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Faculty

David Burns

MD
Emeritus Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Stanford Medical School

David Burns, MD, is an Adjunct Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford Medical School and has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (> 5 million sold) and host of the popular Feeling Good Podcast (> 8 million downloads).

Dr. Burns was a pioneer in the development of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and is the founder of the new TEAM-CBT, which is featured in his latest book, Feeling Great. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the prestigious A. E. Bennett Award for his research on the now-defunct “chemical imbalance” theory of depression and the Irma Bland Teaching Award from the American Psychiatric Association. His new Feeling Great app is now available in app stores.

More than 50,000 mental health professionals have attended his training programs throughout the United States and Canada.

2024 Sessions

Quick, Irreversible Cures for OCD, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety, and Phobias

Dr. Burns will illustrate the ultra-rapid treatment of four cases of incapacitating and intractable anxiety disorders, including a woman with ten years of failed therapy for extreme depression and panic attacks, a woman with twenty years of failed psychoanalysis for the fear of elevators and hallways, a man with more than a decade of incapacitating social anxiety / fear of sweating in public, and a woman with more than twenty years of OCD / germ phobia (the same disorder that haunted the late billionaire, Howard Hughes.) These patients all recovered in a single therapy session, and the actual recovery for each required less than ten minutes. Brief video clips illustrating the dramatic recoveries of two of them will be included. Dr. Burns will explain why therapy so often fails, and will emphasize the absolute need for tremendous patient / therapist trust as well as therapist / patient courage.

Speaker

Wednesday, December 09 11:45–1:45 PM
Faculty

David Burns

MD
Emeritus Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Stanford Medical School

David Burns, MD, is an Adjunct Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford Medical School and has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (> 5 million sold) and host of the popular Feeling Good Podcast (> 8 million downloads).

Dr. Burns was a pioneer in the development of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and is the founder of the new TEAM-CBT, which is featured in his latest book, Feeling Great. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the prestigious A. E. Bennett Award for his research on the now-defunct “chemical imbalance” theory of depression and the Irma Bland Teaching Award from the American Psychiatric Association. His new Feeling Great app is now available in app stores.

More than 50,000 mental health professionals have attended his training programs throughout the United States and Canada.

From Feeling Good to Feeling Great

Dr. Burns first book, Feeling Good, introduced cognitive therapy to the world when it was first released in 1980. Various research studies indicate that 50% to 65% of readers seeking treatment for moderate to severe depression improve significantly or recover within four weeks on their own, without any medications or talk therapy, and no longer need treatment.

Dr. Burns’ new book, Feeling Great, is based on 40 years of research on how this cognitive therapy actually works, and more than 40,000 hours of therapy with depressed and anxious individuals, and includes powerful new tools to melt away therapeutic “resistance.” This opens the door to ultra-rapid treatment for the first time.

Speaker

Thursday, December 10 8:00–9:00 AM
Conversation Hour
Faculty

David Burns

MD
Emeritus Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Stanford Medical School

David Burns, MD, is an Adjunct Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford Medical School and has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (> 5 million sold) and host of the popular Feeling Good Podcast (> 8 million downloads).

Dr. Burns was a pioneer in the development of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and is the founder of the new TEAM-CBT, which is featured in his latest book, Feeling Great. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the prestigious A. E. Bennett Award for his research on the now-defunct “chemical imbalance” theory of depression and the Irma Bland Teaching Award from the American Psychiatric Association. His new Feeling Great app is now available in app stores.

More than 50,000 mental health professionals have attended his training programs throughout the United States and Canada.

Enchantment: The Secret Ally of Psychotherapy

Dr. Polster will address the inherent enchantment of therapeutic connectedness and its accompanying openness to enabling personal experiences.

Discussant

Speaker

Thursday, December 10 2:30–4:00 PM
Clinical Demo with Discussant
Faculty

David Burns

MD
Emeritus Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Stanford Medical School

David Burns, MD, is an Adjunct Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford Medical School and has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (> 5 million sold) and host of the popular Feeling Good Podcast (> 8 million downloads).

Dr. Burns was a pioneer in the development of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and is the founder of the new TEAM-CBT, which is featured in his latest book, Feeling Great. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the prestigious A. E. Bennett Award for his research on the now-defunct “chemical imbalance” theory of depression and the Irma Bland Teaching Award from the American Psychiatric Association. His new Feeling Great app is now available in app stores.

More than 50,000 mental health professionals have attended his training programs throughout the United States and Canada.

