Two Personalities in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an approach that aims to restructure maladaptive emotional processes and behavioral patterns such as dysfunctional anger, fear, and sadness. The psychological foundations of this approach are nourished by what Aaron T. Beck termed "automatic thoughts" and by Abu Zayd al-Balkhi’s concept of "ahadis al-nafs".^【1】Therapy achieves cognitive healing by transforming the individual’s inner dialogue and perception of events. The primary goal is to restructure negative mental schemas and reinforce this transformation through functional behavioral models.

Al-Balkhi emphasizes the inseparable relationship between physical and mental health, asserting that human well-being in this world and the hereafter depends on the balanced preservation of both elements. This perspective reveals what modern medicine terms the "psychosomatic" connection between body and mind.^【2】In his work, the scholar identifies that psychological states directly trigger physical ailments and proposes both psychological techniques to alleviate mental burdens and somatic dietary regimens to preserve bodily health.

Al-Balkhi examines sadness (depressive states) in three stages:

• Normal Sadness: A natural and ordinary part of life.
• Sadness with Known Cause: Stemming directly from internal self-talk and disrupting normal life, it requires cognitive and psychological intervention.
• Sadness with Unknown Cause: Rooted in humoral imbalances (disturbances in bodily fluids), it necessitates medical or physical treatment.

In al-Anfus, al-Balkhi proposes two fundamental therapeutic methods for psychological self-recovery:

• External Therapy: A healing process achieved through social connection, confiding in, and speaking with a trusted person.
• Internal Therapy: A technique of countering negative internal dialogue by recalling happy memories from the past and generating opposing rational evidence.

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Aaron Beck systematically established the interaction between mind and body through clinical research, emphasizing the decisive role of thoughts in shaping emotions, behaviors, and physiological responses. Beck categorized illnesses according to their cognitive content, particularly defining depression through the individual’s development of negative biases toward themselves, the world, and the future—the so-called "cognitive triad":^【3】

• Self: The individual perceives themselves as flawed, inadequate, or a failure.
• World: The external world and other people are perceived as obstructive, demanding, or hostile.
• Future: Expectations about the future are entirely hopeless; the individual believes their current distress will never improve and that they will always fail.

According to Beck’s approach, when an individual misinterprets an event through automatic thoughts, it triggers direct physiological changes such as sweating or heart palpitations. Correcting these thoughts through cognitive restructuring alleviates both psychological distress and physical symptoms. Based on his observations and therapies, Beck developed a treatment method grounded in the inseparable bond between mind and body—Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Aaron T. Beck, through clinical research, demonstrated the impact of mental processes on physical health and shaped Western medical literature. However, when examined historically, several cognitive principles and approaches systematically developed by Beck in the modern era show striking precursors in the 9th-century work of al-Balkhi. Al-Balkhi prescribed practical methods for individuals to treat pathologies arising from the mind-body relationship, while Beck designed a therapeutic method in which the patient becomes their own therapist through reliable collaboration.

Despite temporal differences, the healing methodologies of these two pivotal figures exhibit significant commonalities. Both scholars:

• Advocate refuting negative thoughts with opposing and rational arguments.
• Recommend storing positive memories in the mind as psychological shelters during crises.
• Argue that the mind should be interrogated like a courtroom until dysfunctional beliefs are neutralized.

These methods ultimately empower the individual to become their own therapist. Moreover, both al-Balkhi and Beck clearly demonstrate that the most powerful therapeutic dynamic is a social bond based on trust and collaboration—the presence of an "other" with whom one can confide and share their burdens.

The foundation of human health lies in keeping the mind free from the vortex of negativity. When thoughts that obscure the mind like a fog are dispersed by the wind, the resulting clarity leads to improvements in behavior, nutrition, and even the individual’s environment. This healing enables the inherently social human being to integrate harmoniously into society. When the mental fog is not dispelled, emotional agitation, stress, and anger manifest physiologically as palpitations, itching, and sweating. Individuals unable to overcome or control this state exhibit behavioral changes. Behaviors misunderstood by society isolate the individual, transforming their perceived maladjustment into a condition requiring physical medical intervention.

Today, when we observe society, we see some individuals becoming consumed by negative thoughts through the influence of others’ perspectives. Some of these individuals, following the methods proposed by al-Balkhi and Beck, transform their minds into courtrooms or erect walls of positive thoughts to feel better. As these two pivotal figures demonstrated, the individual becomes their own therapist.