Neuroscience Expert & Attorney on How Stress Hijacks the Brain and Business Decisions

Summary

Living The Red Life: Neuroscience Expert & Attorney on How Stress Hijacks the Brain and Business Decisions

Host: Rudy Mawer
Guest: Dr. Jennifer Sweeten (Neuroscientist, Attorney & Psychologist)
Date: March 13, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Living The Red Life, host Rudy Mawer welcomes Dr. Jennifer Sweeten, a dynamic interdisciplinary expert who bridges neuroscience, law, and psychology. Together, they delve into how stress and trauma impact our decision-making as entrepreneurs, the role of dissociation in both creativity and dysfunction, the interplay between logic and emotion in high-pressure roles, and the unique power (and challenges) of origin stories. The discussion also covers building supportive partnerships, adaptive approaches in therapy, generational trauma, and redefining what’s “normal” in today's society.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Stress, Trauma, and the Brain in Decision-Making

• Dr. Sweeten explains the neuroscience of stress:

  • Stress and trauma deactivate key regions of the brain responsible for rational decision-making, affecting both adults and younger individuals ([00:00], [03:45]).
    • "When people experience stress, when they experience trauma, it actually shuts down the areas of your brain that you need activated to make good decisions." – Dr. Sweeten ([00:00])
  • This leads to impulsive or poor business decisions, a phenomenon visible even in legal contexts.

• Children & Adolescents’ Decision-Making:

  • When questioned about their choices, kids often respond with “I don’t know,” which can be neurologically accurate as stress diminishes executive function ([00:20], [03:57]).
    • "The top areas of the brain don’t function so well, and that is the main thing that leads people to just making terrible decisions sometimes." – Dr. Sweeten ([00:22])

The Origins of a Neuroscientist & Attorney

• Origin story fueled by trauma and curiosity:
  • Personal loss catalyzed Dr. Sweeten’s shift from computer engineering to psychology and neuroscience ([01:34]).
    • "I was supposed to study engineering, but then I got into it and I was like, you know, I think I’m more interested in psychology and the brain side of things." – Dr. Sweeten ([01:34])
  • Experiences of dissociation following her friend’s death raised questions: “I was walking around almost like in a dream…now I understand that as dissociation” ([02:29]).

Dissociation, Flow States, and Creativity

• Positive and negative dissociation:
  • Dissociation isn't always trauma-related. The "default mode network" can enable creativity and flow, similar to “autopilot” while driving ([04:50]).
    • "There’s times that you do need to be dissociative... it’s also associated with creativity and a flow state." – Dr. Sweeten ([04:50])
• Entrepreneurial “craziness” and dissociation:
  • Some dissociation can help entrepreneurs focus, while others can be a symptom of stress or burnout ([04:15]–[05:23]).

Being an Only Child: Superpower or Kryptonite?

• Dr. Sweeten and Rudy’s reflections:
  • Independence and self-reliance were strengths, but required effort to foster social connection in adulthood ([05:32]–[06:32]).
    • "I think I got the perfect balance of independence... but also supervision." – Dr. Sweeten ([06:09])

Law Meets Psychology: Approaches to People

• Similarities and contrasts:

  • Both law and psychology aim to help people but approach problems differently—law focuses more on situational context, while psychology zeroes in on the individual ([07:14]).
    • "It’s more about the situation around the person than the person themselves. It’s more about the context, I think." – Dr. Sweeten ([07:51])

• The ‘Engineering Mindset’:

  • Logic and numbers ground her approach in both fields ([07:55]–[08:16]).

Partnerships and Personal Life

• Importance of supportive relationships:
  • Dr. Sweeten credits her partner for balance—he’s a rule follower; she’s more adventurous ([08:28]–[09:13]).
    • "Partnering is the biggest business move you’re ever going to make… he has kind of a good mix of traits that seem to may be opposites but they work together." – Dr. Sweeten ([08:28])

The Core of Effective Therapy

• Relationship is key:
  • "It’s that trust and rapport…That is the best predictor" for outcomes in therapy, over specific methodologies ([09:49]).
• Understanding boundaries:
  • Recognizing when a personal connection isn’t there and referring out is crucial ([10:15]).

