Online Training and Continuing Education Credit in TEAM-CBT
The Feeling Good Institute (FGI) offers many online and in-person training opportunities, as well as TEAM-CBT consultation groups for therapists. All of their upcoming course offerings are listed here.
Please note my upcoming one day workshop with Dr. Jill Levitt (#5 below) on the treatment of clients with troubled relationships on October 28, 2018. This is one of the most challenging areas of psychotherapy since the resistance to change is almost always intense. It should be really good, since Jill is an esteemed colleague and a fabulous teacher. I always love working with her.
You can come in person or attend online. If you attend online, we will have online breakout groups for you to practice the skills we describe and illustrate live.
Mike Christensen’s twelve week training entitled Comprehensive Live Online CBT Training for Therapists. Mike is a TEAM-CBT Level 4 Clinician and Trainer and a fantastic teacher. Space is strictly limited to fifteen participants to provide an intimate learning experience with lots of opportunity to practice, receive feedback, and improve your skills. This course meets weekly online for 12 weeks and starts Monday 9/10/18 (3:00 – 4:45 PM PST). 21 CE*s. $720.
Jill Levitt’s six week training entitled Practical CBT Methods for Depression, Anxiety, and Unwanted Habits. Jill is a Master Therapist and Trainer in TEAM-CBT and the Director of Training at Feeling Good Institute and a warm and engaging teacher. This course focuses on TEAM-CBT methods and includes didactic teaching as well as ample opportunities for role playing and practice. Jill’s course meets weekly online for 6 weeks and starts Monday 10/8/18 (11am-12:45pm PST). 10.5 CE*s. $360
Taylor Chesney’s twelve week training entitled Comprehensive Live Online CBT Training for Therapists Working With Children and Adolescents. Taylor is a Master Therapist and Trainer in TEAM-CBT and the director of Feeling Good Institute NYC. Her practice focuses on the application of TEAM-CBT to kids and teens. Space is strictly limited to fifteen participants to provide an intimate learning experience with lots of opportunity to practice, receive feedback, and improve your skills. This course meets weekly online for 12 weeks and starts Wednesday 10/3/18 (9:30 AM – 11:15 AM PST). 21 CE*s. $720
Daniel Mintie’s online training entitled CBT Skills, Training, and Practice: A Case-Based Course.This course meets every other week for three months. Daniel is a Level 5 TEAM-CBT Therapist and Trainer with Feeling Good Institute and a warm and thoughtful teacher. Each class in this biweekly series will begin with a presentation of one or more aspects of the TEAM-CBT model, followed by practice using case material from participants clinical work or instructor case examples. Daniel’s course meets every other week online for 3 months and starts Friday 10/5/18 (12-1:45pm PST). 10.5 CE*s. $395.
David Burns and Jill Levitt’s Step by Step TEAM-CBT Methods for the Treatment of Relationship Difficulties: A Daylong Workshop for Therapists.Join us for a day of fun and inspiring learning on site in Palo Alto OR online from anywhere in the world. This workshop will teach you how to set a collaborative agenda with your patients in order to reduce resistance and boost motivation to change. In addition, you will learn and practice skills that will help your patients identify their own communication errors and enhance their communication skills to increase intimacy and closeness with their loved ones. This workshop is highly interactive with many case examples and opportunities for practice using role plays. Sunday October 28th, 2018 (9am-4pm PST). 6 CE*s. $135
A fan who wishes to remain anonymous (we’ll call him Jim) wrote a thoughtful question based on an internet video he’d just watched on The REBT Advocate’s YouTube channel, featuring Tommy Bateman and Dr. Michael Edelstein. One of their listeners had asked what they thought about the new TEAM-CBT developed by Dr. David Burns. They said they were not terribly familiar with TEAM, but looked it up on Wikipedia, and had three criticisms:
The T = Testing is not important or desirable since you can just ask patients how they’re doing, and if they keep coming, it must mean you’re doing a good job. Testing, they think, is an artificial attempt to “dress up” the therapy and makes the treatment too clinical and impersonal!
E = Empathy is not important, either, because patients pay good money to get help, and not to feel validated. Self-help books, they say, wouldn’t help if empathy was important.
A = (Paradoxical) Agenda Setting is also unimportant. Resistance does not need to be addressed in treatment, since patients can go elsewhere if they aren’t getting the help they want.
