Menopause-- The End? . . . or the Beginning? Rhonda starts today's podcast, as usual, with a warm endorsement from Sally, a podcast fan who really liked Podcast 355 on the topic of "Relationship Problems: Be Gone!" She said the role-play demonstrations were "incredible" and especially helpful. We'll keep that in mind and see if we can do some more role-playing demonstrations in future podcasts, along with instructions so you can practice at home, as well. This can be extremely helpful if you wan...
Sep 18, 2023•1 hr 40 min
361: Cultivating Delight Today we feature Dr. Angela Krumm, Clinical Director at the Feeling Good Institute (FGI) in Mountain View, Ca, and Zane Pierce, LMFT, a Level 3 TEAM therapist at FGI, on a novel and arguably controversial tool which is not aimed at reducing negative feelings, but rather boosting positive feelings. Zane Pierce Rhonda, as usual, starts the podcast with a wonderful email from Andrew who really enjoyed Podcast 357, on what David learned on the streets of Palo Alto in the wil...
Sep 11, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 361
360: The Story of Indrani "Why can't I get close to my daughter who I love so much?" Today, we present Part 2 of the awe-inspiring work that David and Jill did with Indrani in the Tuesday group at Stanford. Indrani was a mother with a heart-breaking but all-too-common story of a conflict with her daughter. Sometimes, we love someone tremendously, but every time we try to get close, they seem to push us away. The story should ring true and be helpful to so many people, as nearly everyone runs int...
Sep 04, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 360
359: The Story of Indrani "Why can't I get close to my daughter who I love so much?" Today, we present the awe-inspiring work that David and Jill did with Indrani in the Tuesday group at Stanford. Indrani was a mother with a heart-breaking but all-too-common story of a conflict with her daughter. Sometimes, we love someone tremendously, but every time we try to get close, they seem to push us away. The story should ring true and be helpful to so many people, as nearly everyone runs into conflict...
Aug 28, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 359
Are the "physical" symptoms of depression specific or non-specific? How do you treat schizophrenia with TEAM? Why don't more shrinks help themselves? Healthy vs unhealthy negative feelings-- what's the difference? Questions answered in this podcast: 1. Laura asks: Why don't you include the physical symptoms of depression in your assessment tests? 2. Fred asks: How would you use TEAM-CBT to treat individuals with schizophrenia? 3. Author not known: Why don't the therapists you treat with TEAM tre...
Aug 21, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 358
Podcast 357: Stories from the 60s, Part 1 Today's podcast will be a little different. I had the good fortune to be alive in Palo Alto, California during the late 1960s. For me, it was a magical era of happenings, the Haight-Ashbury District in San Francisco, psychedelics, war protests, civil rights activity, cool music, learning about life, and cutting an awful lot of medical school classes! But what I learned on the streets was far more valuable in my later career as a psychiatrist, working wit...
Aug 14, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 357
Ask David: Burn Out; When Challenging Thoughts Doesn't Work; and more! Featuring Dr. Matthew May In today's podcast, Matt, Rhonda and David discuss four challenging questions from podcast fans like you: 1. Joseph asks if it's okay to take a break when you get "burned out." Below, David expands on this and describes the difference between "healthy" and "unhealthy burnout." 2. Joseph also asks why your feelings might not change when you challenge your negative thought with a positive thought that'...
Aug 07, 2023•56 min•Ep. 356
355: Relationship Problems: Be Gone! Featuring Dr. Matthew May In today's podcast, Matt, Rhonda and David discuss relationship problems, and how to overcome them. We also give instructions on the Paradoxical Invitation, one of the most important and difficult techniques for TEAM-CBT therapists to learn. We started today's podcast interviewing Tania Ahern and Andy Persson who give a plug for the upcoming TEAM-CBT intensive from August 14 to 17, 2023 in Bristol, and incredible British city with an...
Jul 31, 2023•58 min•Ep. 355
Grass Roots TEAM-CBT Completely FREE Practice / Training Groups Today we interview four courageous pioneers of free and low-cost TEAM-CBT for the masses, featuring Brandon Vance, MD, Patricia O'Neil, Ana Teresa Silva, DVM and Nicholas Santascoy, PhD. Many of you are already familiar with Brandon Vance and Heather Clague's awesome online Feeling Great Book Clubs which will start again, running from September 13, 2023, through December 6, 2023. The book clubs are popular and have gotten wonderful ...
Jul 24, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 354
353: The Inner Scoop on "No" Practice! The "Inner" and "Outer" Dialogues— The "Inner" and "Outer" Solutions As you know, I have created many powerful communication techniques, including the Five Secrets of Effective Communication and more. One of the additional techniques is called "No" Practice, and it's designed for people who have trouble saying "no," or setting limits with other people. Essentially, you do a role-play with a colleague or therapist who keeps pestering you with pushy demands, ...