Adapting to Digital Therapy

• Online vs. in-person sessions:
  • Efficacy is similar overall; video therapy benefits trauma survivors by providing safer physical boundaries ([11:39]).
    • "A lot of times when people have been traumatized…they may not actually want to be super close to you…for them being in a sense safe place in their home, that can sometimes give them the distance that they need." – Dr. Sweeten ([11:52])

Generational Trauma & The New Normal

• Rudy’s candid sharing on PTSD and rumination:

  • Dr. Sweeten normalizes recurring thoughts as the brain’s effort to resolve emotional threads ([12:30]–[13:26]).
    • "Your brain’s not trying to drive you crazy…it’s trying to get you to a place where you say, okay, now this makes sense." – Dr. Sweeten ([13:09])
  • Rumination may not always reach resolution without intervention ([13:27], [13:34]).

• Redefining “normal”:

  • There’s no single standard; fulfillment and happiness matter most ([14:09]–[14:35]).
    • "Are you okay? Is it working for you? Are you happy? If you are, then who cares what other people think?" – Dr. Sweeten ([14:22])

• Spiritual and generational roots of distress:

  • Trauma can be passed down or rooted in experiences beyond immediate awareness ([14:55]–[15:28]).
    • "Trauma does…get communicated through generations. Even when it’s not communicated well, it’s still there." – Dr. Sweeten ([15:14])

Wrestling with Uncertainty in Neuroscience

• Ambiguity and endless questions:
  • "The more you study the brain, the more questions you have and the fewer the answers…" – Dr. Sweeten ([15:38]).
  • Looks ahead to vastly improved understanding in the future.

Dr. Sweeten’s Work and Resources

• Dr. Sweeten shares her current projects:
  • Online Continuing Education (CE) for clinicians (~60,000 reached)
  • Legal education and consulting
  • Authoring books to communicate brain-based strategies to a wider audience ([11:15]–[11:39])
• Where to find her: Books on Amazon, jennifersweetin.com, onlinececredits.com, legalmastercle.com ([16:07])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the hijack of stress:
  "When people experience stress, when they experience trauma, it actually shuts down the areas of your brain that you need activated to make good decisions." – Dr. Sweeten ([00:00])

• On dissociation and creativity:
  "There’s times that you do need to be dissociative… it’s also associated with creativity and a flow state. So it is a symptom of trauma but then it’s also kind of a symptom of health and creativity." – Dr. Sweeten ([04:50])

• On business partnerships:
  "Partnering is the biggest business move you’re ever going to make." – Dr. Sweeten ([08:28])

• On what defines 'normal':
  "Are you okay? Is it working for you? Are you happy? If you are, then who cares what other people think?" – Dr. Sweeten ([14:22])

• On generational trauma:
  "Trauma does…get communicated through generations. Even when it’s not communicated well, it’s still there." – Dr. Sweeten ([15:14])

• On neuroscience’s riddles:
  "The more you study the brain, the more questions you have and the fewer the answers…" – Dr. Sweeten ([15:38])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00 – 00:22: The neuroscience of stress and decision-making
• 01:34 – 02:59: Dr. Sweeten’s journey from engineering to psychology
• 04:50 – 05:23: The role of dissociation and the “default mode network”
• 07:14 – 07:51: Contrasts between law and psychology
• 09:49 – 10:15: The fundamental role of trust in therapy
• 11:39 – 12:30: Teletherapy’s role and trauma safety
• 13:09 – 13:26: Recurring thoughts as the brain seeking resolution
• 14:22 – 14:35: Redefining “normal” based on happiness and fulfillment
• 15:14 – 15:28: Trauma transmission across generations
• 15:38 – 15:41: The mysteries of studying the brain
• 16:07 – 16:26: Where to find Dr. Sweeten and her resources

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Tone & Style

The episode is conversational, candid, and insightful, with moments of humor and personal disclosure. Both host and guest speak openly about vulnerability, stress, and the messiness of real life, balancing technical knowledge with relatable stories. The tone is supportive, inquisitive, and gently inspirational.

