Aaron T. Beck, a pioneering psychotherapist and father of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), has died at 100. He was buried at his Philadelphia home on Monday.
His work revolutionized the treatment of depression by changing the way people think to improve how they feel. CBT has since been used to treat other psychological disorders including bulimia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and drug addiction.
According to the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy which he co-founded alongside his daughter, Dr. Judith Beck Beck, Beck died peacefully in his sleep.
The 67-year old psychologist stated that her father was an extraordinary person who dedicated his life helping others. She also noted that her father worked until his death.
“He has inspired clinicians, students, and researchers for many generations through his passion and his pioneering work.”
Aaron T. Beck (pictured 2008, left and right), a pioneering psychotherapist who was known as the Father in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), passed away Monday at his Philadelphia home.
Dr. Judith Beck (67-year-old daughter of Aaron Beck) said that her father was an extraordinary person who dedicated his entire life to helping others. His passion and pioneering work has inspired generations of students, clinicians and researchers.
In the 1960s, Beck created the field of cognitive therapy at the University of Pennsylvania. It is a clinical form of psychotherapy.
It helps patients recognize and dismiss irrational thoughts about themselves, the future, and the world.
After seeing that depressed patients often experienced distorted negative thoughts, he developed the treatment. He called them ‘automatic thinking’.
Unlike Freudian psychoanalysis, which delves into a patient´s childhood and searches for hidden internal conflicts, cognitive therapy says turning around a self-disparaging inner monologue is key to alleviating many psychological problems, often in a dozen sessions or fewer.
He proclaimed the idea with an antiFreudian maxim: “There’s more beneath the surface than meets your eye.”
Beck discovered that patients could overcome their fears and be more rational if they were able to recognize the faulty logic in their negative automatic thoughts.
He discovered that the results lasted long after therapy was over, because patients were able to face their fears on their own.
Cognitive therapy sessions follow a strict format. This includes setting goals for the session, and assigning homework.
It can also be used to treat depression, anxiety, panic attacks, socialphobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, and drug abuse.
Beck’s pragmatic approach to psychotherapy was not without its critics. Cognitive therapy was criticized by some psychologists as a superficial approach to psychotherapy. However, it became a requirement for training psychiatrists.
Beck responded to critics with data gleaned from his research. Because other mental health professionals ignored his findings, Beck published much of his work in Cognitive Therapy and Research.
He co-wrote or co-authored 17 books, published over 500 articles, and was awarded honors, including the Heinz Award, Lesker Award, and the Sarnat Award from The Institute of Medicine.
American Psychologist Magazine in 1982 named Beck one the 10 most influential psychotherapists.
Beck, a native of Providence, Rhode Island and the third child of middle-class Russian Jewish immigrants was Beck’s first exercise in cognitive therapy. He had been admitted to hospital at eight years old.
The Boy Scout, an athletic boy, became terrified of hospitals and blood. Even the smell of ether could cause him to faint.
He claimed that he was able to overcome his fears by learning how to ignore his wooziness, and keeping busy with other activities.
The Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy which Beck co-founded with his daughter, Dr. Judith Beck
Beck graduated from Brown University, 1942, and Yale Medical School, 1946.
After stints in hospitals in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, he was recruited to the Penn psychiatry department in 1954.
As a young psychologist, he carried out experiments that disproved Freudian theory that people are depressed because of their need to suffer.
He concluded that depression didn´t come from masochism, as Freud believed, but from low self-worth.
Beck’s later research focused on cognitive therapy’s effectiveness for schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, as well as for patients with repeated suicide attempts.
Beck is survived his wife of over 70 years, former state judge Phyllis Beck. She was also a former Penn vice dean and had three other children. There were 10 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.