Jul 17, 2023•2 hr 22 min•Ep. 353
Featuring Dr. Matthew May In today's podcast, Matt, Rhonda and David discuss four challenging questions from podcast fans like you: 1. what do you do with patients who use marijuana excessively but have no interest in changing or reducing their use? 2. How do you help clients control their anger? 3. How can you use TEAM if you are only allowed to see clients for 15 to 20 minutes? 4. If David never went into the medical / mental health field, what career path do you think you would have chosen? T...
Jul 10, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 352
A Second Visit to David and Jill's Tuesday TEAM Training Group at Stanford Last week, you "sat in" on our Tuesday training group at Stanford and learned about two of the four most important techniques in the treatment of perfectionism, or any other Self-Defeating Belief. (For a list of 23 common Self-Defeating Beliefs, click here.) The Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA): You weight the advantages against the disadvantages of trying to be perfect. The Semantic Technique, to find out how to word your new...
Jul 03, 2023•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 351
Tuesday TEAM Training Group at Stanford In 1980 I published an article entitled "The Perfectionist's Script for Self-Defeat" in Psychology Today Magazine, in an attempt to get some publicity for my (then) new book, Feeling Good . At the time, it was the cover feature and became the most popular article in the history of that magazine. Perfectionism is definitely one of the most common themes I have confronted in my clinical work and teaching over the past many decades. If you would like to take ...
Jun 26, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 350
Six Cool Ask David Questions from Carlos and Greg Carlos asks: 1. Are your tools available in Spanish? 2. Is there any evidence that TEAM can help patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)? 3. How do you get patients with BDP to stop jumping from problem to problem? 4. How do you get them to stop endless venting during therapy sessions? Greg asks: 5. What comes first, thoughts or feelings? 6. Can't a genuinely negative or tragic event directly cause negative feelings, without having to...
Jun 19, 2023•55 min•Ep. 349
A British Family Doctor on Burnout, Recovery and T.E.A.M in 10 Minute Consultations! Today, Rhonda and David interview Dr. Tom Gedman, a family doctor in England and one of the founders of TEAM-UK, along with Dr. Peter Spurrier who has also been a guest on a Feeling Good Podcast. Rhonda started the podcast with a kind email from an enthusiastic podcast fan who loved our podcasts with Dr. Mark Noble (#167 and #265) on the "Brainology" of TEAM-CBT. He said these podcasts were "pure gold" and appre...
Jun 12, 2023•55 min•Ep. 348
Live Therapy with Veena: Part 3 of 3 Relapse Prevention Training In the last two weeks, you heard Parts 1 and 2 of our live work with Veena, a young woman who felt devastated for fear she would be unable to conceive. One week after the work with Veena, I received a request from colleagues to have a Tuesday evening session at Stanford on Relapse Prevention Training (RPT). Jill and I decided to demonstrate the RPT techniques with Veena so we could demonstrate this technique in real time with a rea...
Jun 05, 2023•46 min•Ep. 347
Live Therapy with Veena: Part 2 of 3 Last week you heard the first half of the session with Veena, a young woman who was devastated by a medical problem that may make it difficult or impossible to conceive the child she is dreaming of. Today, you will hear the inspiring and dramatic conclusion of her story, along with the feedback comments from the individuals in David and Jill's Tuesday training group who witnessed the live work. A = Assessment of Resistance Jill asked if she felt ready to roll...
May 29, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 346
Live Therapy with Veena "It's all my fault!" The star of today's 2-part podcast is Veena Mulchandani, a 28-year old certified Indian TEAM therapist who has just learned that her difficulties becoming pregnant result from an infection in one of her fallopian tubes. Veen feels devastated and fears that she might never be able to have a child. She also fears that her husband and extended family will judge and reject her, since there is so much pressure in Indian culture for women to have babies. An...
May 22, 2023•44 min•Ep. 345
Making Space for Grief Featuring Thai-An Truong, LPC, LADC Today, we feature a popular podcast guest, Thai-An Truong who joins us from Oklahoma. Thai-An is a level 5 Certified TEAM therapist and trainer who specializes in post-partum problems as well as anxiety disorders, with a special focus on OCD. Today Thai-An describes a TEAM-CBT technique to help with grief. She believes that empathy is always crucial, and emphasizes that people who have lost a loved one need to be encouraged to express an...
May 15, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 344
The Invitation Step in Family Life: "Dad! Don't give me that psychology crap!" Today we are joined by our beloved Mike Christensen and his wonderful daughter, Caelyn, for a discussion of one of the humblest but most important and challenging tools in TEAM-CBT, the Invitation Step. We will focus on how this can be important in family life as well. Caelyn will be entering college in the fall, and plans to major in psychology, but she has already picked up a lot of TEAM-CBT from her dad. We'll tell...