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Summary for New Listeners

Whether you’re a business owner, a high-performer, or someone fascinated by the links between mind, experience, and achievement, this episode offers a compelling lens on stress, decision-making, and growth. By humanizing neuroscience, Dr. Sweeten shows that both science and self-knowledge are ever-evolving journeys.

Transcript

[A]

When people experience stress, when they experience trauma, it actually shuts down the areas of your brain that you need activated to make good decisions.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This is also the case, by the way, with children and adolescents. If you ask them, what were you thinking when you did that? They'll say, I don't know, or I wasn't. And both are accurate, I think. But it's these areas, the top areas of the brain don't function so well, and that is the main thing that leads people to me just making terrible decisions sometimes.

[B]

Talk about some of your chemistry work and some lives you've changed. In the psychiatry side, I think the people who.

[C]

My name is Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red Life podcast, and I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the red life, ditch the blue pill. Take the red pill. Join me in wonderland and change your life.

[B]

Welcome back to another episode of the living your legacy podcast, the Red Life Edition. Joining me today is Dr. Jennifer Sweetener, quite a powerful force. One side, she's a lawyer, and the next side, she's a psychologist. Not sure how to begin the ying to the yang here. Jen, a doctor. How was your interview today?

[A]

It was great. It was a great opportunity to think about how I come together. All these different things come together, I think in more detail than I had given it thought.

[B]

Yeah, I'm glad we had that moment together because I'm like. A lot of folks sit in the chair and they're like, this is my origin story. But I. I like to say that your origin story is almost like a supervillain. You started off in the search for answers of the heart psychiatry. Let's talk about that first.

[A]

Yeah. I've been interested in psychology for as long as I can remember, but I didn't decide to study it until after the death of my friend after high school. Even then, I still was computer engineering in college, but then my purpose caught up with me. I was supposed to study engineering, but then I got into it and I was like, you know, I think I'm more interested in the psychology and the brain side of things.

[B]

Oh, you said computer engineering. Why'd you pivot?

[A]

I. I just realized computer engineering wasn't really sparking much of an interest for me. And what was is my college roommate's textbook on psychology. So I started reading it and I thought, you know, I'm more interested in this.

[B]

Were you in the top bunk? Bottom bunk.

[A]

I was in the bottom bunk.

[B]

All right, so I could just fix you with this giant psychology book.

[A]

This is like before the days of the designers coming in and doing dorms. You know, you see those.

[B]

Before the weworks, it was. Yeah, college dorms.

[A]

Right, right.

[B]

What. What really fascinated you? What really sparked your imagination and made you go, let's. Let's focus on psy.

[A]

Well, I noticed after the death of my friend, I was different. I felt like I was walking around almost like in a dream, almost like a haze. And now I understand that as dissociation, but that was a very strange experience to experience, but then also to observe as I was experiencing it. And I wanted to know what's happening with me, what's happening with some of the friends that I was seeing and things that I was seeing about them that was different and what's going on in the brain, because I knew really, even then, it all comes down to what's going on neurologically. It's all what's going on in the brain.

[B]

Oh, gosh, I'm so curious. Dive right in. But before we do, let's talk about some of the stuff that you just talked about. Oh, I just lost track of my thought here. I hate when that happens. Let's talk about that. Actually, when you're talking about psychiatry and we're slowly moving into the evolution of being a lawyer, I kind of want to talk about the emotions and what's really driving us to make the decisions that we make. Because the reason why I'm making that connection is because I'm sure as a lawyer, you see a lot of human behaviors that are erratic.

[A]

How did you make this decision?

[B]

Yeah. How did you what? Make that connection? That correlation.

[A]

Yeah. And you see this in law, too, where you'll be like, how did this law happen? Who did this to where this became a thing?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And, you know, there's. There's a lot of explanations for it. But, you know, when. When people experience stress, when they experience trauma, it actually shuts down the areas of your brain that you need activated to make good decisions.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This is also the case, by the way, with children and adolescents. If you ask them, were you thinking when you did that? They'll say, I don't know, or I wasn't. And both are accurate, I think. But it's these areas, the top areas of the brain don't function so well. And that is the main thing that leads people to me just making terrible decisions sometimes.

