As I type these words into my computer keyboard, they appear on my computer screen. In geek terms, I input data into the computer through the input device (the keyboard). The output device, the monitor, displays the finished product. What lies between input and output is the processing. The software and hardware on my computer take the data from the keyboard and through a generous helping of processing, a paragraph of formatted text is beautifully displayed.

 

And that’s exactly how the human mind works.

 

As we go about every moment of our lives, the sensory organs of the body are constantly registering sounds, sights, sensations, tastes, feelings, and odors.

 

Our brain processes this raw data by categorizing it. A response is then generated by the brain that is “displayed” through the physical body in the form of actions and physiological reaction.

 

But here’s the problem: what if the processor or the mind is not working well? What happens if, say, a virus attacks the computer and causes the software to add extraneous characters and typos to whatever the user inputs” What happens if we add our own exhaustion and fear to the data that enters our minds?

 

Nothing good of course!

 

Enter cognitive therapy.

 

In the late seventies American psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck, having spent thousands of hours listening to his depressed and anxious patients, came to the realization that the agony that these people experienced was due to processing errors. They processed the data of their lives with exaggerated and ineffective logic. Realizing this he went about identifying the most common thinking errors (here’s a list of them) and then developing ways to modify them. Because of this focus on thinking, Beck referred to his method of treatment as cognitive therapy.

 

So successful was his approach that in the thirty years since Beck’s original research, tens of thousands of mental health professionals have learned the power of cognitive therapy. People the world over have found relief from mental, family, and physical illness by examining and changing how they think. And that’s is why Dr. Mark completed a post-graduate internship at the Beck Institute under the direct supervision of Dr. Beck. Hundreds of patients since, Dr. Mark has seen first hand the effectiveness of cognitive therapy methods in the relief of clinical depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, addictions, and physical disorders.