May 08, 2023•53 min•Ep. 343
The Outer Bully Featuring Matthew May, MD Today we are proud to be joined again by our old pal, Matthew May, MD. This is a special two-part edition of Ask David, focusing on two of the most important problems that trigger emotional and interpersonal suffering. Last week, Matt led our discussion of the Inner Bully that causes the lion's share of internal suffering in the world. Feelings of depression and anxiety always result from the harsh distorted messages we give ourselves, telling ourselves ...
May 01, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 342
Featuring Matthew May, MD Today, Part 1. The Inner Bully Next week, Part 2. The Outer Bully There are two types of dialogues that can get us in trouble. The first is your "Inner Dialogue." Your Inner Dialogue sometimes consists of negative thoughts and perceptions of yourself and the world, which are often dominated by the familiar cognitive distortions that trigger internal mood problems, like depression, anxiety, guilt, shame, inadequacy, loneliness, hopelessness, and more. Examples would be "...
Apr 24, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 341
Sexual Abuse / Emotional Eating Personal Work with Orly, Part 2 of 2 Last week, you heard the first half of our live session on Emotional Eating, featuring Orly. Today, you will hear the second half and exciting conclusion and follow-up on that therapy session. A = Assessment of Resistance (previously called Paradoxical Agenda Setting) Orly did want help, but there were a number of directions / conceptualizations we could have pursued, including: Working on the distorted negative thoughts that w...
Apr 17, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 340
Sexual Abuse / Emotional Eating Personal Work with Orly, Part 1 of 2 In today's podcast, you will hear the first of a two part series on Emotional Eating, featuring Orly, an Israeli psychologist who experienced sexual abuse at age 6 when she was a "skinny little girl." After that, she began devouring her grandmother's delicious cookies, and suddenly gained a great deal of weight. She continued binging for more than 50 years whenever she was excited or upset. This led to a pattern of dramatic swi...
Apr 10, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 339
Good Grief—Featuring Mike Christensen Mikes' beloved friend, Kris Yip, word-ranked bicyclist who suddenly and tragically died. Mikes' beloved dog and best friend, Josie, who died the day before the podcast was recorded In today's podcast we feature one of our favorite people, Mike Christensen. Mike is a Certified Level 5 Master TEAM CBT Therapist and Trainer, and is the Director Feeling Good Institute, Canada. Mike is a Registered Clinical Counsellor with the British Columbia Association of Clin...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 338
Amy and her "fab fiancé," Randy Kolin! Secrets of Flirting, Sex Appeal and True Love! Today Rhonda and David interview Amy Berner, who has fallen in love and has quite a story to tell! Today is Valentine's Day (we recorded this on February 14, 2023), so we thought a love story would be a ray of joy for all of you, whether you are in a loving relationship or still looking for one! But first, Rhonda and David briefly interview Jeremy Karmel, the co-CEO of David's Feeling Good App. Jeremy tells his...
Mar 27, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 337
Mariusz and his wife, Aleksandra, who is also a psychiatrist. Personal Work with Mariusz, Part 2 Mariusz and his wondaful family. Last week, you heard Part 1 of the personal work that Rhonda and I did with Dr. Mariusz Wirga, which included initial T = Testing and E = Empathy. Today, you'll hear the conclusion of our work, including the Assessment of Resistance, Methods, final Testing and follow-up. I am repeating this darling photo Mariusz's beloved cat, with his tail strait up, showing pride an...
Mar 20, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 336
Mariusz and his wife, Aleksandra, who is also a psychiatrist. Personal Work with Mariusz, Part 1 Mariusz and his wondaful family. In today's episode, Rhonda and I do live TEAM-CBT with Psychiatrist Mariusz Wirga, MD, who has struggled with perfectionism his entire life. Our training philosophy for TEAM-CBT involves doing your own personal work for a variety of reasons, including: 1. When you sit in the patient's seat, you develop a radically different perception of the value of the various compo...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 335
What IS Hypnosis? Transcending Old Myths Today, Rhonda and I interview Dr. Michael Yapko, a clinical psychologist and expert in clinical applications of hypnosis. Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist residing near San Diego, California. He is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in applying clinical hypnosis, especially in the active treatment of depression. He has taught in more than 30 countries across six continents, and all over the United States. He has been ...
Mar 06, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 334
Ask David: Featuring Matt May, MD What causes anxiety? Is recovery permanent? What if the cognitive distortions aren't helpful? Do hormones cause anxiety and depression? What's the role of vitamins and nutrition? How do Exposure and Response Prevention work? And many more answers to your questions! In today's podcast, three shrinks discuss many intriguing questions about anxiety from individuals who attended one of Dr. Burns' free workshops on anxiety sponsored by PESI more than a year ago. Seve...
Feb 27, 2023•57 min•Ep. 333