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Anxiety & OCD Specialists • (408) 384-8404 |
TEAM Therapy • Intensive Cognitive Therapy for More Rapid Change
Laura L.C. Johnson, MBA, MA, LMFT, Cognitive Behavior Therapist • (408) 384-8404
What is TEAM Therapy?
I offer intensive TEAM Therapy at my private practice office in San Jose, CA, to encourage more rapid change in your life. TEAM Therapy is a new form of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) that places emphasis on four areas: Testing, Empathy, Agenda Setting and Methods. Dr. David Burns, MD, professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and author of the best-selling Feeling Good book series, identified these four areas as the keys to therapeutic effectiveness based on his many years of clinical experience and research at Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania.
TEAM stands for:
- Testing - tools for assessing and measuring progress in therapy
- Empathy - helpful ways to respond to clients and understand the world through their eyes
- Agenda Setting - skills to increase commitment and motivation
- Methods - techniques to help clients change
In addition to a strong therapy focus on the four TEAM factors, TEAM Therapy emphasizes longer sessions of a minimum of two hours each as well as intensive therapy over a short period of time. Before starting the active phase of change (called Methods), TEAM therapists spend a significant amount of time on Agenda Setting to make sure you are committed to taking action and doing homework and that you know the reasons why you want to change.
In the action phase, TEAM Therapy uses many different Methods to drive cognitive, behavioral and emotional change. Dr. Burns has identified "50 Techniques to Untwist Your Thinking" that he has found to be the most effective. With longer sessions, the therapist has the opportunity to guide you in depth on how to use all the techniques, do role plays with you and can even take you out of the office to practice exposures. This is not possible in a traditional 50-minute weekly therapy session.
Therapist Training in TEAM Therapy
I started learning and practicing TEAM Therapy in the summer of 2010. First, I participated in Dr. Burns' four day intensive training program. Following that, interested therapists were invited to join one of the weekly TEAM Therapy training groups at Stanford University. Dr. Burns' TEAM Therapy training program is fun and experiential. Every week, we roll up our sleeves and go back to the basics: we pick a specific skill, role play being a therapist and a client in a TEAM Therapy session, and receive in-the-moment feedback from Dr. Burns and other expert TEAM therapists.
Laura L.C. Johnson, MBA, MA, LMFT
Certified Cognitive Therapist by the Academy of Cognitive Therapy
Cognitive Behavior Therapy Center of Silicon Valley, Adult & Child Counseling, Inc.
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, MFC48807
Cognitive Behavior Therapy Center of Silicon Valley, Adult & Child Counseling, Inc.
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, MFC48807
1475 Saratoga Avenue, Suite 168
San Jose, CA 95129
(408) 384-8404