Many of you will recall one of our most popular and amazing podcasts of all, the recording of the live therapy with Michael at the Atlanta intensive last year. In today’s recording, which was recorded for a different purpose, Dr. Michael recalls his entire experience that day, with many teaching points. Although I was AT the Atlanta intensive doing the therapy, with the help of my co-therapist, Thai-An Truong, I was fascinated and enlightened by this interviews because:
- Michael was incredibly warm, genuine and openness.
- The summary shows clearly and exactly how TEAM therapy works.
- He recounts not only his recovery, but also how was unexpectedly catapulted into what, by my understanding, is best described as “enlightenment.” Or something awfully darn close to it!
- He reminds us that even after one has recovered and experienced “enlightenment,” we are still human and never immune to the occasional return of negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity and self-doubt, which are now, for Michael, short-lived!
I just got Rhonda’s response after she listened to this recording for the first time. Here’s what she said:
I forgot to tell you that I listened to the 30-minute recording of Michael’s reflections and I loved it. I think it would be a great podcast. He did a wonderful job summarizing the work, and how it impacted him at various stages. I liked how he included his skepticism and his awe in recovery.
Warmly,
Rhonda and David
PS Rhonda and I are convinced that successful personal work is a necessary part of therapist training. When you’ve done your own work, you are no longer just a “technician,” but a healer, because you can tell your patients,
“I know you feel because I’ve been there myself, and I know how painful and lonely that can be. And I’m really excited to show you the way out of the woods, too, so you can get back to feelings of joy and self-esteem, so you can wake up in the morning and say that’s it’s GREAT to be alive!”
Michael Greenwald, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Woodland Hills, CA. He uses TEAM-CBT to treat adults with depression and anxiety, as well as other presenting problems. He can be contacted at drmichaeldg@gmail.com, or 310-828-1809.
I want to thank you so much for this podcast. It was an eye-opener for me in many ways. I realized how much resistance I have to giving up so many of my self-defeating behaviors. The idea of pushing a button and having things instantaneously go away sounds great, but it’s always been something that deep inside I knew couldn’t actually ever happen, so it wasn’t a serious consideration. But this podcast really made me think why I seem to sabotage myself.
In so many ways I have reacted in my whole life against “type a” personalities because my upbringing was under the thumb of such a person. I have been deathly afraid of even appearing to be like that because of my fear of those personalities. I always thought it was better to be meek and unassuming and avoid any attention whatsoever. Unfortunately using that tactic I have never been able to make any of the kinds of accomplishments I felt I wanted. Accomplishments were almost an anathema. Even responding to this podcast is tinged with mixed feelings about drawing attention to myself. Like an addiction it comes over and I only realize it when I’m In the thick of it, and after it passes it even feels like a hangover. “Me” makes me sick. I also get into a trap when I find myself doing something somewhat acceptably, I have almost a low level apology going on; I have to discount it or even criticize it and I can find myself in front of suspicious peers who mistakenly think I’m looking for additional praise, which is the opposite of my goal. A stupid mixture of OCD perfectionism combined with fear of praise. And it all just becomes a mess of confusion, misunderstanding and a miasma of egoism.
It was in this podcast that I recognized the silliness of my black-and-white thinking. Forever I have wanted to just push the button and be “normal“, but of course there’s not really anything that is “normal“. I realize now that there’s a range of feelings, and balance is the way out. I •do• want to have boundaries on my ego, but I need to be take heed of the podcast – no one’s really noticing •that• much, or in that way. I thank you for a “eureka” moment, and I wish it was a presto-chango instantaneous transformation; it will take some baby steps on my part, but I’m thankful for having a little clearer understanding of why I am the keeper of my weird dynamics.
Thanks so much! Have sent it on to Rhonda, Michael, and Thai-An. Warmly, david