Aaron of five children and his parents

AaronT. Beck was born July 18, 1921 in RhodeIsland. He was the youngest of five children and his parents were RussianJewish immigrants.

Growing up, he was surrounded by his father’s strong socialistbeliefs and a mother who had already lost two of her children. At the age ofeight, Beck developed a staph infection after breaking his arm. It waslife-threatening and even though he survived, the effects were long-lasting. Afterwards, his day to day activitieschanged dramatically. Before the infection, he was a very active child whoplayed many sports and was a boy scout.

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After the infection, he became a fan ofless active entertainment, such as reading. The infection also made him developa phobia of blood and injury. He says that he was able to overcome this fear bythinking logically (Goode). These childhood events would help shape the rest ofhis life.Afterhigh school, he continued his educationat Brown University where he graduated magma cum laude in 1942. Aftergraduating, he went to Yale Medical School to start a career in medicine whichhe graduated from in 1946. He began his career in the medical field in 1946 atthe Rhode Island Hospital where he had a residency in pathology.

In 1948, he beganhis residency in neurology at the Gushing Veterans Administration Hospital inFarmington, Massachusetts. During his time here, he often was put on a rotationthat involved psychiatry which sparked his interest in the field and the newdevelopments happening in it. In 1950, he began to serve as a fellow inpsychiatry at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He gaineda lot of experience in long-term psychotherapy during his time there.

He laterbegan working at the Valley Forge Army Hospital during the Korean War where heserved as the Assistant Chief of Neuropsychiatry (“Aaron T. Beck, M.D.”).

AaronT. Beck’s real work began when he became certified by the American Board ofPsychiatry in 1953 and afterward, in1954, joined the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Whilethere, he studied psychoanalytic theories of depression, but he chose a different path when he struggled to help hispatients find a way to capture their emotion (“Aaron T.

Beck, M.D.”). Henoticed that people that suffer from depression suffered from recurringthoughts and as long as they had those recurring thoughts, they would continueto suffer from depression. From this realization, Beck’s Cognitive Theory ofDepression was born (“Aaron Beck Biography”).

Beck’sCognitive Theory of Depression states that negative thoughts are the primarycause of depression. He believes that there is a direct relationship betweenthe severity of someone’s negative thoughts and the severity of the depressiona person is suffering from. Beck also founded the idea of the “NegativeCognitive Triad” which is made of three dysfunctional belief themes that Beckbelieves makes up a depressed person’s thoughts. The first theme is I amdefective or inadequate, the second is all of my experiences result in defeatsor failures, and the third is the future is hopeless.

According to Beck’sCognitive Theory of Depression, when these are present, symptoms of depressionare likely to occur if they haven’t occurred yet (Nemade et al.).Alongwith being the founder of cognitive therapy, Aaron Beck has also developedvarious tests, the most popular being the Beck Depression Inventory. The BeckDepression Inventory consists of a series of questions, usually 21, that areused to determine the symptoms and severity of the depression that you’refeeling. It was originally meant for patients that had mental health issues, but now it is often used in the primaryhealth care setting as well.

After the test is taken, a score is added up withthe highest score possible being the most severe depression.  In the general public, a score of 21 orhigher means that you are experiencing depression (“Beck Depression Inventory”).Beck’sAnxiety Inventory is another popular examination.

It consists of 21 multiplechoice questions and is used to determine the severity of anxiety in adults andadolescents. It’s sometimes used to discriminate anxiety from depression aswell. During the test, a person is given a symptom of anxiety and is asked tosay how much they’ve experienced it in the last week from not at all (0) toseverely (3).  The score is added up atthe end with 63 being the highest (Grant).

The test helps professionals betterunderstand how to help you.  Beck’sHopelessness Scale, another famous test from Beck, is used to determinepeople’s negative feelings about the future. Three types of questions are askedon the 20 question true/false assessment: feelings about the future, loss of motivation, and future expectations.

The test is out of 20 points with higher scores representing stronger feelingsof hopelessness and is often used with the Beck Depression Inventory (Crocker).WhileAaron Beck was making a large impact in his professional life, there were alsosome major developments in his personal life. In 1950, Beck married Phyllis whohe is still married to today. The couple isthe parents of four children.

One of their children, Judith, was born in 1954and is currently following in her father’s footsteps. She is best known for herwork in cognitive therapy and has worked with her father on many occasions(“Aaron T. Beck, M.

D.”). Whenasked about who influenced him, Aaron Beck responded that three people stoodout: Karen Horney, George Kelly, and Albert Ellis.  Karen Horney was a Neo-Freudian who rejectedsome of Freud’s ideas whose ideas Beck agreed with and they helped him come upwith some of his ideas. George Kelly and Albert Ellis were behavioral theoristswhose idea of looking at what was going on in the patient’s head was as importantas studying their behavior (Bartosh). AaronBeck has also influenced a lot of psychologists, most notably Martin Seligman.

He has followed down the path of Cognitive Behavior Therapy that Beck pavedwith his work in positive psychology which focuses on what makes life worthliving.AaronBeck has published over 580 articles and authored/co-authored 24 books. A lotof his publications have been about cognitive therapy including the subjects ofdepression and suicide, but he has tackled other topics as well. In his earlieryears, his articles about psychotherapy were published and more recently Beck’sarticles about taking a cognitive approach to mental illnesses such asschizophrenia, personality disorders, and anxiety disorders have also beenpublished (“Aaron T. Beck, M.D.”). Dueto Aaron Beck’s many accomplishments, he has received many awards throughouthis life.

In 1979, the American Psychiatric Association awarded Beck theFoundation’s Fund Prize for Research in Psychiatry. In 1992, Beck was given TheKaren Stone Lectureship by Harvard University. In 2001, Beck was honored toreceive the Brickel Award from Columbia University and was just as happy toreceive the Charlin Lectureship from YaleUniversity a year later. A really important honor that Beck received was thehonorary title of Doctor of Science from the University of Pennsylvania in2007. He also received the honorary title of Doctor of Medical Science from YaleUniversity in 2012. A little more recently, in 2013, Beck received the KennedyCommunity Health Award (“Aaron T.

Beck, M.D.”).AaronBeck’s work has had a global impact. In 2009, a survey showed that cognitive behaviortherapy is the most widely used form of psychotherapy by medicalprofessionals.  There are at least 40organizations throughout the nation that work to spread cognitive therapy andprovide research on the topic.

Also, The Center for Clinical Excellence of theBritish Health Service has chosen cognitive behavioral therapy as therecommended treatment for depression along with many other mental healthservices (“Aaron T. Beck, M.D.”). Somebelieve that cognitive behavioral therapy isn’t as effective as people make itout to be.

 Researchers Tom Johnsen and Oddgeir Friborg analyzed 70 differentstudies between 1977 and 2014 and concluded that cognitive behavioral therapyis around half as effective as it used to be in treating depression. Oneexplanation as to why this happened, going along the lines of the Expectancy-Value Theory, is that people thoughtit was a miracle cure so it may have acted like one. When it started to notwork for people though, then the effect wore off (Burkeman). Another piece ofcriticism, from Robert Fancher, is thatcognitive behavioral therapy fails to provide a framework for what correctthinking is (Van Nuys).Nopsychologist could accomplish anything significant without help. Aaron Beck hashad many colleagues over the years that have helped him significantly.  Robert Steer and Gregory Brown are creditedwith helping Beck come up with a version of the Beck Depression Inventory.Jeffrey Young has also helped Beck over the years and they published a bookabout a cognitive therapy scale together.

These people and many more deserve part of the credit for Beck’ssuccess.   

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