Episode Details

This podcast features the music of two beloved colleagues, Brandon Vance, MD and Heather Clague MD. Brandon and Heather are both certified TEAM-CBT psychiatrists practicing in Oakland, California. Brandon is a brilliant multi-instrumentalist and singer / song writer / performer who has transformed his vision of TEAM-CBT into music! Heather is brilliant and fun improv acting teacher and performer who is quick in her mind and on her feet! Brandon and Heather have performed at David's annual South San Francisco psychotherapy intensive for the past several years, and we are delighted to bring them to you up close and personal today!

In today's podcast, they'll bring you their songs and amazing personal stories. And what is super cool is that you can follow the words for the music right here in the show notes.

Song #1

Heather and Brandon begin with music about a familiar but painful theme for nearly all of us—the feeling of failure, and the belief that we are somehow defective or just "not good enough." Brandon and Heather are extremely talented and successful individuals, but they are not immune from suffering. During the podcast, they describe their own painful personal experiences with depression, anxiety, shame, and defectiveness.

Most therapists, including David, were trained in the psychoanalytic tradition and told that we should NEVER disclose or reveal our own personal feelings or experiences to patients. But we believe that some personal disclosure can be very healing for patients if done with skill and compassion. Most patients want to hear this type of message from a therapist:

"I've been there myself, and know how much pain you're in. And I can show you the way out of the woods, so you can experience feelings of joy and self-esteem again. And what a joy that's going to be!"

So, with no further ado, Brandon and Heather perform their first song:

The Feel of Failure

Lyrics by Heather Clague and Brandon Vance to the tune of "The Sound of Silence" by Paul Simon

Hello failure my old friend

I've come to talk with you again

Because my ego softly creeping

Infects my thoughts while I am preaching

And that vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains; becomes the Feel of Failure

Fool, said I, you are so lame

Done something wrong to feel this shame

Perfect is the way that you should be

Self-blame coming like a tsunami

Negative thoughts one hundred - percent on my DML

I was in hell

Suffered the Feel of Failure

My self-esteem had turned to shit

I needed the magic button hit

Something told me my feelings weren't lame

Began to do a positive reframe

Maybe my feelings say something about me that is pretty fly

I set the bar high

So I have a Feel of Failure

I saw that I was not alone

Dared go beyond my comfort zone

I took pride in my humility

Welcomed my faults as my humanity

And in a moment of enlightenment I cried and then I laughed

I'd finally grasped

The wisdom... of the Feel... of Failure

Song #2

The next song is on social anxiety. Brandon explains:

"I wanted to introduce this song I wrote with Amy Specter who was on your podcast on August 5th #152 a month or so ago. It's called, "Negative Thoughts Shut your Piehole Tonight." And it's about social anxiety and the idea that when you're upset, it's not the event or the other person who's "making you" feel upset, it's your own negative thoughts.

"Where it gets personal for me is that I was bullied in elementary school by a group of my former friends who made up a story that I was gay - as if that's a bad thing - and then yelled things, tried to get in fights with me, etc., for really the majority of the school year. And I got really