This is what “Jim” concluded after listening to the REBT podcast:
“I don’t think they know as much about TEAM as they claimed. It made me angry that they were dismissing it so flippantly. Maybe you can invite yourself to talk on their podcast!
“I appreciate your approach to therapy a lot, even if I don’t always agree with you. I have watched every episode of your Feeling Good Podcasts and find the live therapy sessions especially intriguing!”
Sincerely, “Jim”
Thanks for the great question, Jim, and I appreciate your comments! Fabrice and I took a quick look at the video you saw on line and I strongly resonated with your assessment. Although there was value in all of their criticisms–there is ALWAYS truth in any criticism– I agree that they perhaps didn’t really grasp TEAM. And, like you, I found the comments flippant and disrespectful, kind of like a series of hurtful put-downs, rather than an attempt to grasp the potential value of something new or an invitation to meaningful and respectful dialogue.
I felt a bit angry, to be honest!
And I might add that in my interactions with Dr. Albert Ellis, the creator of REBT, I always found him to be incredibly respectful, warm, and supportive of my work. He was THE BEST, in my opinion! Toward the end of his career, he actually changed his mind about the importance of empathy, based on my research, and decided that empathy could, in fact, be helpful. I have many fond memories of times we talked and will always be grateful for his work and career; and also for his wonderfully wild, wacky and incredibly genuine and real personality!
Dr. Ellis was famous for his outrageous–and usually brutally honest and accurate–comments about other schools of therapy. And I have to confess that sometimes I’ve also been guilty of dismissing competing schools of therapy in a flippant way, and I’ve gotten rightfully battered for that at times. People don’t like that type of adversarial dialogue for the most part. When I slip up and try to promote myself in a narcissistic way, it’s mostly thumbs down! But it sure can be tempting!
The perceived lack of empathy in some REBT therapists was actually one of Dr. Aaron Beck’s motivations for creating Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which evolved about ten years after Dr. Ellis created REBT. CBT shares much in common with REBT, but with a greater emphasis on research to find out what really works, and empathy and the therapeutic alliance. CBT was also the first school of therapy to emphasize testing at every session to assess therapeutic progress, or the lack of progress.
The adversarial attitude of putting down the competition is at the heart of the “therapy wars,” with everyone claiming to have the “best” approach and dismissing other approaches. But if you look at all of the outcome studies of psychotherapy for depression or anxiety, for the most part, nothing comes out much better than treatment with placebos. So perhaps an attitude of humility, curiosity, and openness to new approaches would be more productive and appropriate.
The comments of Dr. Edelstein and Mr. Bateman were especially hard for me to hear, since I’ve always been a huge fan of Dr. Albert Ellis and I have so many respected friends and colleagues who are REBT therapists. I’ve always felt the contributions of Dr. Ellis to the field were legendary, and I’ve always supported and admired him.
My goal in TEAM has never been to create yet another competing school of therapy, but rather to create a systematic, data-driven approach to therapy based on process research on what works and what doesn’t work. I am convinced that therapists from any school of therapy who use T = Testing and work hard to improve their E = empathy skills will experience improved outcomes.
A = (Paradoxical) Agenda Setting is also important. Learning to melt away patient resistance and boost patient motivation can dramatically speed recovery, and is one of the most important components of TEAM! And I think that virtually all therapists, and especially REBT therapists, will have to admit that they have many patients who DO “yes-but” them and resist their efforts to help or persuade their patients to change.
But what does the research show? Is there any solid evidence for the various components of TEAM? At the end of these show notes, I have compiled a list of just a few of the published, peer-refereed studies that have led to the development of TEAM, and you can hear a summary of some of these studies on today’s podcast.
In a nutshell, here are a few of the highlights from research:
Session-by-session testing has been shown to improve therapeutic outcomes.
Research indicates that therapists’ perceptions of how their patients feel, and how their patients feel about them, are not accurate, and are frequently wildly inaccurate. This can have life and death implications, for example, in treating depressed patients with episodic suicidal impulses.
Therapeutic empathy has a direct causal impact on reducing depression. However, the magnitude of the effect is small. However, therapeutic empathy and trust can enhance, and even make possible, the therapeutic effects of other more powerful techniques.
Patient motivation is the only variable in the world literature that has been shown to have large causal effects on recovery from depression.
Finally, I’ll share an email I just received from another Feeling Good Podcast fan. It kind of cheered me up from the funk I was in after watching the REBT folks rip into TEAM!
