David D.

Burns
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

David D. Burns

Born September 19, 1942 (age 79)

Nationality American

Education Psychiatrist

Alma mater University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Scientific career

Fields Cognitive behavioral therapy

Institutions Stanford University

Academic advisors Aaron T. Beck

Website https://feelinggood.com/

David D. Burns (born September 19, 1942) is an

American psychiatrist and adjunct professor emeritus in the Department of
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of
Medicine and the author of bestselling books such as Feeling Good: The New
Mood Therapy, The Feeling Good Handbook and Feeling Great: The
Revolutionary New Treatment for Depression and Anxiety. Burns
popularized Albert Ellis's and Aaron T. Beck's cognitive behavioral
therapy (CBT) when his books became bestsellers during the 1980s. [1] In a
January 2021 interview, Burns attributed his rise in popularity and much of his
success to an appearance in 1988 on the well-known television talk show The
Phil Donahue Show, to which he was invited by the producer after helping her
teenage son with depression.[2]

Contents

 1Early life and education

 2Research and clinical practice

 o 2.1Research on antidepressants

o 2.2TEAM

o 2.3Stanford

o 2.4Burns Depression Checklist

 3Awards and honors

 4Books

 5Audio

 6See also

 7References

 8External links

Early life and education[edit]

Burns' father was a Lutheran minister.[3]
Burns received his B.A. from Amherst College in 1964 and his M.D. from the
Stanford University School of Medicine in 1970. He completed his residency
training in psychiatry in 1974 at the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine, and was certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
in 1976. Burns is the author of numerous research studies, book chapters and
books. He also gives lectures and conducts many psychotherapy training
workshops for mental health professionals throughout the United States and
Canada each year. He has won many awards for his research and teaching,
and has been named "Teacher of the Year" three times by the graduating class
of psychiatric residents at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Burns was an early student of Aaron T. Beck, who developed cognitive
therapy during the 1960s and 1970s. Cognitive therapy was also based on the
pioneering work of Albert Ellis during the 1950s, who popularized the notion that
our thoughts and beliefs create our moods. However, the basic concept behind
cognitive therapy goes all the way back to Epictetus, the Greek philosopher.
Nearly 2,000 years ago he wrote that people are disturbed not by things, but by
the views we take of them. In other words, our thoughts (or "cognitions") create
all of our feelings. Thus when we make healthy changes in the way we think, we
experience healthy changes in the way we feel.

Research and clinical practice[edit]

Research on antidepressants[edit]
Burns is critical on existing antidepressant medication. In published research
and in his blog he contends that most research on antidepressants is plagued
by many drug-favoring biases, among them the lack of active placebos in
double-blind studies, use of flawed assessment instruments like the HRSD,
non-systematic recording of adverse effects, use of "placebo washout" periods
to exclude placebo responders, selective publication and submission of results,
strong economic interests involved.
Citing also research by Irving Kirsch and others, he claims that "the chemicals
called “antidepressants” may, in reality, have few or no true antidepressant
effects above and beyond their placebo effects", and that their adverse effects,
including suicidal behavior, may be currently underestimated. [4][5][6][7][8]
TEAM[edit]
Burns developed a new approach to psychotherapy called T.E.A.M. Therapy.
T.E.A.M. is an acronym denoting: Testing, Empathy, Assessment of Resistance
(formerly Agenda Setting) and Methods. These are the basic tools which
separate TEAM therapy from other forms of cognitive behavioral therapies.
[9]
 TEAM addresses some of the shortcomings in cognitive therapy, and is based
on the notion that motivation influences our thoughts, feelings, and actions just
as much as our thoughts (or cognitions). Burns states that he draws from at
least 15 schools of therapy, and hopes that the TEAM approach will be as
revolutionary a breakthrough in psychotherapy as CBT was decades ago. [10]
Stanford[edit]
Burns is on the voluntary faculty of the Stanford University School of Medicine,
where he is actively involved in research and training. He has also served as a
statistical consultant for Stanford's new Center for Interdisciplinary Brain
Sciences Research. He has also served as Visiting Scholar at the Harvard
Medical School and Acting Chief of Psychiatry at the Presbyterian / University of
Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia.
Burns Depression Checklist[edit]
The Burns Depression Checklist (BDC) is a rating scale for
depression copyrighted by Burns. The 1984 version was a 15-question survey;
the 1996 revision is a 25-question survey. Each question is answered in the
context of "during the past week, including today" and on a scale of 0 to 4, with
0 being "not at all" and 4 being "extremely." For Burns, the BDC replaced Aaron
Beck's BDI which appeared in the 1980 edition of Feeling Good (that Burns
says he was grateful for permission to reproduce).[11]
Burns has also developed brief scales to measure depression, suicidal urges,
anxiety, anger, and relationship satisfaction, as well as scales to assess the
quality of the therapeutic alliance and effectiveness. These scales can be
completed by patients and scored in less than 15 seconds. Burns and his
colleagues require patients to complete these instruments in the waiting room
just before and after each therapy session, so therapists can see how much
progress the patient has made, or failed to make. Based on this information,
therapists can change strategies if needed. Patients also rate therapists on
warmth, empathy, and helpfulness in the waiting room after each session so
therapists can see with much greater accuracy how their patients feel about
them and the therapy.
Awards and honors[edit]