[B]

Terrible segue. Speaking of terrible decisions, like I said, terrible segue. Let's go back to the disassociation which is what I did just a moment ago and I forgot the question. Rudy, one of my great mentors and my baby brother, he dissociates, but he calls it. I'm not going to ROI on that. I'm not going to spend any energy on this decision because it's not. I want to just focus on these things. I see him do that. But I also see the similarities of dissociation and I also see the psychotic natures of other entrepreneurs, myself included. When it comes to decision making, leading, you got to be a little crazy to do what we do, Correct?

[A]

Right. And there's times that you do need to be dissociative. Not all dissociation is trauma based. There's something called in the brain the default mode network. And this is when you're on autopilot. This is like when you get in the car to drive home and all of a sudden you're home and you have no idea how you got there. That is a form of dissociation that's also associated with creativity and a flow state. So we know that people who are really creative tend to go into that default mode more often than people who are not. So it is a symptom of trauma, but then it's also kind of a symptom of health and creativity, which is kind of interesting.

[B]

Very interesting. I'm absolutely eng. Clearly. Let's talk about that childhood drama. We, you and I are both only children.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Many folks would be like, that's a great superpower. And many folks would be like, oh, God, are you okay? I'm like, yes. I constantly needed to be. No, you know what I mean? Like, talk about how that leans into your superpower. But also is. Could be a kryptonite.

[A]

And my daughter now is an only child.

[B]

So there you go. Do you see some similarities?

[A]

Like I do, but she is so much more of an extrovert. She has higher social needs than I do. So I have to go to more of an effort to make sure she has those social connections. Think I needed. Gosh, was it a strength? Was it a weakness? You know, I grew up as, as Gen X, so we're kind of a stereotype is like that. We were pretty feral.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And we didn't get a lot of supervision. I think being an only child actually made it pretty perfect because my parents were of that general generation of like, let you go do things back when it gets dark. But they also had a closer eye on me that I think some of my peers, same age, who had like, you know, four or five siblings. So I think I got like the perfect balance of independence with that generation. But then also supervision.

[B]

Well, I'm sure you and I are in the similar ballpark. There weren't a lot of cell phones, barely pagers back then. But we didn't get supervised because we weren't really being supervised by whatever reality was in a device in our hands.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So we were able to make kind of like our own self conscious decisions and have, I would think, healthy, you know, coming of age stories in their 12, 13s and 14s in her preteens. And now today, hopefully. Now let's talk about the evolution of being a lawyer. Like we talked about this in your episode. How does you know when you're, you're psychiatrist and you're, you're taking notes on your client, you're really deciphering what they're saying and as a lawyer, really still deciphering what they're saying to use it against them or for them. Talk about the similarities and the contrasts of this.

[A]

Yeah. I think in both cases, hopefully your goal is to help people. Right, Kathleen?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I realize it's a little bit supervillain asterisk. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, I think the ultimate goal is the same, but what you're looking for is very different. Obviously with psychology you're looking at what are the symptoms, what's the impairment, what's the goal, what do they want to change? Which is a little bit different than law, which you're more thinking, maybe less about the individual and more about the case. Now, did you, you got into this car accident. Have you gone to the doctor? What did the doctor say? Do you have your medical records? Who have you told? Yeah. So it's more about the situation around the person than the person themselves. It's more about the context, I think.

[B]

Do you always feel like you approach things with that engineering mindset?

[A]

Yes, I think so.

[B]

Because even though you speak of the carriers. Very engineered.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Left brain, but in a great way.

[A]

Well, thank you.

[B]

I recognize, I recognize the power. That's. I'm just putting it that way.

[A]

Yeah, more like kind of numbers, logic based. My daughter actually came home from school recently and she said, I'm left brained. I found out. I was like, yes, you are.

[B]

That's awesome.

[A]

Yeah. But I'm a little more on that side.

[B]

Right on. So talk about having a partner in crime, having, having, having your daughter, having a father, how important that is. And for folks that are listening, that unfortunately don't have that blessing, but also that do have that blessing speak to these folks.

