Today we are joined by our beloved Mike Christensen and his
wonderful daughter, Caelyn, for a discussion of one of the humblest
but most important and challenging tools in TEAM-CBT, the
Invitation Step. We will focus on how this can be important in
family life as well.
Caelyn will be entering college in the fall, and plans to major
in psychology, but she has already picked up a lot of TEAM-CBT from
her dad. We’ll tell you more about her at the end of the show
notes.
The invitation step is the bridge from the E = Empathy phase of
TEAM-CBT to the A = Assessment of Resistance, but you don’t issue
an invitation until you get an “A” in Empathy from your patient.
This generally takes about 25 minutes or so with a new patient if
you empathize skillfully using the Five Secrets of Effective
Communication.
There are two types of Invitations: the Straightforward and the
Paradoxical. The Straightforward Invitation is for reasonably
cooperative and motivated individuals who are struggling with
individual mood problems, like depression and anxiety, and it’s
fairly simple. You simply say something along these lines:
Jim (or whatever the patient’s name is), you’ve told me some
pretty heartbreaking and painful problems you’re confronting,
including X, Y, and Z, and I’d love to help you change the way
you’ve been thinking and feeling. I’m wondering if this might be a
good time to roll up our sleeves and get to work, or if you need
more time to talk and vent, because that’s important and I don’t
want to jump in before you’re ready.
Typically, the person will say “I’m ready,” and you’re all set
to set the agenda for the session and reduce the patient’s
resistance to change using the many familiar TEAM-CBT techniques,
like Miracle Cure Question, Magic Button, Positive Reframing, Magic
Dial, and more.
The Paradoxical Invitation is for patients who seem unmotivated
or even oppositional, and is intended for patients who are
struggling with Relationship Problems or Habits and Addictions.
Unlike the Straightforward Invitation, your assumption is that the
patient probably is NOT asking for help, but just wants to vent, so
you might say something along these lines:
Sarah (or whatever the patient’s name is), you’ve told me some
pretty upsetting things about your conflict with your sister ever
since you were young. You say she constantly criticizes you and
says things that aren’t really true, and that you’ve tried
everything, but nothing works.
For example, she insists that you look down on her because you
have a PhD, and she didn’t graduate from college, and when you tell
her that’s not true she just gets enraged. I can understand how
frustrating that must be for you.
I’ve got some really cool tools that might help you turn things
around and develop a more loving relationship with her, and I think
you’d really learn these tools quickly because you’re clearly very
smart, but I’m not hearing that you’re asking for that. I’m
thinking that you mainly wanted to let me know how difficult and
impossible she is.
Am I reading you right? I’d love to work with you on your
relationship, but would totally understand if that isn’t what
you’re looking for.
So, in the Paradoxical Invitation, you’re asking the patient to
put their cards on the table and acknowledge that they’re NOT
looking for help. This prevents a power struggle and you can ask
them if there’s something they DO want help with.
At the start of today’s podcast, Mike pointed out that the
Invitation Step is not only important in therapy, but in family
life as well. For example, a lot of parents ask him, “How do I help
my teen?”
Well, the first answer is to stop trying to help and use the
Five Secrets of Effective Communication to listen and understand
where your teen is coming from. This is actually hard to do,
because so many parents struggle with the compulsion to throw
“help” at their kids, and this usually just creates a lot of
tension.
At the same time, Mike emphasizes that many parents ask, “Well,
what do I do when I’m doing empathizing?”
Mike says, “That’s the time to issue your invitation. If I
don’t do that, Caelyn gets irritated and says, “Don’t’ give me that
psychology crap!” If I jump in and try to help or give advice
(which is what all parents do almost all of the time) it just ends
up in a power struggle.
Mike sometimes asks this question: “Did you just want to get
that off your chest? What do you want going forward?”
Mike and Caelyn did some role-playing to illustrate how this is
done, including bad parent technique and excellent parent
technique. Caelyn described a disturbing interaction with an angry
customer where she works, and Mike first played the “bad dad” and
then the “good dad”. Caelyn was delightfully wise and skillful and
is heading for a great career in counseling or psychology.
For more on this topic, you might want to listen to the podcast
#164 on “How to help and how NOT to help!” LINK:
How to HELP, and how NOT to Help!
Rhonda and I love Mike, and Caelyn as well, and were touched by
getting to take a look inside of a real and beautiful
father-daughter relationship!
Caelyn Bio
Sketch
Caelyn is a keen student of psychology and is starting her
university career in the fall of 2023 She loves animals (her Cat
Evie and horse Tulio top the list) and has studied positive
reinforcement focused training with horses, under Adele Shaw, at
The Willing Equine in Texas. She has read a number of Doctor
Burns's books and implements his CBT principles into her
writing. Currently she works full time in customer service at
a beauty salon and part time at a garden center where she gets
regular opportunities to practice her 5 secrets skills.
She is a big fan of Taylor Swift.
Thank you, Mike and Caelyn, for an awesome interview
today!
Warmly,
Rhonda and David
About the Podcast
This podcast features David D. Burns MD, author of "Feeling Good, The New Mood Therapy," describing powerful new techniques to overcome depression and anxiety and develop greater joy and self-esteem. For therapists and the general public alike!