My Personal Journey into the World of Cutting-Edge CBT
The title of this post accurately captures the essence of how I experienced being drawn to T.E.A.M CBT, a state-of-the-art therapeutic framework developed by Dr. David Burns, one of the original pioneers of CBT along with Dr. Aaron Beck. On paper, as I will elucidate below, I was an unlikely candidate for buying into the idea of therapy that involved active homework. T.E.A.M CBT’s tug at my therapeutic sensibility, despite a personal stance which translated into considerable adoption friction for CBT, is a testament to its substance and promise. In what follows, I will shed light on the personal and professional backdrop against which I was introduced to T.E.A.M CBT, and the specifics of how this framework of therapy won me over.
Personal Context
In 2012 when I was not involved in the mental health profession, during my quest of finding relief from obsessive and painful intrusive thoughts, I had found myself in the office of a renowned CBT practitioner who held a doctorate in clinical psychology. Looking back at that experience, I can understand why I was turned off by the entire idea of CBT - it was owing to the way this particular clinician had approached the therapy session. Granted, it was not fair to rule out cognitive therapy based on a single disappointing experience, but the whole episode had been so distant, cold, casual, scripted, tool-throwing, lazy, and without any regard to understanding the nuances of my concerns, that it left me with an ill-founded aversion to CBT. Even worse, was my experience with local psychiatrists - individuals who carried out a brief 5 minutes of interviewing before diagnosing and prescribing pills (note: I am certain there are many psychiatrists and CBT psychologists out there who are compassionate and skilled, I was just unlucky in finding them initially). For a number of years, that is the stance I had pertaining to CBT and psychiatry - even when I had begun my professional/academic journey in the domain of mental health.
Professional Context
My professional journey in therapy began with an initiation into the discipline of humanistic therapeutic approaches. After an introductory course in humanistic counselling, I began and completed my full-time master’s in counselling and psychotherapy. The governing ethos of this academic and clinical venture (with supervised clinical placements) was exclusively built upon the work of Dr. Carl Ransom Rogers, one of the most celebrated psychologists in history. In sharp contrast to the distant nature of my unfortunate experience with lazy therapy and the trigger-happy pill-pushing quick-turnover tendencies of some psychiatrists, here was a man championing the idea that there was nothing broken, disorderly, or “wrong” with people, and that a deep sensitivity to understanding, with interest, an individual’s unique universe and self-healing potential was paramount to therapeutic success. His approach, one of almost superhuman empathy, prized an individual and focused on creating a psychological climate conducive to growth. I was immediately drawn to his work and perspective, and have been aspiring to embody his “way of being” ever since.
Meeting the T.E.A.M
It was within this personal and professional context of a commitment to non-directive person-centred therapeutic philosophy and a less than encouraging experience with CBT, that I came across the Feeling Good podcast. The fact that it induced in me a massive change of heart towards home-work based CBT, shows just how powerful, engaging, understandable, verifiable, and effective the T.E.A.M CBT framework really is. For starters, it was the most ‘non-directive directive therapy’ I had ever witnessed - and this paradoxical nature permeated the entire framework. It appealed greatly to the Rogerian in me (apologies to Dr. Rogers who did not like the term) - Dr. David Burns was not imposing an agenda, pushing tools, giving unwarranted advice, saving, diagnosing, being holier-than-thou or an “expert”, manipulating, following a script with a disinterest in specifics, or rushing through therapy; he was creating an environment of deeply sensitive and collaborative healing, leaving the motivation for change resting solely within the patient/client. His approach of “sitting with open hands” with the patient, and of disarming and finding truth in everything a patient says (including harsh criticism), was one that drew me in.
While on paper these ideas sounded spectacular, it was a personal encounter with the podcast team that sealed my faith in T.E.A.M. In response to a podcast episode on OCD, I had written a comment to Dr. Burns appreciating his work while also criticising his claim of curing an OCD patient in a single day’s session. I had stated that such a claim trivialised OCD, and was dismissive of the suffering of patients despite years of therapy and exposure exercises. I had not expected a reply on my comment, and when I did get one, I had not expected the kind of reply that I got. In my experience, the majority of experts react defensively, and even harshly, when faced with someone calling them out; but Dr. Burns fully embodied the ideas of interpersonal communication which he was promoting and it was evident that he believed in the values behind these ideas. He responded in a gentle and understanding manner, acknowledging my anger and seeing the truth in my criticism. He explained that indeed, ultra-fast recoveries are not always possible, and that to treat OCD he would often use a variety of techniques and approaches. And to my surprise, instead of turning me away as a nay-sayer threatening his realm and status, he invited me to join a T.E.A.M CBT training group run by Dr. Rhonda Barovsky, the host of the podcast!
Since that time, I have had the pleasure of training with T.E.A.M therapists from around the world, and I have noticed something that is incredibly rare in professional communities: genuine camaraderie, interest, support, passion, and a sense of humility. It is an immense joy to be part of the energy that powers this community, it is contagious, and I have not seen that kind of commitment and drive in other trainings that I have been part of. Furthermore, this community continues to develop newer and more effective approaches, Dr. Burns actively works with therapists at Stanford and The Feeling Good Institute to enhance the T.E.A.M CBT framework. It is a living phenomenon, and I am extremely impressed by the humility and openness to improvement that the entire T.E.A.M community practices through incorporating feedback in every aspect of their work.
Looking Forward Enthusiastically
I am super excited to be enrolled in the T.E.A.M CBT certification program (currently Level 1), the teaching is top notch and the instructors are devoted to excellence in therapeutic training. Additionally, to my way of thinking, there is great room for incorporating a personal touch in how one applies the framework, and that is a subject I wish to write more about in the future - especially in the context of how I see a possibly synergistic marriage between the principles of Carl Rogers’ work and the empathic foundation essential to successful T.E.A.M CBT.