Hi Dr. Burns,
I really enjoyed the recent Feeling Good Podcast on how you overcame many challenges to get your book published (podcast #99, the interview with Nicole Bell). I love the fact that you require measurement before and after every session as well as homework. Hope you and your great work will continue to take your field out of the Dark Ages. I suspect you won’t have much difficulty publishing your new book, Feeling Great!
Phil
David
T = Testing, E = Empathy, A = (Paradoxical) Agenda Setting–
What can we learn from research?
Hatcher, R. L., Barends, A., Hansell, J. & Gutfreund, M.J. (1995). Patients’ and therapists’ shared and unique views of the therapeutic alliance: An investigation using confirmatory factory analysis in a nested design. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63(4), 636 – 643.
Research on Therapeutic Empathy
Burns, D. D., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1992). Therapeutic empathy and recovery from depression in cognitive – behavioral therapy: a structural equation model. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60(3): 441 – 449.
Burns, D. D., & Auerbach, A. (1996). Therapeutic Empathy in Cognitive – Behavioral Therapy: Does it Really Make a Difference? Chapter 7 in Frontiers of Cognitive Therapy (P. Salkovskis, ed. ) New York: Guilford Press, pp. 135 – 164.
Eisen, K. P., & Burns, D. D. (2007). Getting specific about “non-specific” factors: The role of therapeutic alliance in cognitive therapy. Psicologia Brasil (Psychology Brazil).
Krupnick, J. L. et al. (1993). The role of the therapeutic alliance in psychotherapy and psychotherapy outcome: Findings in the NIMH treatment of depression collaborative research program. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(3), 636 – 643.
Orlinsky, D. E., Grawe, K., & Parks, B. K. (1995). Process and outcome in psychotherapy–Noch einmal. Chapter 8 in A. E. Bergin & S. L. Garfield (Eds.), Handbook of Psychotherapy and Behavioral Change (pp. 270 – 376). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Persons, J., & Burns, D. D. (1985). Mechanisms of action of cognitive therapy: Relative contributions of technical and interpersonal intervention. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 9(5): 539 – 551.
Research on Therapeutic Resistance / Motivation
Burns, D. D., Adams, R., & Anastopolous, A. (1985). The role of self – help in the treatment of depression. Chapter 19 in Handbook for the Diagnosis, Treatment and Research of Depression, (Beckham, E. E. and Leber, W. R., eds. ), Homewood, II: Dorsey Press, pp. 634 – 669.
Burns, D. D., Shaw, B. F., & Crocker, W. (1987). Thinking styles and coping strategies of depressed women: An empirical investigation. Behavior Research and Therapy, 25(3): 223 – 225.
Burns, D. D., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1991). Coping styles, homework compliance and the effectiveness of cognitive – behavioral therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59(2): 305 – 311.
Burns, D. D., & Spangler, D. (2000). Does psychotherapy homework lead to changes in depression in cognitive behavioral therapy? Or does clinical improvement lead to homework compliance? Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(1): 46 – 59.
Burns, D. D., & Spangler, D. (2001). Can We Confirm Our Theories? Can We Measure Causal Effects? A Reply to Kazantzis et al. (2001). Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69(6), 1084-1086.
Burns, D. D., & Auerbach, Arthur H. (1992). Do self – help assignments enhance recovery from depression? Psychiatric Annals, 22(9): 464 – 469.
Burns, D., Westra, H., Trockel, M., & Fisher, A. (2012) Motivation and Changes in Depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research DOI 10.1007/s10608-012-9458-3 Published online 22 April 2012
Persons, J.B., Burns, D.D., & Perloff, J.M. (1988). Predictors of dropout and outcome in cognitive therapy for depression in a private practice setting. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 12, 557 – 575.
The famed neuroscientist, Dr. Mark Noble, from the University of Rochester, has developed a strong interest in TEAM-CBT and has visited our Tuesday group and Sunday hikes on three occasions this year. I (David) feel very fortunate to have his collaboration and interest!
Mark and David at the Cupertino Plaza for a sumptuous dim sum feast at the Joy Luck Palace following a Sunday hike.
Mark is a Stanford-trained geneticist and molecular biologist who is considered one of founders of the field of stem cell research. He has been developing a model of how TEAM-CBT affects the brain, and graciously agreed to present his model at our Tuesday evening Stanford TEAM-CBT seminar last week. Although his model is not yet fully polished and refined, and involves considerable speculation, it is an exciting first step, kind of like the time when astronomers broke away from the Catholic church and started trying to make sense of the universe. In this instance it is the “inner universe” Dr. Noble, all of us, are trying to understand. His model will evolve and get more and more refined over time.
