David Burns – A Corona Love story: TEAM-CBT Approach to Cope with Crisis

David describes his treatment of Melissa, a psychologist experiencing intense anxiety and despair because her husband, Charles, is an emergency room / intensive care physician in New York, working long hours on the front lines to save the lives of Covid-19 victims. But he is fearful that he, too, will contract the virus and die, especially since he has just intubated two of his close colleagues. Charles has moved to a separate apartment to protect Melissa and their three young children in case he gets infected. Melissa cries herself to sleep every night, fearing that she might lose the man she loves so intensely, and angry that they have to be separated at such a challenging time when they both need more support.

According to the cognitive model, our angst does not result from what’s happening, but from our thoughts about it. Furthermore, when you’re depressed and anxious, the thoughts that upset you will not be valid–they’ll be distorted and unrealistic. Depression and anxiety, so the story goes, are the world’s oldest cons. And when you change the way you think, you can change the way you feel.

But is this possible? It just doesn’t sound right! Can Melissa really change the way she thinks and feels when the crisis is so overwhelming and so real? And can you?

David illustrates how he used the new TEAM-CBT to help Melissa cope with a very real and overwhelming crisis.