 1975: Winner of A. E. Bennett Award for Basic Psychiatric Research (Society of

Biological Psychiatry)
 1991: Commendation from the Georgia State Senate “for contributions. . . helping
people overcome emotional troubles. . . in times of trouble and anguish. ” (State
Resolution 15 EX)
 1995: Distinguished Contribution to Psychology through the Media Award from the
American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology
 1998, 2000, and 2002: Recognition of excellence in teaching (Clinical Faculty
Teacher of the Year Award), Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,
Stanford University School of Medicine
 2002: Outstanding Contributions Award from the National Association of Cognitive-
Behavioral Therapists, for "outstanding contributions & dedication to the theory and
practice of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy."

Books[edit]

 Burns, D. D. (1980). Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (preface by Aaron T.

Beck). New York: Wm. Morrow and Co. (hardbound); New American Library, 1981
(paperback). Revised and updated, 1999. — ISBN 0-380-81033-6
 Burns, D. D. (1984). Intimate Connections. New York: William Morrow and Co.
(hardbound); New American Library, 1985 (paperback). — ISBN 0-451-14845-2
 Burns, D. D. (1989). The Feeling Good Handbook. New York: William Morrow and
Co., (hardbound); Plume, 1990 (trade paperback) Revised and updated, 1999.
— ISBN 0-452-28132-6
 Burns, D. D. (1993). Ten Days to Self-Esteem. New York: Quill. 1999. Revised
edition. — ISBN 0-688-09455-4
 Burns, D. D. (1993). Ten Days to Self-Esteem: The Leader's Manual. New York:
Quill. — ISBN 0-688-12708-8
 Burns, D. D. (1995). Therapist’s Toolkit: Comprehensive Treatment and
Assessment Tools for the Mental Health Professional. Philadelphia: Author.
Updated in 1997 and 2006.
 Burns, D. D. (2002). Let's Get Started. Alexandria: Time-Life Inc.
 Burns, D. D. (2002). Fifty Ways to Untwist Your Thinking. Alexandria: Time-Life Inc.
 Burns, D. D. (2002). Selecting the Techniques that Will Work for You. Alexandria:
Time-Life Inc.
 Burns, D. D. (2006). When Panic Attacks. New York: Morgan Road Books.
— ISBN 0-7679-2071-6
 Burns, D. D. (2008). Feeling Good Together. New York: Broadway Books.
- ISBN 978-0-7679-2070-4
 Burns, D. D. (2020). Feeling Great: The Revolutionary New Treatment for
Depression and Anxiety. Wisconsin: PESI Publishing & Media. -
(hardback) ISBN 9781683732884 - (ebook) ISBN 9781683732891

Audio[edit]

 Burns, D.D. (2006). When Panic Attacks: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Treatment
That Can Change Your Life (CD). HarperAudio, 2006. - ISBN 0-06-057710-X
See also[edit]

 Aaron T. Beck
 Albert Ellis