The participants in the seminar really liked his concept that we are doing micro-neurosurgery for depressed patients with TEAM-CBT! He is convinced that the rapid recovery we see with TEAM-CBT will probably never be equaled by medication, since the brain circuits that modulate happiness and unhappiness tend to use the same neurotransmitters. But with language, you can affect brain circuits far more selectively and effectively, almost like a micro-neuro-surgeon.
Dr. Noble describes brain function in terms of the SNEFF model. This stands for Structures, Networks, Emotions, Frames and Filters, and links these concepts to the prefrontal cortex, amygdala and sympathetic nervous system. Then he describes the four steps of TEAM (T = Testing, E = Empathy, A = (Paradoxical) Agenda Setting, and M = Methods), and links each step to the SNEFF model, making interesting speculations on how TEAM works and what makes it so effective.
Dr. Noble also discusses David’s “fractal” theory about psychotherapy and relates that to brain function as well as to the mathematics of complex structures. He describes how and why some people get stuck in the “homeostasis” of chronic, refractory depression and explains why TEAM-CBT is usually able to trigger sudden and dramatic changes in the brain, as well as in the way the depressed and anxious individual thinks, feels, and behaves. He also explains why conventional talk therapy is unlikely to be helpful for individuals struggling with depression and anxiety, and may, in some cases, make the depression worse.
This is because neurons that “fire together wire together.” In other words, if you go to therapy and complain or emote about your life and your problems over and over, without taking action to change, the circuits in your brain that support complaining and feeling depressed will just get more and more intensely wired together.
Dr. Noble also speculates on why Paradoxical Agenda Setting is such an important key in ultra-rapid-recovery and in the sudden transformation of brain function as well.
Years ago, when I was kid on vacation in Minnesota, I saw an article in a small newspaper published in a rural area. A local scientist had speculated that one day we would have guided missiles and satellites and drew a simple diagram for the newspaper of how they would work. At the time it seemed a bit like science fiction, and I wondered if an unknown scientist from a small rural Minnesota town could actually predict a major scientific development. But now we see that he was right.
Will we someday think about Dr. Noble in the same way? Listen to this exciting podcast, and you can decide for yourself!
You might be interested in some of the comments from individuals who attended the Stanford seminar and heard Dr. Noble’s talk:
Mark’s work was wonderful in helping me understand the map of TEAM onto the brain. We’re all micro-neurosurgeons!! Everyone has honorary MDs!
Loved the presentation!
Mark’s presentation was fascinating! I got really excited about all of the interesting research that could come out of it.
I absolutely appreciated Mark’s presentation on his research and how made the connections with TEAM. This was truly very interesting and helpful, and made me realize how fortunate I am to belong to this Tuesday group!
Interesting new perspectives brought in by our guest speaker
I highly enjoyed Mark’s visit and was captivated by the information! Thank you!
Loved learning how frames and filters interact to build experience.
AWESOME PRESENTATION! It was wonderful to hear Mark’s presentation. He did an outstanding job and I was extremely fascinated with the information he presented to us. He did a fantastic job in describing brain functioning in relation to TEAM CBT. Loved every minute of it!
I loved the concept of fractals in creating the concentrated surge of change into the next “valley” rang true.
I resonated with the importance of “storytelling” and the value of a client being heard and respected when the therapist uses the Five Secrets of Effective Communication, and how this induces a sense of the client being equal, and how that can quiet the agitated brain!
David
Attend my 2018 Summer Intensive in San Francisco!
This year, I am again offering my annual SF summer intensive in August at the South San Francisco Conference Center. This four-day intensive is almost always my most exciting and rewarding workshop of the year.
Here are the details:
David’s TEAM-CBT Summer Intensive
August 6 – 9, 2018, South San Francisco Conference Center, California
For more information, click here, or call IAHB.org at 800-258-8411
Here are just a few of the really cool things about this intensive:
You will have the chance to practice techniques in small groups after I demonstrate each technique with a live demonstration in the front of the room.
You will get immediate feedback and personal grooming from me and from many of my colleagues from my weekly TEAM-CBT training group at Stanford. They’ll be there to help you, and I’ll be there to help you, too!
There will be a live demonstration on the evening of day 1. The amazing Dr. Jill Levitt will be my co-therapist. Last year’s live demonstration, and in fact all of them in recent years, have been jaw-dropping and incredibly inspirational!
