TEAM-CBT was developed by David Burns, MD, author of Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, and pioneer in the field of cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT.
Dr. Burns has developed TEAM-CBT, which is the newest iteration of CBT. His approach provides faster and longer-lasting results for patients, and Dr. Lazarus incorporates this approach with every patient he sees.
TEAM-CBT is an acronym for:
Testing
Patients complete a brief questionnaire before and after each visit, allowing an even stronger therapeutic patient-doctor alliance.
Empathy
Dr. Lazarus feels that unless you can really connect with your patients, and meet them where they are, and let them know you can truly understand how they feel, you can’t really move forward together effectively.
Assessment of Resistance
This is a very powerful motivational tool that is imperative to use before moving on to specific methods that will be used to help patients.
Methods
These include:
Medical Hypnosis
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is the most effective treatment for patients with anxiety and depression.
It involves helping patients recognize their negative thoughts and then be able to talk back to them.
An example might be a student, who, right before or during a test, might tell himself, “I’m going to flunk this test.” Then, he might think, “And it will affect my grade point average, and then I won’t get into the college of my choice…” and on, and on, and on.
Or someone who thinks, “On, no! I missed that shot in soccer, and now the coach will take me out of the game, and all of my friends will be mad at me and say that I lost the game.”
With CBT, in the first example, the student can recognize the negative thought and then tell himself, “Well, I may not get as good a grade on this test as I would have liked, but there’s no way I’m going to flunk it! And, it won’t really affect my GPA that much, and there is no way that a college won’t accept me because I didn’t get a good grade on one single test!”
In the second example, the soccer player might tell herself, “Hey, everyone misses shots in soccer. Even the best soccer player in the world sometimes misses a shot. And, the coach knows that I am a dedicated, motivated player, and she and I may need to talk about this after the game.”
When people can talk back to their negative thoughts using positive thoughts, it works!
So, the essence of CBT is: When you change the way you think, you change the way you feel. And, when you change the way you feel, you change the way you act!
For a brief example of TEAM-CBT, you are invited to watch this brief video, “The Magic Dial.”
For more about Dr. Burns approach and TEAM-CBT, you may go to: FeelingGood.Com.
Dr. Lazarus has also created Controlling Your Gut Feelings, for patients with irritable bowel syndrome, abdominal pain, and digestive issues.
