Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy

There are 4 powerful treatment models for anxiety, including The Cognitive Model The Exposure Model The Motivational Model The Hidden Emotion Model Each approach has a completely different theory about the causes of anxiety and utilizes completely different treatment techniques. For example, cognitive therapists believe that distorted thoughts trigger all anxiety, and that the most effective treatment involves challenging these distortions. In contrast, exposure therapists argue that avoidance is the cause of all anxiety, and that exposure is the only effective treatment. Those who adhere to the Motivational Model emphasize the role of resistance. In other words, anxious individuals are reluctant to let go of the anxiety because they secretly believe that the anxiety will protect them from danger. And those who adhere to the Hidden Emotion Model claim that "niceness" is the true cause of all anxiety in the United States at this time, and that hidden problems and feelings may need to be brought to conscious awareness before the patient can recover. Dr. Burns argues that, in fact, all four theories are correct, and that if you skillfully integrate all four approaches, you will often see a rapid and total elimination of anxiety in the great majority of your patients. Dr. Burns describes how he created the Hidden Emotion Model when he was treating a woman with mysterious and intractable case of Panic Disorder. Every time her boss walked past her desk, she became nauseous and panicky, and had the overwhelming urge to vomit on him. Then she would have to rush to the ladies' room to rest until the nausea and panic diminished, and she sometimes had to go home because the symptoms were so severe. This was all the more puzzling because she insisted she had the best boss in the world and that there were no problems at work. She explained that her boss constantly praised her and gave her promotions and generous raises, and that she had no complaints whatsoever. Cognitive and exposure techniques were only partially effective, until an unexpected discovery suddenly emerged during a therapy session that led to a surprising outcome. What do you think the hidden emotion was? Tune in and you'll find out! In the next several podcasts, Drs. Burns and Nye will bring these four models to life, using real life examples, including some of Drs. Burns' personal struggles with anxiety early in his career.

David and Fabrice answer these questions: What is anxiety? How does it differ from depression? Do anxiety and depression always go hand in hand? How does anxiety differ from healthy fear? What are the most common forms of anxiety? How common is anxiety? Anxiety, like depression, has been called the world's oldest con. That's because you are always fooling yourself, and buying into negative thoughts that aren't true, when you're feeling anxious and insecure. Dr. Burns highlights the most common cognitive distortions that trigger anxiety, and discusses the powerful role of shame in anxiety. In the next several podcasts, Dr. Burns will describe powerful, fast-acting, drug-free treatment methods that can help you defeat every type of anxiety, Including Chronic worrying Phobias Social anxiety Public speaking anxiety Shyness OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) Panic attacks Agoraphobia BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder) So stay tuned!

A listener with OCD is plagued with intrusive and shameful sexual fantasies. David discusses his treatment strategies for a young man from Argentina who was struggling with forbidden fantasies of Jesus having sex with the Virgin Mary in all positions of the Kama Sutra, but the harder he tried to control them, the more intense and tantalizing they became. Being a good Catholic lad, he was terrified and tearful he would burn in hell if he didn't overcome this problem. If you've ever struggled with shameful sexual fantasies, you might be intrigued by this fascinating discussion of Cognitive Flooding, therapeutic resistance, and the Hidden Emotion Technique!

Discussion of recent startling and disturbing research studies by Dr. Irving Kirsch and others that suggest that the chemicals called "antidepressants" may, in reality, have few or no true antidepressant effects above and beyond their placebo effects. Dr. Burns illustrates the placebo effect with a thought experiment, and explains why it is so confusing to researchers and the general public alike. In addition, David and Fabrice discuss additional troubling research by Dr. David Healey and others that indicates that the chemicals called "antidepressants" appear to cause a doubling or tripling of the likelihood that a depressed individual will commit suicide or become actively suicidal, as compared with depressed individuals treated with placebos. David concludes with a discussion emphasizing that the needs of marketing are in conflict with the needs of sciences, and proposes some solutions to this serious problem. Dr. Burns emphasizes that he is only providing his interpretation of some extremely controversial studies, based on his research training and clinical experience. He urges listeners to do their own research and critical thinking on this disturbing topic, and emphasizes that many may come to different conclusions.

Can the EAR techniques help a listener deal more effectively with a defiant, oppositional child. Dr. Burns reveals a fantastically helpful secret that he and his wife stumbled across in raising their own children. If you have ever struggled in your attempts to deal with an oppositional child or adolescent, you will find this podcast enlightening!