[A]

Yeah. Well, you know, partnering is the biggest business move you're ever going to make and there's other things that are important in life obviously besides business. But he has been fantastic as a support system, as a business partner, as a father, as a just a partner in general, as a friend.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

He's been amazing in all of these capacities.

[B]

Right on. Is your partner a cheerleader or a rule breaker with you? An optimist. What is your yang to the Yang here?

[A]

Yeah. Okay. So he is more of a rule follower than I am.

[B]

Great.

[A]

So he grounds me sometimes when I'm a little bit more airy. What else about him? He's adventurous though. He's level headed. So he has kind of a good mix of different traits that seem to may be opposites but they work together.

[B]

The reason why I bring this up is I'm a little biased just because my partner, if it wasn't for my partner, I'd probably lost in the weeds because I'm just always in my mind and I lead with fire and very much a fire sign if you're into that. My partner is an earth sign and it very much the flow is very much be water like Bruce Lee says as opposed to try to steam up the water and be theatrical about things. And I've actually found peace of mind and having a moment to just be tranquil and breathing exercises. Talk about some of your chemistry work and some lives you've changed. In the psychiatry side, I think the

[A]

people who do best in therapy are the people that you can form the best relationship with.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

Really it's that trust and that rapport I think that is the best predictor. And the research supports this as well that methods are methods and methods can be helpful. But it's really that connection. And so you know, you can go to school for however many years but sometimes the connection just is there or isn't there and you just have to know when it's there and then know I think when to refer out because there's some things that you just can't teach.

[B]

Right on. Speaking of not teaching but another terrible segue. 40,000 physicians. That was a stat that I remember reading.

[A]

Yeah. So online CE credits are continuing education company my husband and I. Yeah. I don't even know. I think the number might be more like 60,000 or something. But it's a lot humble brag which

[B]

leads me to another great segue is what do you what's your hustle today? What's your day to day today?

[A]

Like It's a variety of things. So every day involves online CE credits in some way. Increasingly Legal Master, the CLE company. So kind of the same thing, but for lawyers. Cool. And most days involve something with a client, although I don't do therapy every single day. And then sprinkled in there some writing, some speaking and, and legal work which is just amazingly fascinating. So every day is a little bit different.

[B]

Right on. I like how you listed out your superpower. So now we have an agenda and a criteria to get through. So first of all, let's talk about. You mentioned your day to day and I want to talk about your book. You're an author. What inspired you to write your book?

[A]

Reaching a broader audience. There's only so much that you can accomplish one on one in a therapy room. I really enjoy the process of psychotherapy, but I know that there are some brain changing skills that are fairly straightforward actually and easy, that if just people knew about them.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Not for everybody, but for some people it might eliminate the need actually for therapy. So I wanted to write books to communicate those things. Kind of from a neuroscience perspective, but also a psychology perspective.

[B]

Do you find that there's been a shift with digital and zoom therapists versus the brick and mortar in person? Has there been a benefit, a dis benefit, or do you find that the in person experience far outweighs a thousand zoom calls?

[A]

This is discussed constantly in the mental health world and people have really very strong opinions about it. What I've noticed is it depends on the person. The research really shows that it's just as efficacious really over that you're looking at averages. I really like it. I think something that I just have to keep in mind about trauma is that a lot of times when people have been traumatized, especially if it's like physical trauma, sexual trauma, they may not actually want to be super close to you in the same room. That can feel threatening. And I think for them being in a sense safe place in their home, that can sometimes give them the distance that they need to actually feel safe to open up. So I think it works really well for trauma sometimes.

[B]

I, I, I've just now recently recognized the forms of different levels of trauma, ptsd. I catch myself reenacting scenes in my head speaking out loud. I actually woke up this morning upset because I had a monologue with a fight that I had with my mother years ago, months ago, but I don't speak to her anymore. So my partner noticed a shift in my energy and I'm like, well, I I've become as transparent as I can. I think I am suffering from some form of PTSD because I'm reenacting moments that just happened maybe decades ago. Like, why am I in this moment? Is there a lesson here? Why am I like, what is happening to me upstairs? I clearly haven't been. What's the word? I haven't seen any professional help. This is all self guided and through experiences like speaking to you.

