Overcome Perfectionism on the David and Jill Show, Nov 11, 2018!

Special 90-minute show!

Watch FB Live on Sunday, November 11th, 2018,
at 3 PM (PT) fr with David and Jill!

Join Dr. Jill Levitt and me as we return for our next Facebook Live Show! We will focus on perfectionism, a problem that probably plagues you and your patients as well. In fact, perfectionism is one of the most common problems we see in clinical practice, and most of us struggle with our own perfectionism as well. Perfectionism is a major cause of depression as well as social anxiety, crippling performance anxiety, and more.

Here’s the rough preview of our show.

Do you or your patients reach for the stars and end up grasping air? Perfectionism is one of the most common problems we see in clinical practice, and most mental health professionals at times struggle with their own perfectionism as well.

Do any of these thoughts sound familiar?

• I shouldn’t have screwed up!
• I’m a failure.
• I should be better than I am.
• I’m unlovable.
• I’m more screwed up than my patients!
• At my age, I should have it more together.
• I’m a bad mother (or father, or therapist, etc.)
• My presentation was only okay. Darn it! I should have hit it out of the park!
• I’m just average. There’s nothing really special about me.
• If people found out about how anxious and insecure I am, they’d judge or reject me.
• If you can’t do something perfectly, there’s no point in doing it at all.
• Your worthwhileness as a human being depends on your productivity, intelligence, and achievements.
• All my parents care about is my grades. They don’t really love me for who I am.

Perfectionism triggers clinical depression and feelings of inferiority as well as many anxiety disorders, such as social anxiety, performance anxiety (e.g. writer’s block), OCD (compulsive checking, cleaning arranging, etc.), and more.

Perfectionism has also been implicated in eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, although the causal relationships are not entirely clear, plays a role in the addiction to work, and is often associated with loneliness.

But is perfectionism necessarily a bad thing? What’s the difference between neurotic perfectionism and the healthy pursuit of excellence? Tune in Sunday and find out!

The show will be chock full of real and inspiring cases as well as helpful treatment techniques. This David and Jill Show will be geared toward therapists and the general public alike, including teenagers and adults.

Outline of the Show

1. What is perfectionism? How does neurotic perfectionism differ from the healthy pursuit of excellence?
   1. The woman who scrubbed her bedroom floor until it had to be replaced.
2. What’s perceived perfectionism?
3. The Self-Defeating Beliefs (e.g. “Self-Esteem Equations”) that trigger perfectionism:
   1. I must be perfect in order to be happy.
   2. If I’m not perfect then I can’t be happy.
   3. People won’t love me if I’m damaged or flawed, or if I screw up.
4. How is the concept of perfection promoted in our culture?
   1. In the media
   2. In our child rearing practices
   3. In sports
   4. Motivational speakers at sales conferences
      1. You must be number ONE!
   5. In our societal values
      1. Calvinist work ethic: You ARE what you DO.
   6. What are the cognitive distortions trigger perfectionism?
      1. All-or-Nothing Thinking
         1. My workshop with Aaron Beck at ACBT
      2. Mental Filter / Discounting the Positive
         1. The Cincinnati talk show host
      3. Mind-Reading
      4. Magnification
      5. Should Statements
   7. Personal examples
      1. David’s early therapy career
      2. Jill’s examples
   8. Tools to overcome perfectionism
      1. Specificity / Daily Mood Log
         1. Need a nice example
      2. Magic Dial / Positive Reframing
         1. What does your perfectionism show about you that’s positive and awesome? What are some benefits of your perfectionism?
         2. Would a Cost-Benefit Analysis be useful also. Some overlap with Positive Reframing.
      3. The Semantic Technique
      4. The Experimental Technique
         1. The attorney who was afraid to lose a case in court.
      5. The Pleasure / Perfectionism Balance Sheet
         1. The physician who thought he had to perfect.
      6. Externalization of Voices / Acceptance Paradox
         1. Can use some of the bulleted thoughts listed above that are common among therapists as well as their patients
      7. Feared Fantasy
      8. Dare to be average!
         1. David’s writer’s block when trying to revise Feeling Good

This is one show you WON’T WANT TO MISS!

The David and Jill show is usually on the first Sunday in every month, but this month it will be on the second Sunday (November 11, not November 4). We hope you can join us live. However, the show will be recorded, as usual, so you can tune in anytime on my Public FB page! usually the show is an hour, but we’ll do a special, extended, 90-minute show for this cool topic!

Dr. Levitt is Director of Clinical Training at the Feeling Good institute in Mt. View, California. She is a co-director of my weekly psychotherapy training group at Stanford, and is absolutely superb. When we work together, the chemistry can be pure magic (most of the time, but not always!) The photo below was at taken at our recent Sunday workshop on Advanced TEAM-CBT techniques.

Here in some exciting upcoming workshops for you–

TREAT ANXIETY FAST–
Powerful, Fast-Acting, Drug-Free Treatment Techniques
that Defeat Anxiety & Worry

a 2-day workshop by David D. Burns, MD

November 29 and 30, 2018–San Francisco, CA (in person only)

and

December 3 and 4, Portland, Oregon (in person and live streaming)

PESI is proud to offer an exciting workshop by David Burns, M.D., a pioneer in the development of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Achieve rapid and lasting recovery with all your anxious clients, just as Dr. Burns has done in over 35,000 therapy sessions with severely troubled clients. Become skilled at treating every type of anxiety without drugs.

In this unique 2-day certificate course you’ll master more than 20 treatment techniques to help your clients eliminate the symptoms of anxiety quickly – even your most challenging, resistant clients.

Dr. Burns will illustrate concrete strategies that provide rapid, complete recovery and lasting change for your patients. You’ll learn…

• How to integrate four powerful treatment models to eliminate symptoms.
• How to enhance your client’s engagement in therapy.
• How to develop a treatment plan that specifically targets each client’s unique problems and needs.
• …and so much more!

David will provide you with guided instruction and share powerful video sessions that capture the actual moment of recovery. You will take away practical strategies to use immediately with any anxious client. Leave this certificate course armed with tools you can use in your very next session!

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from one of America’s most highly acclaimed psychiatrists and teachers!

Sponsored by PESI
To register, or for more information, call: 800-844-8260

* * *

December, 2018

Brief Therapy Conference, December 6 – 9, Burlingame, California

Sponsored by the Milton Erikson Foundation

I will be giving a Keynote Address on

Overcoming Therapeutic Resistance

on Sunday, December 9, 2018, from  2:30 – 3:30 PM

plus a two-hour workshop on Friday, December 7, 2018 from 10:45 AM – 12:45, with Dr. Jill Levitt on

Healing Yourself: A Live Demonstration of TEAM-CBT

plus two other presentations at this fantastic event.