| Aaron Beck | |
 Beck in 2016 at the age of 96 | |
| Birth: | 18 July 1921 Providence, Rhode Island, USA |
| Death: | 1 November 2021 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Age: | 100 years, 106 days |
| Country: |  USA
|
| Centenarian | |
Aaron Temkin Beck (18 July 1921 – 1 November 2021) was an American centenarian and psychiatrist who was a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He is regarded as the father of cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Biography[]
Early life[]
Beck was born in Providence, Rhode Island, USA on 18 July 1921, the youngest of four children born to Ashkenazi Jewish (from Ukraine) immigrants, Elizabeth Temkin and Harry Beck. He 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 a Doctor of Medicine in 1946.
He began to specialize in neurology, reportedly liking the precision of its procedures. However, due to a shortage of psychiatry residents he was instructed to do a six-month rotation in that field, and became absorbed in psychoanalysis, despite initial wariness.
Career[]
After completing his medical internships and residencies from 1946 to 1950, Beck became a fellow in psychiatry at the Austen Riggs Center, a private mental hospital in the mountains of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, until 1952. At that time it was a center of ego psychology with an unusual degree of collaboration between psychiatrists and psychologists, including David Rapaport.
Beck then completed military service as assistant chief of neuropsychiatry at Valley Forge Army Hospital in the United States Military.
His pioneering methods are widely used in the treatment of clinical depression and various anxiety disorders. Beck also developed self-report measures for depression and anxiety, notably the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), which became one of the most widely used instruments for measuring the severity of depression. In 1994, he and his daughter, the psychologist Judith S. Beck, founded the nonprofit Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy, which provides CBT treatment and training and conducts CBT research. Beck served as President Emeritus of the organization up until his death.
Beck was noted for his writings on psychotherapy, psychopathology, suicide, and psychometrics. He published more than 600 professional journal articles, and authored or co-authored 25 books. He was named one of the "Americans in history who shaped the face of American psychiatry", and one of the "five most influential psychotherapists of all time" by The American Psychologist in July 1989. His work at the University of Pennsylvania inspired Martin Seligman to refine his own cognitive techniques and later work on learned helplessness.
Personal life[]
Beck married Phyllis W. Beck in 1950. The couple had four children: Roy, Judy, Dan, and Alice. Phyllis was the first woman judge on the appellate court of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Her youngest daughter, Alice Beck Dubow, is a judge on the same court, while the older daughter Judith is a prominent CBT educator and clinician, who wrote the basic text in the field and is a co-founder of the non-profit Beck Institute.
He celebrated his 100th birthday on 18 July 2021.
He died in his sleep at his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA on 1 November 2021 at the age of 100 years, 106 days.
Gallery[]
References[]
- Martin Seligman's journey: From learned helplessness to learned happiness The Pennsylvania Gazette, 4 January 1999
- 2004 - Aaron Beck Grawemeyer, 21 July 2004 (Archived)
- Aaron Beck The Heinz Awards
- Aaron Beck Beck Institute
- A Brief History of Aaron T. Beck, MD, and Cognitive Behavior Therapy Clinical Psychology in Europe
- Judge Alice Beck Dubow Superior Court Judges
- Department of Psychiatry : Aaron T. Beck, M.D. My.med (Archived)
- A 60-Year Evolution of Cognitive Theory and Therapy Perspectives on Psychological Science
- The "Splendid Isolation" of Aaron T. Beck Jstor
- The Doctor Is IN The American Scholar, 1 September 2009
- heoretical Models of Counseling and Psychotherapy, 19 January 2011
- Faculty Details Marino Legal, 29 September 2015 (Archived)
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Expert Aaron Beck Going Strong at 96 Jewish Exponent, 18 October 2017
- 100 anni di Beck: un acrobata tra cognitivismo e psicoanalisi – Monografia State of Mind, 17 July 2021
- In Memory of Aaron Temkin Beck, MD Beck Institute, 1 November 2021
- Dr. Aaron T. Beck, Developer of Cognitive Therapy, Dies at 100 The New York Times, 1 November 2021
- Aaron Beck, psychiatrist whose development of cognitive behavioural therapy transformed millions of lives around the world – obituary The Telegraph, 1 November 2021
- How did Dr. Aaron Beck die and what was his cause of death? Developer of Cognitive Therapy, Dies at 100 Get India News, 3 November 2021