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

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

and

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the

Stanford University School of Medicine The Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California, United States. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Fra ...

. He is 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 Albert Ellis (September 27, 1913 – July 24, 2007) was an American psychologist and psychotherapist who founded rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). He held MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University, and was cer ...

's and

Aaron T. Beck Aaron Temkin Beck (July 18, 1921November 1, 2021) was an American psychiatrist who was a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.

cognitive behavioral therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, primarily depression, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on challenging and chang ...

(CBT) when his books became bestsellers during the 1980s. In a January 2021 interview, Burns attributed his rise in popularity and much of his success to an appearance in 1988 on ''

The Phil Donahue Show ''The Phil Donahue Show'' is an American talk show that was hosted by Phil Donahue. The show ran for twenty-nine seasons from November 6, 1967, to September 13, 1996, in which it broadcast 6,715 episodes. Before it was placed in syndication ...

'', to which he was invited by the producer after helping her teenage son with depression.

Early life and education

Burns's father was a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

minister. Burns received his B.A. from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

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 The Perelman School of Medicine (commonly known as Penn Med) is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a Private university, private, Ivy League research university located in Philadelphia. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of M ...

, 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 Aaron Temkin Beck (July 18, 1921November 1, 2021) was an American psychiatrist who was a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.

, who developed

cognitive therapy Cognitive therapy (CT) is a psychotherapeutic approach developed by American psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck, which aims to change unhelpful or inaccurate thought patterns. CT is one therapeutic approach within the larger group of cognitive behavio ...

during the 1960s and 1970s. Cognitive therapy was also based on the pioneering work of

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 Epictetus (, ; , ''Epíktētos''; 50 135 AD) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was born into slavery at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present-day Pamukkale, in western Turkey) and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in ...

, 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

Research on antidepressants

Burns is critical on existing

antidepressant medication Antidepressants are a class of medications used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, chronic pain, and addiction. Common side effects of antidepressants include dry mouth, weight gain, dizziness, headaches, akathisia, sex ...

. 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 placebo An active placebo is a placebo that produces noticeable side effects that may convince the person being treated that they are receiving a legitimate treatment, rather than an inert placebo. Nomenclature According to a 1965 paper, the term "conceal ...

s in double-blind studies, use of flawed assessment instruments like the

Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), also called the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), sometimes also abbreviated as HAM-D, is a multiple-item questionnaire used to provide an indication of Depression (mood), depression, and as ...

, 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 Irving Kirsch (born March 7, 1943) is an American psychologist and academic. He is the Associate Director of the Program in Placebo Studies and a lecturer in medicine at the Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is ...

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.

TEAM

Burns developed an 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. TEAM claims to address some of the shortcomings in cognitive therapy, and proposes 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.

Stanford

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 Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

and Acting Chief of Psychiatry at the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Medical Center in Philadelphia.

Burns Depression Checklist

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). 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

* 1975: Winner of A. E. Bennett Award for Basic Psychiatric Research (Society of Biological Psychiatry) * 1991: Commendation from the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

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

* 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. — * Burns, D. D. (1984). ''Intimate Connections''. New York: William Morrow and Co. (hardbound); New American Library, 1985 (paperback). — * Burns, D. D. (1989). '' The Feeling Good Handbook''. New York: William Morrow and Co., (hardbound); Plume, 1990 (trade paperback) Revised and updated, 1999. — * Burns, D. D. (1993). ''Ten Days to Self-Esteem''. New York: Quill. 1999. Revised edition. — * Burns, D. D. (1993). ''Ten Days to Self-Esteem: The Leader's Manual''. New York: Quill. — * 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. — * Burns, D. D. (2008). ''Feeling Good Together''. New York: Broadway Books. – * Burns, D. D. (2020). ''Feeling Great: The Revolutionary New Treatment for Depression and Anxiety''. Wisconsin: PESI Publishing & Media. – (hardback) – (ebook)

Audio

* Burns, D.D. (2006). ''When Panic Attacks: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Treatment That Can Change Your Life'' (CD). HarperAudio, 2006. –

References

External links

Dr. David D. Burns's Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, David 1942 births Living people American cognitive scientists American psychiatrists American self-help writers Amherst College alumni Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapists Harvard Medical School people Writers from Minneapolis Stanford University School of Medicine alumni Stanford University School of Medicine faculty Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni