Alfred A. Barrios

Dr. Alfred A. Barrios is a clinical psychologist (B.S. Caltech, Ph.D. UCLA) and founder and current Executive director of the Self-Programmed Control Center in Los Angeles,. California.

Barrios has a B.S. from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, (1955) and received his Ph.D. from University of California, Los Angeles (1969). His Ph.D. dissertation on understanding hypnosis was nominated for the National Creative Talent Award. At UCLA, he was the president of SINGRADS (social organization for single grad students.)

For his first paper titled "Hypnosis as a possible means of curing cancer" (1960), Barrios received the Cancer Federation award in 1996. That same year he was also nominated for the prestigious Norman Cousins Award in Mind-Body Medicine.

Barrios puts on His 3-hour Instructors workshop for school teachers across the country after which the teachers can in turn teach the Self-Programmed Control program to students, this is the program which has been able to reduce school dropout from 56% to 16%. One of his first students was the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles (2005 to 2013,) Antonio Villaraigosa. 

He also lectures to medical professionals across the country on the enhanced mind-body approach to reviving the body's natural defenses against cancer, an area in which he has achieved international recognition. In 1996, he received the first annual Cancer Federation Award in psychoneuroimmunology from the Cancer Federation, and was nominated for the Norman Cousins Award in Mind-Body Health.

• Towards Greater Freedom & Happiness (Jan 1, 1978)
• Stress Test Biofeedback Card and Booklet (Jun 1, 1985)
• The Habit Buster (Jun 1, 1987)
• Understanding Hypnosis: Theory, Scope and Potential(Hardback) - 2010 Edition (Jan 1, 2010)

His book, The Stress Test, reached number 2 on the Times best-seller list.