David and Fabrice address this question submitted by a listener: Dear Dr. Burns, I read Feeling Good twenty years ago. It was a wonderful relief and help to me. Your book has helped me live a better and balanced life. The best part was passing the knowledge on to my daughter. I thought I read a wonderful description of how to handle death anxiety in the book. I was describing it to a friend, but could' find it in the book. Is it in another book? Your reply would be considered an act of generosity. Thank you! Mary Existential Therapists believe that the fear of death is universal and is at the root of most emotional problems. Dr. Burns argues that the fear of death is actually quite rare, but does occasionally occur and is extremely treatable. In this podcast, David's describes his quick, three-part "cure" for the fear of death. Oddly, every patient he treated in this way insisted at the end of the session that it didn't help. And even stranger is the fact that 100% of them returned the next week and announced that they actually had been cured and were, in fact, no longer afraid of death!

David answers a challenging question posed by a listener: Dear Dr. David: In your Feeling Good Handbook, you suggest that the reader just allows himself or herself to be an ordinary person instead of trying to be perfect. Contrary to your opinion in the book, you're an outstanding therapist in reality. You've studied in one of the world's top colleges, you're well-educated with a doctor degree, and successful in your career and life. How can I believe your claim? I'm quite confused! Sincerely, XXX David first distinguishes perfectionism from the healthy pursuit of excellence, and then describes a painful incident when he was a Stanford medical student. One afternoon, he attended an afternoon Gestalt encounter group at the home of a friend and mentor in Palo Alto. During the group he was ripped to shreds by the other participants. At the end of the group, the other participants seemed elated, but he felt intensely humiliated, ashamed, and discouraged. This led to an unexpected interaction with his mentor that helped to change his life. David also discusses his clinical work years later with a depressed and anxious professional who had never experienced even one minute of happiness in spite of a life of fabulous success and achievements. At the end, David and Fabrice promise a future podcast on this topic: "Self-Esteem: What is it? How do I get it? How can I get rid of it once I've got it?"

David and Fabrice are joined by Lisa Kelley, a certified TEAM-CBT therapist and former journalist from Littleton, Colorado. Lisa interviews David about an interview / blog David has just published on this website. Lisa begins by asking how people responded to a survey on David's website asking this controversial question: "Do you believe that a depressed individual could experience a complete elimination of symptoms in a single, two-hour therapy session?" More than 5,000 individuals completed the survey and most were extremely skeptical. David states that ten years ago, he would have felt exactly the same way, and would have dismissed anyone making such a claim as a con artist. However, he has now changed his mind and believes that sometimes it is possible. David explains that he has done more than 50 live demonstrations in workshops and other teaching settings with individuals who are struggling with severe feelings of depression, anxiety, shame and anger. Many of these individuals who volunteer to be the patient have experienced horrific personal traumas. This gives David the opportunity to demonstrate how TEAM-CBT works with someone who is really suffering, and not just a role-playing demonstration. Usually, these live demonstrations are the highlight of a workshop because they are intensely emotional and real. Surprisingly, in the vast majority of these sessions, the individuals who were in the patient role experienced a complete, or near-complete, elimination of symptoms in roughly two hours. David emphasizes that while we would not expect this to generalize to a clinical practice situation, it does seem to suggest significant improvements, or even breakthroughs, in psychotherapy. Many of the new developments have to do with helping patients overcome their resistance to change. Although David makes these techniques look easy, they are challenging to learn, and require a radically new and different way of thinking about why patients sometimes resist change and fight the therapist. Lisa, Fabrice, and David explain exactly how the new techniques work, using as an example an Asian-American woman who had experienced decades of domestic violence and rape.

How can you help a depressed friend or family member? You may be surprised to discover that the attempt to "help" is rarely effective, and may even make the problem worse. In contrast, the refusal to help is nearly always helpful. But to understand that paradox, you'll have to give a listen to this fascinating edition of "Ask David!" David and Fabrice also address a related problem nearly all of us confront from time to time: How do you deal with a friend who is a relentless whiner and complainer? When you try to help them or suggest a solution to the problem, they just say, "That won't work" and keep complaining. You end up feeling frustrated and annoyed, because the other person just won't listen! David and Fabrice illustrate a shockingly easy and incredibly effective solution to this problem. Finally, David discusses some disturbing recent research indicating that the ability of therapists—as well as friends or family members—to know how suicidal someone is, is extremely poor. David and Fabrice explain how to assess how suicidal someone actually is, and what to do if you discover that he or she really is at risk of a suicide attempt.