Faculty

Erving Polster

PhD
Director
Gestalt Training Center San Diego

Erving Polster, PhD in Clinical Psychology, is a veteran teacher of gestalt therapy and has authored 6 books. In his current writings, he offers perspectives and designs for a communal application of psychotherapy principles. He also describes and celebrates a powerful contemporary momentum for people-at-large to join together in the search for personal and social enlightenment.

Feeling Great: A New, High-Speed Treatment for Depression

Research indicates that therapeutic failure nearly always results from patient resistance that hasn’t been addressed. In this workshop, you will learn how to bring subconscious resistance to conscious awareness and melt it away quickly for faster, better outcomes. Prepare to explore a revolutionary new approach based on the paradoxical premise that depression does not result from what’s wrong with you, but from what’s right with you.

Speaker

Thursday, December 10 4:30–6:30 PM
Faculty

David Burns

MD
Emeritus Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Stanford Medical School

David Burns, MD, is an Adjunct Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford Medical School and has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (> 5 million sold) and host of the popular Feeling Good Podcast (> 8 million downloads).

Dr. Burns was a pioneer in the development of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and is the founder of the new TEAM-CBT, which is featured in his latest book, Feeling Great. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the prestigious A. E. Bennett Award for his research on the now-defunct “chemical imbalance” theory of depression and the Irma Bland Teaching Award from the American Psychiatric Association. His new Feeling Great app is now available in app stores.

More than 50,000 mental health professionals have attended his training programs throughout the United States and Canada.

Re-thinking Depression: Disease or Social Phenomenon?

Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, depression was already ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the number one cause of human suffering and disability. The pandemic caused a huge spike in rates of depression giving rise to serious questions about the way we think about depression. Is it primarily a neurochemical phenomenon? Is it a product of environmental and situational influences? Or both? This conversation will explore these questions and others as well.

Speaker

Thursday, December 02 1:30–2:30 PM
Great Conversation
Faculty

David Burns

MD
Emeritus Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Stanford Medical School

David Burns, MD, is an Adjunct Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford Medical School and has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (> 5 million sold) and host of the popular Feeling Good Podcast (> 8 million downloads).

Dr. Burns was a pioneer in the development of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and is the founder of the new TEAM-CBT, which is featured in his latest book, Feeling Great. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the prestigious A. E. Bennett Award for his research on the now-defunct “chemical imbalance” theory of depression and the Irma Bland Teaching Award from the American Psychiatric Association. His new Feeling Great app is now available in app stores.

More than 50,000 mental health professionals have attended his training programs throughout the United States and Canada.

Faculty

Michael Yapko

PhD
Clinical Psychologist
Private Practice

Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist residing near San Diego, California. He is internationally recognized for his innovative work in applying clinical hypnosis in outcome-focused strategic psychotherapy, especially in the active, non-pharmacological treatment of depression. He has been invited to present his innovative ideas and methods to colleagues in more than 30 countries across six continents, as well as throughout the United States. He is a critic of the medical model of depression and instead advocates for a social perspective, suggesting the problem is less about neurochemistry and more about circumstances and perspectives in how you manage them. His highly practical YouTube lecture on How to Recover from Depression has been viewed more than 5.2 million times.

Dr. Yapko is the author of 16 books, including the new 6th edition of his classic hypnosis text Trancework, his award-winning book for professionals, Process-Oriented Hypnosis, and his popular books for a general audience, Depression is Contagious and Breaking the Patterns of Depression. His works have been translated into 10 languages. He is also the developer of the popular digital hypnotherapy mental health app called Claria in association with Mindset Health (www.mindsethealth.com). More information about Dr. Yapko is available on his website: www.yapko.com.

On the personal side, Dr. Yapko is happily married to his wife, Diane, a pediatric speech-language pathologist. Together, they enjoy hiking in the great outdoors in their spare time.

Fast, Effective Treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder

In this workshop, Drs. David Burns and Jill Levitt will illustrate powerful techniques to heal your social anxiety patients, and yourself as well! You’ll learn how to reduce patient resistance to Interpersonal Exposure Techniques; identify and smash the distorted thoughts that trigger social anxiety; modify the Self-Defeating Beliefs that trigger social anxiety; and use mind-blowing Interpersonal Exposure Techniques such as Rejection Practice, Self-Disclosure, Shame-Attacking Exercises, and more

Presenter

Friday, December 15 9:30–12:30 PM
Room California - C (Hilton)
Faculty

David Burns

MD
Emeritus Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Stanford Medical School

David Burns, MD, is an Adjunct Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford Medical School and has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (> 5 million sold) and host of the popular Feeling Good Podcast (> 8 million downloads).

