He published much of his work in his own journal, Cognitive Therapy and Research, partly because other mental health professionals disregarded his findings. Some psychologists called cognitive therapy superficial and little more than a morale booster, but it became required training for psychiatry residents.īeck always responded to critics with data from his research. Besides depression, it has been used to treat conditions including bulimia, panic attacks, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and drug abuse.īeck’s pragmatic view of psychotherapy had its sceptics. He found that results endured long after therapy was finished, as patients learned to confront those thoughts on their own.Ĭognitive therapy sessions follow a strict format, which always include setting goals for the session and homework assignments. He touted the idea with an anti-Freudian maxim: “There’s more to the surface than meets the eye.”īeck discovered that patients who learn to recognise the faulty logic of their negative automatic thoughts – such as, “I’ll always be a failure” or “no one likes me” – could learn to overcome their fears and think more rationally, which diminished their anxiety and improved their mood. 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. He developed the treatment after finding that his depressed patients frequently experienced distorted negative ideas – he dubbed them “automatic thoughts”. It prompts patients to focus on distortions in their day-to-day thinking, rather than on conflicts buried in childhood. “He has inspired students, clinicians, and researchers for several generations with his passion and his groundbreaking work.”īeck developed the field of cognitive behavioural therapy, a clinical form of psychotherapy, at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1960s. “My father was an amazing person who dedicated his life to helping others,” his daughter said, noting that her father continued to work right up to his death. He died peacefully early in the morning, according to a statement issued by the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, which he co-founded with his daughter, Dr Judith Beck. Dr Aaron T Beck, a groundbreaking psychotherapist widely regarded as the father of cognitive therapy, died on Monday at his Philadelphia home aged 100.īeck’s work revolutionised the diagnosis and treatment of depression and other psychological disorders.

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