You’ll get a chance to practice TEAM-CBT in real time the evening of day 3. This will be an incredibly challenging but rewarding “solo flight.”
You will be able to do your own personal work on the last day of the workshop using the Externalization of Voices and Acceptance Paradox. In previous workshops, at least 60% of the participants indicated they experienced jubilant enlightenment during this exercise. Their fears and insecurities suddenly vanished!
You’ll learn how to do Relapse Prevention Training (RPT).
You’ll learn how to improve your empathy skills.
You’ll learn tons of powerful cognitive, behavioral, and motivational treatment techniques for depression and all of the anxiety disorders.
You will have the abundant opportunities to schmooze with colleagues, network, and have fun.
You will have two fabulous free luncheon banquets featuring talks by Sunny Choi, LCSW, who is using TEAM-CBT successfully with an underserved population in primary care with limited resources and language skills (“I must apologize for my success.”), and the wonderful Vandana Aspen, PhD, who will speak on “New Treatment Strategies for Eating Disorders.”)
And much more.
If you can only attend one of my workshops this year, the South San Francisco August intensive is the one to attend!
Lisa Nicole Bell is the host of the highly regarded podcast, Behind the Brilliance. In this lively interview, Nicole and David talk about
David’s path into the mental health field
the difficulties and rejections David faced getting his first book, Feeling Good, published
David’s advice to listeners interested in therapy
how he approaches perfectionism, depression, and anxiety with patients
the joys of a life free from the need to be special—
and much more!
Click here if you’d like to learn more about Nicole and hear more of her fantastic interviews! Lisa’s show delivers a smart and funny take on pursuing ambitions, designing a life, and living joyfully. Lisa’s most recent media work includes producing an Australian documentary on identity and gender politics within sports and a digital docu-series produced by Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis.
Watch the David and Jill FB Show
this Sunday, July 29th, 2018, 3 PM Pacific Time
I hope you can join Dr. Jill Levitt and me live this Sunday for Part 2 of our Shouldy Show! The response to Part 1 last Sunday was outstanding, and I hope you can join us again. If you attend live, you can ask questions and be a part of the show. However, all the shows are recorded so you can tune in anytime on my Public FB page!
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. In addition, when we work together, the chemistry can be pure magic. The photo below was at our recent Sunday workshop on Advanced TEAM-CBT techniques.
On the show on Sunday, Jill and I will illustrate several powerful techniques for zapping your Should Statements, including those you direct against yourself as well as those you direct against other people you feel annoyed with.
Here’s the agenda Sunday:
Outline for the Shouldy Show, Part 2*
with David and Jill
Brief summary of last week’s FB Show (Part 1 on Shoulds) and goals for today’s show
Typical Self-Directed Should Statements (with interactions with our live audience)
I should be a better mother (or father, or therapist, etc).
I should not judge people who make racist, sexist, or gay-bashing comments. I should try to have empathy for them. I should not dislike them.
I should be the best at everything I do,
I shouldn’t make mistakes.
I shouldn’t need help for my anxiety.
I should be a perfect mother.
I should never snap at my children.
I should find time to exercise.
I should not be so shy!
I shouldn’t be ashamed of my son.
I should have known my patient was feeling suicidal / homicidal.
What are yours?
Typical Other-Directed Should Statements (with interactions with our live audience)
That driver shouldn’t cut in front of me in line!
People should be more tolerant!
People shouldn’t be so stupid!
People shouldn’t support this (or that) political candidate. They should see what a loser she (or he) is.
So and so shouldn’t complain all the time!
My patient should do his (or her) psychotherapy homework.
My patient shouldn’t be so resistant, oppositional, and irrational!
My husband (wife, partner, etc.) shouldn’t be so critical / stubborn / demanding.
What are yours?
Techniques to defeat Self- Directed Shoulds and Other-Directed Shoulds (with role-play demonstrations between David and Jill)
Identify the Distortions (since the thought will have many distortions)
High Speed, Drug Free Treatment of Depression and Anxiety Disorders–
A Four-Day TEAM-CBT Advanced Intensive
August 6 – 9, 2018, South San Francisco Conference Center, California
For more information, click here
or contact http://www.iahb.org/
phone: 800-258-8411
If you can only attend one of my workshops, consider this one! The intensives are
THE BEST!
Register right away if you want to get in on the action!