If used skillfully, the Five Secrets can resolve nearly any relationship conflict and transform hostility, resentment and mistrust into intimacy and warmth, often with amazing speed. And although this may seem easy when you first learn about the Five Secrets, it's extremely difficult in real world situations. In this Podcast, David and Fabrice discuss a number of predictable emotional and mental errors nearly everyone makes when trying to use the Five Secrets to get close to someone he or she is at odds with.

Practically all of us have a friend, colleague, client, customer or family member we aren't getting along with very well. Perhaps the difficult person in your life is excessively critical of you, complains constantly, won't express his or her feelings, always has to be right, or never listens to you. Does anyone come to mind? In this podcast, David and Fabrice discuss five communication secrets that can rapidly transform conflict and misunderstanding into intimacy and trust. David describes an experience that suddenly changed the direction of his life and career when he was working with an insecure medical student from England early in his career. The Five Secrets of Effective Communication can be remembered using the acronym, EAR: E = Empathy The Disarming Technique: You find truth in what the other person is saying, even if it seems illogical, self-serving, distorted, or just plain "wrong." Thought and Feeling Empathy: You summarize what the other person just said (Thought Empathy) and acknowledge how he or she is probably feeling, given what he or she just said (Feeling Empathy) Inquiry: You as gentle, probing questions to learn more about what the other person is thinking and feeling. A = Assertiveness "I Feel" Statements: You express your own feelings and ideas openly according to the formula, "I'm feeling X, Y, and Z right now," where are X, Y and Z refer to any of a wide variety of feeling words, such as anxious, attacked, hurt, or sad. R = Respect Affirmation (formerly called Stroking): You convey warmth, caring and respect, even in the heat of battle David and Fabrice also describe the Five Secrets of Effective Communication and emphasize the incredible power of the Law of Opposites, with a vignette about a severely depressed patient who told David that he was "too young to be my doctor."

A fan points out that many of the examples in David's book, When Panic Attacks, are high functioning individuals with lots of education and good jobs. She asks Dr. Burns if depression and anxiety are inevitable among people who are poorly educated and without many assets. Dr. Burns again addresses the ancient but persistent question of whether our suffering results from the actual problems in our lives, or rather by our distorted thoughts about them.

Discuss of "Should" Statements, Labeling, and Blame. Dr. Burns brings these distortions to life with a case of a severely depressed woman who felt profoundly guilty and devastated after her brother's tragic suicide.

Three common distortions: Jumping to Conclusions (including Mind-Reading and Fortune-Telling), Magnification and Minimization (also called the Binocular Trick), and Emotional Reasoning.

Common thought distortions that trigger negative feelings: All-or-Nothing Thinking, Overgeneralization, Mental Filter, and Discounting the Positive.

When we're feeling depressed, anxious, or angry, should we accept our feelings or try to change them?

A session with a severely depressed, suicidal, hospitalized woman with rapidly cycling bipolar illness, who'd had 15 years of failed treatment with drugs and psychotherapy.

The three basic principles of CBT: Negative feelings, like depression, anxiety, and anger, do not result from what happens to us, but rather from our thoughts about what's happening. In fact, our thoughts, or "cognitions," create all of our emotions, positive and negative. When you're depressed or anxious, the negative thoughts that trigger your distress, like "I'm no good," or "Things will never change," are distorted or illogical. In fact, depression is the world's oldest con. When you change the way you THINK, you can change the way you feel.

Responses to questions submitted by listeners: What causes an "identity crisis?" And how do you treat it? Why is it so hard to find a therapist trained in cognitive therapy? In a relationship, should you change yourself in order to get along with someone?

Dr. Burns suddenly abandons the role of healer and instead assumes the role of the patient's angry, paranoid and defiant resistance.

What is therapeutic resistance? You will find out that therapeutic resistance is NOT what you were taught in graduate school or read about in the writings of Sigmund Freud! You will also discover why overcoming therapeutic resistance can be the key to high-speed, dramatic recovery for many depressed and anxious individuals.

How an encounter with a patient with paranoid schizophrenia dramatically changed the course of his career The 5 Secrets of Effective Communication How to talk with your EAR Dr. Burns also discusses what therapists can do when you are angry with a patient you don't like a patient or when a patient is angry with you

In this podcast, Dr. David Burns describes the "Testing" part of the T.E.A.M. model. Topics include: The shocking results of a study of therapist accuracy at Stanford Why therapists who don't test usually get it wrong How session-by-session testing can revolutionize your practice

In this podcast, Drs. Fabrice Nye and David Burns discuss an exciting breakthrough in psychotherapy. Leave your questions and comments below. Also, let us know if you'd like to see certain topics addressed in future podcasts.