447: Perfectionism Update, Featuring Adam Holman

Feeling Good Podcast | TEAM-CBT - The New Mood Therapy

David Burns, MD

Clinical, Therapy, Anxiety, Psychotherapy, Depression, Health & Fitness, Cognitive, Mentalhealth, Mental Health, Behavior, Education, Self-improvement, Psychology, Relationships, Addiction, Happiness, Personalgrowth

4.4 • 856 Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Perfectionism Update

Featuring Adam Holman

Today we are joined by Adam Holman, LCSW. Adam has recently left his full time clinical practice in Arizona to join our Feeling Great app team here in San Francisco. I think you’ll be delighted by his warmth and wisdom. Although he works with us full-time, he still practices one day per week and specializes in X depression, anxiety, and screen addiction(e.g. video game addiction and more.) He has appeared on two previous Feeling Good Podcasts, # X and # Y.

We are delighted to have Adam as the honored guest on today’s Ask David podcast!

Today’s questions come all the way from North Macedonia!

Dear Dr. Burns,

Thank you so much for your kind response. I’d be truly honored if my questions could be considered for a future episode of your Ask David podcast. Your work has been a key influence in my research on perfectionism and its cognitive-behavioral aspects.

Here are a few brief questions I’m currently exploring:

How has your view of perfectionism evolved since Feeling Good?
What strategies have you found most effective for challenging perfectionistic thinking in therapy?
Is perfectionism often rooted in a fear of not being “good enough”?
How does it typically manifest in academic or professional environments?

If you happen to include any of these in a future episode, I’d be grateful if you could let me know so I can tune in.

Thank you again for your time and for the lasting impact of your work.

Warm regards,

Mitko Toshev

Doctoral Student

Faculty of Pedagogy

University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – Bitola

North Macedonia

David’s Reply

Yes, this will make for an excellent podcast with a refresher on perfectionism, featuring questions from Mitko and a spirited discussion with Adam, Rhonda and yours truly! We had an in depth discussion of all the latest bells and whistles in the treatment of perfectionism with TEAM CBT. This included the two very different but complementary approaches to treating depression or any of the 23 common Self-Defeating Beliefs.

So, if you’ve ever struggle with the thought that you’re not good enough, or that you SHOULDN’T have made this or that mistake, this podcast will be right up your alley!

Thanks, Mitko!

david

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the Feeling Good podcast, where you can learn powerful techniques
0:11.6	to change the way you feel. I am your host, Dr. Rhonda Borovsky, and joining me here in the
0:16.8	Murrieta studio is Dr. David Burns. Dr. Burns is a pioneer in the development of
0:22.3	cognitive behavioral therapy and the creator of the new team therapy. He's the author of Feeling
0:27.4	Good, which has sold over 5 million copies in the United States and has been translated into over 30
0:33.2	languages. His latest book, Feeling Great, contains powerful new techniques that make rapid recovery
0:39.3	possible for many people struggling with depression and anxiety. Dr. Burns is currently an emeritus
0:45.2	adjunct professor of clinical psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine.
0:53.0	No, Rhonda.
0:57.2	Oh, goodness.
0:58.6	Hello, David, and welcome to all our listeners around the country, around the world, throughout the galaxy.
1:04.7	Today, we are recording episode 447, and our topic is perfectionism.
1:14.4	David? Yes, yes. So here's what you're going to get in today's podcast. Perfectionism is something we're all familiar with. It's not a new theme,
1:21.0	but it's always an incredibly important and immediate theme and current theme because almost everyone I've seen in my career
1:30.5	has had some perfectionism and maybe you have too and what I'm saying is telling yourself
1:36.9	I'm not good enough or I shouldn't have have screwed up I kind of had it bite me yesterday we
1:43.1	had a fantastic live audio session with
1:48.5	Q&A's from some beautiful people, but one woman toward the end was just sobbing uncontrollably.
1:54.3	And I just felt so horribly afterwards because I didn't, it wasn't a therapy seminar. It was just a
2:02.9	Q&A session for the general public. And the pain was very real. But in that case, it was a good
2:11.1	pain because I thought, well, maybe I could email her and, you know, spend a little time with her
2:17.3	and help her out because she was looking for help.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 23 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from David Burns, MD, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of David Burns, MD and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.