Mark Lau, Ph.D., R.Psych.

Dr. Mark Lau is an acknowledged expert in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). He is currently a Clinical Associate Professor in the UBC Department of Psychiatry, a Founding Fellow of the Institute of Mental Health at UBC, past-Adjunct Faculty at Macquarie University, NSW, Australia, and Past-Chair of the Clinical Section of the Canadian Psychological Association. Dr. Lau is certified as a cognitive behavioural therapist by both the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies and the Academy of Cognitive Therapy (ACT). Prior to moving to Vancouver in 2006, Dr. Lau was Deputy Head of the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) Unit at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. He has been awarded the Scientist-Practitioner Award by the British Columbia Psychological Association and the Excellence in Continuing Mental Health Education Award by the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto.

Dr. Lau has an international reputation for his work in treating and preventing depression. Dr. Lau has presented over 60 training workshops in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy or Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to over 3000 professionals across North America, the United Kingdom and Australia. In Canada, Dr. Lau has provided longitudinal training and supervision to over 80 psychologists & psychology interns, psychiatrists and psychiatry residents, family physicians, social workers and other mental health workers in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders from a cognitive-behavioral perspective and to prevent depressive relapse using mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. In addition, he was involved in developing a CBT certificate program and CBT Continuing Medical Education courses in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. His research activities include conducting studies of how MBCT prevents depressive relapse, how to best deliver MCBT in the workplace and the effectiveness of telephone supported CBT to treat mild-moderate depression. He has published numerous research articles, chapters and co-authored the Oxford Guide to Low Intensity CBT Interventions. He is an Associate Editor of the new journal Mindfulness, and he is on the editorial board of Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, a scientific journal designed to bridge the gap between laboratory-based work and clinical practice.

Dr. Lau received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1995 from McGill University. He completed his internship training at University of British Columbia Hospital with a focus on anxiety disorders. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) Unit, Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto where he was part of the research team that first demonstrated the effectiveness of using mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to prevent depressive relapse. From 1996 to 2006, he worked in the CBT Unit at CAMH and maintained a small private practice where he specialized in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders. where he provided treatment, supervision and training as well as conducting research.