Dr. Burns was a pioneer in the development of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and is the founder of the new TEAM-CBT, which is featured in his latest book, Feeling Great. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the prestigious A. E. Bennett Award for his research on the now-defunct “chemical imbalance” theory of depression and the Irma Bland Teaching Award from the American Psychiatric Association. His new Feeling Great app is now available in app stores.

More than 50,000 mental health professionals have attended his training programs throughout the United States and Canada.

Faculty

Jill Levitt

PhD
Adjunct Clinical Faculty, Stanford University Department of Psychiatry
Director of Training, Feeling Good Institute

Dr. Jill Levitt is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and the Director of Training at the Feeling Good Institute. She has more than 25 years of experience conducting Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and has been trained by some of the world’s leaders in CBT. She has co-written several scholarly articles in the areas of OCD, PTSD and Panic Disorder. Most recently she has been co-teaching CBT with Dr. David Burns at the Stanford University School of Medicine in her role on the Adjunct Clinical Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She also trains other therapists in David Burns’ process-based model of CBT called TEAM-CBT. Dr. Levitt teaches both in-person and online workshops for Feeling Good Institute on CBT methods, reducing resistance in psychotherapy, and improving the effectiveness of psychotherapy.

Overcoming Toxic Shame

Drs. David Burns and Jill Levitt will take you through the single-session treatment of Melanie, a prominent and beloved mental health professional who has struggled with intense feelings of anxiety and shame for nine years. We will illustrate dramatic video clips from our work with Melanie, emphasizing key features of her assessment and treatment, and including her rapid and mind-blowing recovery, and multi-year follow-up.

Presenter

Saturday, December 16 1:30–2:30 PM
Room Pacific - C (Hilton)
Clinical Demo
Faculty

David Burns

MD
Emeritus Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Stanford Medical School

David Burns, MD, is an Adjunct Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford Medical School and has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (> 5 million sold) and host of the popular Feeling Good Podcast (> 8 million downloads).

Dr. Burns was a pioneer in the development of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and is the founder of the new TEAM-CBT, which is featured in his latest book, Feeling Great. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the prestigious A. E. Bennett Award for his research on the now-defunct “chemical imbalance” theory of depression and the Irma Bland Teaching Award from the American Psychiatric Association. His new Feeling Great app is now available in app stores.

More than 50,000 mental health professionals have attended his training programs throughout the United States and Canada.

Faculty

Jill Levitt

PhD
Adjunct Clinical Faculty, Stanford University Department of Psychiatry
Director of Training, Feeling Good Institute

Dr. Jill Levitt is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and the Director of Training at the Feeling Good Institute. She has more than 25 years of experience conducting Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and has been trained by some of the world’s leaders in CBT. She has co-written several scholarly articles in the areas of OCD, PTSD and Panic Disorder. Most recently she has been co-teaching CBT with Dr. David Burns at the Stanford University School of Medicine in her role on the Adjunct Clinical Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She also trains other therapists in David Burns’ process-based model of CBT called TEAM-CBT. Dr. Levitt teaches both in-person and online workshops for Feeling Good Institute on CBT methods, reducing resistance in psychotherapy, and improving the effectiveness of psychotherapy.

A Conversation with Dr. Burns

Dr. Burns will answer your questions on a wide range of topics, including what research led you to develop TEAM-CBT; how does TEAM-CBT differ from traditional, Beckan CBT; what does research on your new Feeling Good App show, And more, including YOUR questions! Join us for a fun and inspirational hour, with some of David's famous stories thrown in!

Presenter

Saturday, December 16 4:10–5:10 PM
Room California - AB (Hilton)
Conversation Hour
Faculty

David Burns

MD
Emeritus Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Stanford Medical School

David Burns, MD, is an Adjunct Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford Medical School and has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (> 5 million sold) and host of the popular Feeling Good Podcast (> 8 million downloads).

Dr. Burns was a pioneer in the development of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and is the founder of the new TEAM-CBT, which is featured in his latest book, Feeling Great. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the prestigious A. E. Bennett Award for his research on the now-defunct “chemical imbalance” theory of depression and the Irma Bland Teaching Award from the American Psychiatric Association. His new Feeling Great app is now available in app stores.

More than 50,000 mental health professionals have attended his training programs throughout the United States and Canada.
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