Sadly, I have decided to cut back on a few activities, including the Tuesday tips, so I will have more time for my new book. Happily, it is not too far from being done, and I want to focus on making it as good as I can and getting it in the pipeline ASAP. I’m pretty excited about it, and hope it will be helpful for therapists and the general public as well.
My first book, Feeling Good, has been helpful to millions of individuals struggling with depression, and I’m hoping the new book will move psychotherapy as well as self-help forward even more. It will have all the latest techniques–and there have been tons of powerful and effective innovations in the treatment of depression and anxiety since I wrote Feeling Good.
By the way, it still works, so check it out if you haven’t read it, or if you have a depressed friend or loved one who hasn’t read it! There’s a good chance they’ll improve considerably if you give them a copy! It doesn’t cost much and works fairly rapidly with no side effects! (This has been documented in numerous research studies published in peer-refereed scientific journals.)
In addition, I’ve kind of run out of quasi-paradoxical Tuesday tips for a while, since I am putting all of my creative energy into the book and a couple other new projects I’m excited about.
If you liked the Tuesday tip feature, or if you have ideas for future tips, please let me know, as I could start this column again in the future when I have a bit more free time again.
In the meantime, my San Francisco intensive is coming up in less than two weeks, and I’m you can possibly join me there! We usually have a tremendous time.
Hey, folks, my San Francisco summer intensive will start in a few weeks. it is always one of my BEST training programs of the year. The group will be quite small this year, giving you lots of chances for Q and A and personal connection with me, plus networking with your colleagues. In addition, many individuals from my Tuesday group at Stanford will join me to provide feedback and individual mentoring for you during the small group exercises.
Here are the specifics:
Coming Soon!
High Speed, Drug Free Treatment of Depression and Anxiety Disorders–A Four-Day TEAM-CBT Intensive
August 6 – 9, 2018, South San Francisco Conference Center, California
For more information, click here
or contact http://www.iahb.org/
phone: 800-258-8411
If you can only attend one of my workshops, consider this intensive! it is simplly
THE BEST!
Seating is limited. Register now if you want to get in on the action!
The last of 3 podcasts illustrating
the TEAM treatment model for a relationship conflict
With Drs. David Burns and Fabrice Nye, and special guest Dr. Jill Levitt,
Director of Training at the Feeling Good Institute in Mtn. View, California
In this final podcast featuring the TEAM therapy session with Lee, David and Jill do M = Methods, and show Lee how to respond to his wife more skillfully, using the Five Secrets of Effective Communication. Like everyone who is trying to learn the Five Secrets, Lee struggles with several blind spots:
“I Feel” Statements. Lee has tremendous difficulties sharing his feelings openly, in a respectful manner. He seems indoctrinated with the cultural idea that men should not be vulnerable and express feelings.
Lee makes the common error of “problem solving” instead of asking his wife to share more of her feelings.
Lee makes another common error of apologizing and using the trite phrase “I’m sorry” instead of encouraging his wife to open up. David discusses the different between dysfunctional and effective apologies.
David and Jill do lots of role-play practice with Lee and give him a homework assignment.
T = Testing. After the session is over, Lee completes the Brief Mood Survey again. His scores indicated that his feelings of anxiety and anger have completely disappeared, and he also has a perfect score Positive Feelings Survey and the Relationship Satisfaction Scale. He also gave David and Jill perfect scores on the Empathy and Helpfulness scales and wrote what he liked the best about the session:
“My epiphany came at the moment I realized I had been afraid of emasculating myself and realizing that my vision of what a “man” should be was completely inaccurate.”
At the end, Jill reads an emotional email from Lee describing how he relapsed and started arguing with his wife, and then remembered to empathize use the Five Secrets instead, with an amazing result!
Lee Davy is the creator and founder of “The Truth about Alcohol.” He offers free weekly webinarsfor people who need help and support with their drinking. Check it out!
Attend my 2018 Summer Intensive in San Francisco!
This year, I am again offering my annual SF summer intensive in August at the South San Francisco Conference Center. This four-day intensive is almost always my most exciting and rewarding workshop of the year.
Here are the details:
David’s TEAM-CBT Summer Intensive
August 6 – 9, 2018, South San Francisco Conference Center, California
For more information, click here, or call IAHB.org at 800-258-8411
Here are just a few of the really cool things about this intensive:
You will have the chance to practice techniques in small groups after I demonstrate each technique with a live demonstration in the front of the room.