[A]

Right. Well, you know, your brain usually is trying to resolve something when you notice it plays over and over again. Your brain's not trying to drive you crazy. It feels like an enemy at times, but it's trying to resolve to fix it. It's trying to get you to a place where you say, okay, now this makes sense or I'm okay with this, or it no longer bothers me.

[B]

Got it.

[A]

The thing about rumination though is that oftentimes you start looping don't actually accomplish what your brain's trying to accomplish. If that makes sense.

[B]

That actually makes a lot of sense. How do I sign up? Well, it actually leads to my question. I'm going through my own adventure, my own. Sometimes I'm very transparent. I'm a 42 year old male that's, you know, isn't married, doesn't have children. Some folks want to hug me and go, are you okay? And other folks that are men and their giant boys are like, wow, video games all day. But is that. Is that. It almost seems like that's almost like the hip thing to be now in your 40s, you're the new 20s. Like, oh, you're in your third or fourth divorce, but you've made it. Your kids are like, what is the new normal? Is what I'm trying to land on. Like I my a normal male like, or my abnormal. What are the stats say?

[A]

Oh gosh. From a psychologist perspective, like kind of everything is normal. Like I'm not shocked by anything.

[B]

Right on.

[A]

But then nobody's normal. Like if I get to know a person enough, their families are never normal.

[B]

Oh no. Yeah.

[A]

Everybody's like, you know, so it's hard to tell. Here's the question that you ask yourself. Are you okay? Is it working for you? Are you happy? If you're not, there's a problem. If you are, then who cares what other people think?

[B]

Amazing. I feel like the who cares what other people think is the, the ego that we're. But the thing that we don't identify. I feel like there's something far more divine that that's being downloaded where do you think this negative frequencies are coming from that aren't resolved and within our hearts?

[A]

I think some. Well, where they come from, that's. That's a difficult question.

[B]

It could be spiritual.

[A]

Yeah, I was gonna say. I mean, there's neurological answers to that. I think that there's also spiritual answers to that. It could be from a spiritual perspective. It could be there's something that happened 17 generations back that you don't know about.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

Right. Because trauma does, we know, tend to get communicated through the generations. Even when it's not communicated well, it's

[B]

still kind of in the code, huh?

[A]

Yeah, it's still there. Yeah. So it could be something like that. It could be that spiritually you're aware of something that's just not finished for you, something it's prompting you to do something potentially that could be another explanation too.

[B]

Is the brain scary? Because right now I feel like all these amazing answers, but there's no ending. There's no like true definitive answer. It's just these open, gapped, like plot holes.

[A]

Yeah. So the more you study the brain, the more questions you have.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

And the fewer the answers, which can be, I think, distressing if you're someone that really values like getting to the root of something and answering it. But I do think with technology and everything moving as fast as it's moving these days, I don't think that's going to be the case forever. I think in 40 years, we're going to have a very different understanding right

[B]

now within our lifetimes. Yeah.

[A]

Right, right, right.

[B]

The crazy is still happening day to day. Doctor, how can folks find you today? How can folks find your book? How can folks continue following your tribe?

[A]

Right. Well, you can find all of my books on Amazon. You just do a search for my name, Jennifer Sweeten. They will pop up. You can find me on my website, jennifersweetin.com or sweeten injurylaw.com or the company websites that we have onlinece credits.com or legalmaster cle.com so that's mouthful, but I love it. Those are all the ways.

[B]

And what are we going to learn about you and your episode? What's a good preview for your Women in Power episode?

[A]

Yeah, you're going to learn about, of course, my journey. And I would say specifically how sometimes hard things can inform your journey in really positive ways. That it's not always that you set out with the plan and you accomplish it the way you envision. But sometimes really hard things can lead to good things.

[B]

Right on, doctor. I really appreciate your time and energy. It was such a soothing afternoon. I hope that the feelings were persecuted. Precipiticated English I can do it with that. That concludes another episode of the Living your Legacy podcast, the Women in Power Edition. Dr. Thanks again. It was such an honor. With that, I am Ray Gutierrez for Inside.