Aaron Beck

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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),[1][2] Beck Hopelessness Scale,[3] Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Beck Youth Inventories.[4] He is the President Emeritus of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research[5] and the Honorary President of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy,[6] 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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

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.[10]

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 patients 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


References

  1. ↑ BECK AT, WARD CH, MENDELSON M, MOCK J, ERBAUGH J (June 1961). "An inventory for measuring depression". Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 4: 561–71. PMID 13688369. 
  2. ↑ Beck AT, Ward C, Mendelson M (1961). "Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)". Arch Gen Psychiatry 4: 561–571. PMID 13688369
  3. ↑ Beck A.T. (1988). "Beck Hopelessness Scale." The Psychological Corporation
  4. ↑ "Beck Scales for Adults and Children" Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research. Retrieved on 2007-1-11
  5. ↑ Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research
  6. ↑ Academy of Cognitive Therapy
  7. ↑ Hirtz, Rob, "Martin Seligman's Journey: from Learned Helplessness to Learned Happiness", The Pennsylvania Gazette, The University of Pennsylvania, January/February 1999.
  8. ↑ http://www.beckinstitute.org/Library/InfoManage/Guide.asp?FolderID=200&SessionID={6A2C43DA-E2E8-4EEE-9B3F-4BC4A50A395D}
  9. ↑ http://www.med.upenn.edu/suicide/beck/index.html
  10. ↑ Smith, Daniel B. (Autumn 2009). The Doctor Is IN. The American Scholar. Publisher: Phi Beta Kappa Society.
  11. ↑ The Heinz Awards, Aaron Beck profile

Works

Published books

  • Beck, A.T.. The Diagnosis and Management of Depression. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1967. - ISBN 0-8122-7674-4
  • Beck, A.T., Depression: Causes and Treatment. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972. - ISBN 978-0-8122-7652-7
  • Beck, A.T., Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders. Intl Universities Press, 1975. - ISBN 0-8236-0990-1
  • Beck, A.T., Rush, A.J., Shaw, B.F., Emery, G., Cognitive Therapy of Depression. The Guilford Press, 1979. - ISBN 0-89862-000-7
  • 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 0-06-019377-8
  • Clark, D.A., Beck, A.T., Scientific Foundations of Cognitive Theory and Therapy of Depression. New York, Wiley, 1999. - ISBN 0-471-18970-7
  • 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 978-1-60623-018-3

External links

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