Aaron Temkin Beck

Aaron Temkin Beck
Born	July 18, 1921 (1921-07-18) Providence, Rhode Island
Residence	United States
Nationality	American
Fields	Psychiatrist
Institutions	University of Pennsylvania, Center for the Treatment and Prevention of Suicide
Alma mater	Brown University, Yale Medical School
Known for	his research on psychotherapy, psychopathology, suicide, and psychometrics
Influenced	Martin Seligman, Judith S. Beck
Notable awards	2006 Lasker Award

Aaron Temkin Beck (born July 18, 1921) is an American psychiatrist and a professor emeritus in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He is widely regarded as the father of cognitive therapy, and his pioneering theories are widely used in the treatment of clinical depression. Beck also developed self-report measures of depression and anxiety including Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Hopelessness Scale, Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Beck Youth Inventories. He is the President Emeritus of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research and the Honorary President of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, which certifies qualified cognitive therapists.

His work at the University of Pennsylvania inspired Dr. Martin Seligman in refining Seligman's own cognitive techniques and exercises and later work on Learned helplessness.

Biography

Aaron Beck was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the youngest child of four siblings. Beck's daughter, Judith S. Beck, is also a researcher in the field of cognitive therapy and President of the Beck Institute.

Education

Beck attended Brown University, graduating magna cum laude in 1942. At Brown he was elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, was an associate editor of the Brown Daily Herald, and received the Francis Wayland Scholarship, William Gaston Prize for Excellence in Oratory, and Philo Sherman Bennett Essay Award. Beck attended Yale Medical School, graduating with an M.D. in 1946.

Career

Dr. Beck is an emeritus professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and the director of the Psychopathology Research Unit (PRU), which is the parent organization of the Center for the Treatment and Prevention of Suicide.

Notable events

The American Psychoanalytic Institute rejected Beck's membership application, "on the grounds that his mere desire to conduct scientific studies signaled that he’d been improperly analyzed", a decision that still makes him angry.

Beck is noted for his research in psychotherapy, psychopathology, suicide, and psychometrics, which led to his creation of cognitive therapy, for which he received the 2006 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), one of the most widely used instruments for measuring depression severity. Beck is also known for his creation of the Beck Hopelessness Scale and the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and has founded the Beck Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in which his daughter, Dr. Judith Beck, works. Beck believed that depression is due to unrealistic negative views about the world. Depressed people have a negative cognition in three areas that are placed into the depressive triad. They develop negative views about: themselves, the world, and their future. Beck starts treatment by engaging in conversation with clients about their negative thoughts. Cognitive therapy has also been applied with success to individuals with anxiety disorders, schizophrenia [1], and many other disorders. In recent years, cognitive therapy has been disseminated outside academic settings, including throughout the United Kingdom, and in a program developed by Dr. Beck and the City of Philadelphia.[2]

Awards

• The 7th Annual Heinz Award in the Human Condition
• The 2006 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award

See also

• Albert Ellis
• David D. Burns
• Cognitive therapy

Works

Published books

• Beck, A.T., Depression: Causes and Treatment. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972. - ISBN 978-0812276527
• Beck, A.T., Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders. Intl Universities Press, 1975. - ISBN 0823609901
• Beck, A.T., Rush, A.J., Shaw, B.F., Emery, G., Cognitive Therapy of Depression. The Guilford Press, 1979. - ISBN 0898620007
• Scott, J., Williams, J.M., Beck, A.T., Cognitive Therapy in Clinical Practice: An Illustrative Casebook. Routledge, 1989. - ISBN 0-415-00518-3
• Alford, B.A., Beck, A.T., The Integrative Power of Cognitive Therapy. The Guilford Press, 1998. - ISBN 1-57230-396-4
• Beck, A.T., Prisoners of Hate: The Cognitive Basis of Anger, Hostility, and Violence. HarperCollins Publishers, 1999. - ISBN 0060193778
• Clark, D.A., Beck, A.T.,-55798-789-0
• Beck, A.T., Freeman, A., and Davis, D.D., Cognitive Therapy of Personality Disorders. The Guilford Press, 2003. - ISBN 1-57230-856-7
• Wright, J.H., Thase, M.E., Beck, A.T., Ludgate, J.W., Cognitive Therapy with Inpatients: Developing A Cognitive Milieu. The Guilford Press, 2003. - ISBN 0-89862-890-3
• Winterowd, C., Beck, A.T., Gruener, D., Cognitive Therapy With Chronic Pain Patients. Springer Publishing Company, 2003. - ISBN 0-8261-4595-7
• Beck, A.T., Emery, G., and Greenberg, R.L., Anxiety Disorders And Phobias: A Cognitive Perspective. Basic Books, 2005. - ISBN 0-465-00587-X
• Beck, A.T., Rector, N.A., Stolar, N., & Grant, P., "Schizophrenia: Cognitive Theory, Research, and Therapy". Guilford Press, 2008. - ISBN 9781606230183

External links

• Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research
• Cognitive Therapy Today (Beck Institute's Blog)
• Academy of Cognitive Therapy
• Centro de Psicología AARON BECK España
• A Beck biography and list of publications
• The International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health
• Charlie Rose interview Aaron T. Beck and others - 58 mins interview video

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