Episode Details

Today, Rhonda and David answer several challenging questions submitted by listeners like you.

1. What schools of therapy are embedded in TEAM?
2. Do negative feelings cause negative thoughts? Or do negative thoughts cause negative feelings? Or both? Or neither?
3. "Can TEAM-CBT help bipolar patients during the depressed phase?"
4. How do you make Externalization of Voices work? I get stuck! For example, my patient said, "It's unfair that I cannot get a job!"
5. Is there a cure for OCD?

1. What schools of therapy are embedded in TEAM?

Dear Dr. Burns,

I have some questions specifically about T.E.A.M. therapy. You mention in a blog post that T.E.A.M. therapy "integrates features and techniques from more than a dozen schools of therapy." I'm aware of many of the CBT techniques you use, but I don't think I've read yet of any technique belonging to any other schools of therapy. Would you be so kind as to mention such techniques?

Madelen

Hi Madelen,

This is important because I believe we need to get away from competing schools of therapy and need to create a new, data-driven structure for therapy based on research on how therapy works, which is what TEAM is. At the M = Methods part of the session, you can include methods from any school of therapy.

Here are some of the schools of therapy that I draw upon TEAM-CBT.

1. 1. 1. Individual / Interpersonal downward arrow: same (psychoanalytic / psychodynamic)
      2. Flooding / Experimental technique: behavior therapy (exposure)
      3. Externalization of Voices: Gestalt / Psychodrama / Buddhism
      4. Acceptance Paradox: Buddhism
      5. Self-Defense Paradigm: REBT
      6. CBA / Paradoxical CBA / Devil's Advocate: Motivational techniques
      7. Identify the distortions / examine the evidence: cognitive therapy
      8. Empathy: Rogerian (humanistic) therapy
      9. Five Secrets / Forced Empathy: Interpersonal therapy
      10. Shame-Attacking Exercises: Humor-based therapy / Buddhism
      11. Be Specific / Let's Define Terms: Semantic
      12. Feared Fantasy: Role-Playing / Psychodrama / Exposure
      13. One-Minute Drill / Relationship Probe: Couple's Therapy
      14. Time Projection / Memory Rescripting: Hypnotherapy
      15. Anti-Procrastination Sheet: Behavioral activation therapy (Lewinsohn-type therapy)
      16. Brief Mood Survey / Evaluation of Therapy Session: data-driven therapy
      17. Talk Show Host / Smile and Hello Practice / Flirting Training: Modeling / teaching effective social behavior
      18. Storytelling: indirect hypnosis.
      19. Positive Reframing: Paradoxical psychotherapy.
      20. Hidden emotion technique: psychoanalytic / psychodynamic
2. Do you need more? Can provide if you want. Let me know why you have this particular interest!At any rate, I really enjoyed and appreciate your thoughtful questions, thanks!David

2. Do negative feelings cause negative thoughts? Or do negative thoughts cause negative feelings? Or both? Or neither?

Hello Dr Burns,

I would like to thank you for your podcasts. I greatly enjoy listening to them and find them very much helpful both in my personal life and my work as a psychologist.

I do have a question: you talk about how cognitive distortions cause anxiety and depression. Are cognitive distortions also a result of depression and anxiety? For instance, if a person was to become depressed after experiencing loss, would they then discount the positive in their lives to a larger extent, for example?

Thank you very much!

Audrey

Hi Audrey,