We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Jeffrey L. Gurian. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Gurian below.
Alright, Dr. Gurian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?
My whole life I have gladly been a giver but did not know how to receive. When I survived a hospitalization with Covid Double Pneumonia back in March of 2020, during the time that New York City was the epicenter of the virus, they had run out of rooms in the hospital where the ambulance had taken me. They were able to stabilize my breathing and after four very scary days they sent me home, but it took me months to recover.
During that time I was not able to leave the house. I was actually afraid to leave the house. A woman in my building who I knew only casually, found out from the doormen that I was in the hospital. She was a very successful entrepreneur in the catering business with six children. She contacted me and insisted that I let her shop for food for me. I was not allowed to have any visitors, and would not even let my children come to visit me for fear they could get sick, so I was going through this ordeal alone.
I felt very awkward to have to ask for help, or should I say to receive help, but in a moment of weakness I gave in and started leaving her messages of what she could buy for me food-wise. She would leave the packages in front of my door, literally for months, and would not take any money for it.
When enough time had passed that I was comfortable leaving the house and could shop for myself, I asked her why I was so blessed to have her as an angel. I recall saying “What did I do to deserve you?” and she said to me something I will never forget. She said, ” You’re helping me become a better person.” I think that’s probably the kindest thing anyone had ever done for me, besides my ex-wife giving me the gift of my children.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
People often refer to Jeffrey Gurian as a “Renaissance Man”, because he’s involved in so many things. He’s a doctor, and motivational speaker, but he’s also a comedy writer, performer, director, author, producer, and radio personality, and not always in that order.
Jeffrey is a former Cosmetic Dentist and former Clinical Professor at New York University where he taught for 12 years in the Oral Medicine/Oro-Facial Pain Department, as well as a 20-year Board member of The Assoc. for Spirituality and Psychotherapy.
His specialty was treating headaches and the physical symptoms of stress, often with a TMJ causation, caused by clenching and grinding the teeth, (Bruxism), using only “Energy Healing” as his modality, with a technique he developed called “STAR” Therapy.™
“STAR Therapy”™ is a very gentle system of “talk and touch” used to treat symptoms like Migraine-type headaches, facial and neck pain. STAR is an acronym for Spiritual, Transformational, Affirmative, Resonance Therapy, using a Guided Meditation with music. His guided meditation with legendary musician Steven Halpern known as “The Father of New Age Music” is called “Journey To Your Heart.”
One of the few doctors with a long-standing career in comedy, Jeffrey knows and has worked with just about every big star in comedy from the last 20 years, and had a documentary premiere about his life in the summer of 2020 which you can see on Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/414818932
He’s also a best-selling Amazon author with eight books, the last three in what he calls his “Happiness Series”.
The first is called “Healing Your Heart, By Changing Your Mind – A Spiritual and Humorous Approach To Achieving Happiness”
His second Happiness book “Fight The Fear-Overcoming Obstacles That Stand In Your Way,” was a #1 Release in several categories including “Medicine & Psychology”, “Attention Deficit Disorder”, and “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.”
The third, “Facing Adversity-Stories of Courage and Inspiration” is a collection of true stories of amazing people who overcame tremendous obstacles and still lead happy, meaningful lives.
He also developed a cure for stuttering which he used to cure himself of a severe stutter and now as an avocation, he works with stutterers all over the world. www.stopstutteringnowgurian.com
He’s been profiled in the NY Times, in the top magazine of The Hamptons, was a cover story in Sutton Place Magazine, is a fixture on Page Six in the NY Post, a frequent guest on WABC and Sirius XM radio, and has been profiled on every major TV station coming out of NY.
As a motivational speaker he speaks on Happiness, mindset and changing negative thinking to positive thinking. He was one of the doctors featured on NPR’s “Walking Through The Storm” a CD featuring doctors on how to use the mind and humor to promote physical healing, and was one of the producers of the Hamptons Comedy Festival, the fund-raising arm for Comedy Fights Cancer.