You will get immediate feedback and personal grooming from me and from many of my colleagues from my weekly TEAM-CBT training group at Stanford. They’ll be there to help you, and I’ll be there to help you, too!
There will be a live demonstration on the evening of day 1. The amazing Dr. Jill Levitt will be my co-therapist. Last year’s live demonstration, and in fact all of them in recent years, have been jaw-dropping and incredibly inspirational!
You’ll get a chance to practice TEAM-CBT in real time the evening of day 3. This will be an incredibly challenging but rewarding “solo flight.”
You will be able to do your own personal work on the last day of the workshop using the Externalization of Voices and Acceptance Paradox. In previous workshops, at least 60% of the participants indicated they experienced jubilant enlightenment during this exercise. Their fears and insecurities suddenly vanished!
You’ll learn how to do Relapse Prevention Training (RPT).
You’ll learn how to improve your empathy skills.
You’ll learn tons of powerful cognitive, behavioral, and motivational treatment techniques for depression and all of the anxiety disorders.
You will have the abundant opportunities to schmooze with colleagues, network, and have fun.
You will have two fabulous free luncheon banquets featuring talks by Sunny Choi, LCSW, who is using TEAM-CBT successfully with an underserved population in primary care with limited resources and language skills (“I must apologize for my success.”), and the wonderful Vandana Aspen, PhD, who will speak on “New Treatment Strategies for Eating Disorders.”)
And much more.
If you can only attend one of my workshops this year, the South San Francisco August intensive is the one to attend!
Watch the David and Jill Facebook Show
this Sunday, July 22nd, 2018, 3 PM Pacific Time
I hope you can join Dr. Levitt and myself live on Sunday for our Shouldy Show! We will show you how to combat Should Statements directed at yourself and others. Should Statements are probably the “stickiest” of all ten cognitive distortions, and great teachers for the past 2,500 years have tried to help humans free themselves from the “tyranny of the shoulds.” Jill and I will discuss the damage from Shoulds and how to defeat them!
I’m attaching the outline of the show, so click here and take a look if you want a little preview!
If you attend live, you can ask questions and be a part of the show. However, all the shows are recorded so you can tune in anytime on my Public FB page!
* * *
Coming in San Francisco a week from Monday!
High Speed, Drug Free Treatment of Depression and Anxiety Disorders–
A Four-Day TEAM-CBT Advanced Intensive
August 6 – 9, 2018, South San Francisco Conference Center, California
For more information, click here
or contact http://www.iahb.org/
phone: 800-258-8411
If you can only attend one of my workshops, consider an intensive!
They are THE BEST!
Register right away if you want to get in on the action!
Watch the David and Jill Facebook Show
this Sunday, July 22nd, 2018, 3 PM Pacific Time
Here’s the email I received that triggered Sunday’s FB Live Show:
Dear Dr. Burns,
Would you please consider doing a detailed podcast where you show how to crush “should statements” about oneself and others? I have found your books, articles, and podcasts so incredibly informative, moving, and empowering. I am so grateful for the work you and Fabrice Nye have done on the podcasts and look forward to more.
The “Shouldy Approach to Life” is one that has not yet been dealt with as much as I’d hoped. I do not mean extreme prejudice and religious zealotry. I mean Should Statements that sound innocent and upstanding like taking a responsible and bravely conscious approach to one’s life by improving one’s health, relationships, the environment, and/or being a positive, loving role model for one’s children.
Sounds great, doesn’t it?
But it isn’t. For me, I don’t believe moral superiority is the only motivator. I am often shocked, disappointed, and/or left feeling alienated and sad by what I consider unacceptable or irresponsible behavior—mine and others.
For example, I find myself strongly disliking people who are known to make racist, sexist, or gay-bashing comments. However, I tell myself I should try to have empathy for them. In the end, any empathy cannot withstand my repulsion, so I have essentially “shoulded” both them and myself.
I find myself fighting the urge to dislike a person and often wind up pitying them. What does that accomplish?
I can guess that Paradoxical Agenda Setting could play a huge role in addressing this issue, but I feel lost in my attempts to dispel the distorted statements. Thanks so much for any consideration you might give.
Sincerely, J
Thanks J! Great question. We all get hooked by Should Statements.
I hope you can join Dr. Levitt and myself live on Sunday for the Should Show, Part 1! (We may need to consecutive shows to get through our agenda for the show.) If you attend live, you can ask questions and be a part of the show. However, all the shows are recorded so you can tune in anytime on my Public FB page!
