Neuroscience can inform therapy, but it often helps most as clear psychoeducation that reshapes how clients understand their problems.
- Rigid ‘five basic emotions’ frameworks can be unhelpful, and more flexible affect labelling gives people space to describe their own inner experience.
- Mindfulness and breathwork appear useful, but research suggests the simple elements (like slowing the breath) matter more than elaborate branded techniques.
- Clients are reminded that they cannot simply decide what to feel on command, which can reduce shame and the belief that they are emotionally ‘broken’.
“Neuroscience has under-delivered but has been overused.”
Curious about how therapists actually use brain science in the room with clients? This chat between host and anxiety therapist Drew Linsalata and Manchester-based psychotherapist Ana Lund keeps things honest, funny, and refreshingly nonsense-free. Ana specialises in the intersection of neuroscience and psychotherapy and freely admits, “I don’t stay current” with every study – at least not in the superhero way social media suggests.
She explains how even full-time neuroscientists only track a tiny slice of the field, and why good therapists lean on reviews and meta-analyses rather than one flashy mouse study that suddenly becomes “proof” of a grand theory. You’ll hear them unpack common myths, from “neurobollocks” in pop-psychology to the over-complicated branding of breathwork and mindfulness. Both argue that neuroscience has “under-delivered but has been overused,” yet they still show how it can genuinely help – especially through clear psychoeducation.
Simple shifts, like dropping rigid “five basic emotions” models and using more flexible affect labelling, can stop anxious clients feeling broken or defective. They also touch on big names like Lisa Feldman Barrett and the theory of constructed emotion, not to worship gurus, but to show how therapists carefully borrow ideas without pretending there’s a magic hack, glass of water, or breathing pattern that fixes everything.
For therapists, this episode pulls back the curtain on what evidence-based practice really looks like. For people dealing with anxiety, panic, or intrusive worries about their feelings, it offers a reassuring message: you’re not faulty hardware, and no one expects you to conjure perfect emotions on command.
It all comes back to one of Ana’s blunt reminders: “Imagine somebody who is a physio without knowing the bones.” If you’ve ever wondered how much science your therapist *actually* knows, this conversation gives you plenty to think about. Does your idea of ‘evidence-based’ need a bit of an update?
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