Aaron T. Beck facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Aaron Beck
Born	Aaron Temkin Beck (1921-07-18)July 18, 1921 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Died	November 1, 2021(2021-11-01) (aged 100) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater	Brown University (AB) Yale University (MD)
Known for	Beck Depression Inventory
Spouse(s)	Phyllis W. Beck ​ (m. 1950)​
Children	4, including Judith
Awards	See list
Scientific career
Fields	Psychiatry
Institutions	University of Pennsylvania Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Aaron Temkin Beck (July 18, 1921 – November 1, 2021) was an American psychiatrist and a professor emeritus in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He is thought to be the father of cognitive therapy, and his theories are widely used in the treatment of clinical depression.

Early life and career

Aaron Temkin Beck was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on July 18, 1921. He was the youngest of four children born to Elizabeth Temkin and Harry Beck, Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. At the time of Aaron's birth, the Temkin-Becks lived a "comfortable, lower-middle class lifestyle" and were in the process of putting down roots on Providence's East Side. In 1923, when Aaron was two years old, the family purchased a house at 43/41 Sessions Street in the city's Blackstone neighborhood.

Beck's Hope High School yearbook photograph

Beck attended John Howland Grammar School, Nathan Bishop Junior High, and Hope Street High School, where he graduated as valedictorian in 1938. As an adolescent, Beck dreamed of becoming a journalist. Beck matriculated at Brown University, where he graduated 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, planning to become an internist and work in private practice in Providence. He graduated from Yale with a Doctor of Medicine in 1946.

After receiving his M.D., Beck completed a six-month junior residency in pathology at Rhode Island Hospital and a three-year residency in neurology at Cushing Veterans Administration Hospital in Framingham, Massachusetts. During this time, Beck 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 he became absorbed in psychoanalysis, despite initial wariness.

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.

Career

Beck then joined the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania in 1954. Beck 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. Beck was known for his research in psychotherapy, psychopathology, and psychometrics, which led to his creation of cognitive therapy and the BDI, one of the most widely used instruments for measuring depression severity.

Beck worked with psychologist Maria Kovacs in the creation of the Children's Depression Inventory, which used the BDI as a model. Beck's work at the University of Pennsylvania inspired Martin Seligman to create his own cognitive techniques and exercises, and later work on learned helplessness.

Beck was the President Emeritus of the non-profit Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy and the Honorary President of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, which certifies qualified cognitive therapists.

Personal life

Beck was married in 1950 to Honorable Phyllis W. Beck (ret.), and they had four children together: Roy, Judy, Dan, and Alice.

Works

• Beck, A.T., & Haigh, E. A.-P. (2014). Advances in Cognitive Theory and Therapy: The Generic Cognitive Model. Palo Alto, CA: Annual Review of Clinical Psychology. DOI 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032813-153734
• Beck, A.T. (1967). The diagnosis and management of depression. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN: 0-8122-7674-4
• Beck, A.T. (1972). Depression: Causes and treatment. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN: 978-0-8122-7652-7
• Beck, A.T. (1975). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. Madison, CT: International Universities Press, Inc. ISBN: 0-8236-0990-1
• Beck, A.T., Rush, A.J., Shaw, B.F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York, NY: Guilford Press. ISBN: 0-89862-000-7

Selected awards and honors

Beck received honorary degrees from Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, Assumption College, and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

In 2017, Medscape named Beck the fourth most influential physician in the past century.

See also

In Spanish: Aaron T. Beck para niños