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Coming in San Francisco in August
High Speed, Drug Free Treatment of Depression and Anxiety Disorders–
A Four-Day TEAM-CBT Advanced Intensive
August 6 – 9, 2018, South San Francisco Conference Center, California
For more information, click here
or contact http://www.iahb.org/
phone: 800-258-8411
If you can only attend one of my workshops, consider an intensive! They are
THE BEST!
Register right away if you want to get in on the action!
Hope to see you in Whistler in July or San Francisco in August!
Sometimes, psychotherapy dovetails with religious teachings. What does this passage, from Romans 2:1 mean?
For whenever you blame another you condemn yourself.
Everyone who responded came up with great ideas and comments. Thanks!
Here’s my solution. Most of the time, when we have relationship conflicts, we tend to blame the other person and see ourselves as the victim of his or her bad behavior. My research, as well as my clinical and personal experience, has taught me that blame is the actual cause of the conflict.
The problem is NOT that the other person is to blame—the real problem is the fact that we are blaming them. And when you blame the other person, you really do condemn yourself because you will probably end up in hostility, resentment, and chronic conflict. And you are also fooling yourself because you do not “see” your own role in the conflict.
In the Interpersonal TEAM treatment model, I ask the person seeking help with a troubled relationship to identify one specific interaction in that did not go well. Then I ask my patient to write down one thing the other person said, and exactly what he or she said next. That’s all you need to understand the entire conflict, and all you really need to turn transform the hostility into warmth and trust—IF that’s what you want to do!
When we analyze the interaction, I can always show the person seeking help how he or she is triggering and reinforcing the very pattern he or she is complaining about. This is usually pretty painful and shocking for the patient, but it also empowers you to change the way you react to the other person so you can enjoy greater trust and intimacy.
If you’d like to observe this in an actual therapy session, I am currently publishing three podcasts with a live therapy session with a man who complained that his wife was overly critical and controlling. He was pretty convinced that she was like this because she had an overly controlling mother.
During the session, he was shocked to discover that he, and not his mother-in-law, was the cause of his wife’s frequent criticisms and efforts to control him. This was a very painful discovery, but it was also quite liberating.
Here is the link to the first of the three podcasts, in case you’d like to listen to them. My wonderful colleague, Dr. Jill Levitt, was my co-therapist. The session was quite rich and powerful and be worth an investment of your time.
I have to confess I am not a very religious individual, but I do believe that when we are doing our deepest and best work as psychotherapists, we are working not simply at a psychological level, but at a spiritual level as well.
Many of the most amazing insights about human nature and how to escape from suffering have been around for hundreds, if not thousands of years. But it seems like all of us have to learn these deep insights on a personal, experiential level before we can suddenly “grasp” them and experience our own enlightenment.
If you’d like to learn more about how to develop more satisfying and loving relationships, I would strongly recommend my book, Feeling Good Together. It’s for the general public, but it will also be helpful to therapists, since we all have relationship problems from time to time. At least, I know that I do! And I’m pretty sure that you do, too!
Hey, the San Francisco intensive is almost upon us. Have you considered attending? It’s usually pretty awesome. See the details below.
Use the Reply / Comment feature below to let us to know how you understand today’s tip.
Hey, folks, my San Francisco summer intensive will start in a few weeks. it is always one of my BEST training programs of the year. The group will be quite small, giving you lots of chances for Q and A and personal connection with me, plus networking with your colleagues. In addition, many individuals from my Tuesday group at Stanford will join me to provide feedback for you during the small group exercises.
Here are the specifics:
Coming in San Francisco in August
High Speed, Drug Free Treatment of Depression and Anxiety Disorders–
A Four-Day TEAM-CBT Advanced Intensive
August 6 – 9, 2018, South San Francisco Conference Center, California
For more information, click here
or contact http://www.iahb.org/
phone: 800-258-8411
If you can only attend one of my workshops, consider this intensive! it is simplly
THE BEST!
Seating is limited. Register now if you want to get in on the action!
Hope to see you in San Francisco in August! David
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Also coming up soon on David’s Sunday FB Live Broadcasts
Sunday, July 22nd, 2018, at 3 PM: The Shouldy Approach to Life–How to Crush Should Statements, with special guest, Jill Levitt, PhD
If you attend live, you can ask questions and be a part of the show. However, they are all recorded so you can tune in anytime on my Public FB page!