He will be the Keynote Speaker for the Academy of General Dentistry in Minneapolis this coming July 18th at the Minneapolis Convention Center talking about Wellness and Humor.
He’s also on the Board of Laugh M.D. whose mission is to bring comedy to people in hospitals and recovery centers. Dr. Gurian is based in NYC, and will be teaching a weekend course at the prestigious Omega Institute of Holistic Studies this coming Sept. 20-22, 2024 in Rhinebeck, NY based on his Happiness books.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In 2015 I had a heart attack. A serious heart attack. The one they call “The Widowmaker”. It came out of nowhere. I had never been sick in my life except for the usual colds and viruses and things. The night before I was out celebrating with people, dancing and having a great time. The next day I had this heart attack. I didn’t know what it was at first and almost went back to bed which was my first lucky choice that I didn’t do that.
Second it was pouring rain. I had a first appointment with a chiropractor and I don’t like to go out in the rain. I had this pain in my chest like a cramp, and it felt better when I rubbed it, so I thought it can’t possibly be a heart attack because you can’t rub away a heart attack.
So I got on the subway to go to the chiropractor and the pain was getting worse. I got off and had about 6 blocks to walk and for some reason I turned down a block where a police van was traveling. I tapped on the window and said, ” I’m sorry to bother you but I think I’m having a heart attack” and he suggested that I go to the hospital. I said, “That’s why I’m telling YOU. I’m not just telling everybody!” He said they were stuck in traffic so it would probably be faster if I walked.
I think they were surprised that I stayed very calm. My Spiritual training made me realize that for whatever reason this was my path for today and panicking would not help. Making a long story short, I wound up in an ambulance where they did not think they should use the siren so they drove slowly to the hospital.
When we finally arrived they could not get me in because the doors wouldn’t open. When they finally got me into the emergency room I layed there for 9 hours until they could get me a room in the cardiac unit. Fortunately some genius started me on blood thinners and that’s probably what saved me.
Turned out I was having the kind of heart attack that did not show on an EKG. The next morning they took me to the OR and told me I was 95% blocked in the major artery to my heart. I was on the operating table, not completely asleep when I felt them unblocking my heart. I said to the surgeon, ” I feel you in my heart! Not in a romantic way, but I feel you in my heart! And the whole surgical team started to laugh. The surgeon said he’d give me more anesthesia and later told me I was the first patient who ever joked around on the operating table. He came to my room and gave me a hug and said I was a miracle.
When the hospital discharged me they told me to try and act like it never happened. I was back on stage 5 days later performing comedy. The owner of the club said to me, “What are you crazy? You just had a heart attack!” as if I didn’t know. And I said to him, ” Yeh, but it’s hard to get a spot here. I didn’t want to lose my spot!” Positive thinking saved me.
When you’re in a depressed state of mind, your immune system does not function as well. If you can manage to stay in a positive frame of mind no matter what is going on, you have a better chance of surviving anything.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I stuttered very badly from the time I was 6 or 7 years old through my 20’s and beyond. One of the things I stuttered the most on was my name. Most stutterers can not say their own name. I realized one day that I did not stutter as badly when I was alone. I could say most of the words that were “hard” for me to say when I was alone. I only stuttered when I was trying to talk to someone else. That told me that you can’t have a disability based on your location or on who’s in the room with you.
That started my journey to curing myself and attaining fluency. it took me years because there was no one to help me. Speech therapy never worked for me because they have no idea how to cure stuttering. I had to figure it out all on my own how to free myself from the bondage of stuttering.
Today I am stutter free as I have been for many years. I am a keynote speaker, a motivational speaker, a radio personality, a stand-up comedian, and I use my voice for everything I do. I am always grateful that I no longer have the “need” to stutter, As an avocation I work with stutterers all over the world to give them hope and teach them how NOT to stutter. My dedicated website for stuttering is www.stopstutteringnowgurian.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.comedymatterstv.com www.stopstutteringnowgurian.com
- Instagram: @jeffreygurian
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeffreygurian
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyguriancomedy/
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/comedymatterstv
- Other: TikTok – @jeffreylgurian