Aaron Beck

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Lore & Background

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. He graduated as valedictorian from Hope Street High School in 1938. Beck matriculated at Brown University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1942, was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and was an associate editor of The Brown Daily Herald. He attended Yale Medical School and graduated 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. He became a fellow in psychiatry at the Austen Riggs Center until 1952, then completed military service as assistant chief of neuropsychiatry at Valley Forge Army Hospital. Beck joined the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania in 1954 and began formal training in psychoanalysis at the Philadelphia Institute of the American Psychoanalytic Association. His early research, published in 1959, found themes of loss and rejection related to depression, rather than inverted hostility as predicted by psychoanalysis. He developed the Beck Depression Inventory, which he published in 1961. The American Psychoanalytic Institute rejected Beck's membership application in 1960 and again in 1961. In 1962, Beck requested a sabbatical and went into private practice for five years. His first articles on the cognitive theory of depression appeared in 1963 and 1964 in the Archives of General Psychiatry. He published more than 600 professional journal articles and authored or co-authored 25 books.

Reader's Guide

Aaron Beck's significance lies in his development of cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. 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, psychologist Judith S. Beck, founded the nonprofit Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy, which provides CBT treatment and training, as well as research. Beck served as President Emeritus of the organization up until his death. 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. Beck was noted for his writings on psychotherapy, psychopathology, suicide, and psychometrics.

Did You Know?

• Beck graduated as valedictorian from Hope Street High School in 1938.
• He was an associate editor of The Brown Daily Herald while at Brown University.
• The American Psychoanalytic Institute rejected Beck's membership application in 1960 and again in 1961.
• Beck published his first articles on the cognitive theory of depression in 1963 and 1964 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
• He published more than 600 professional journal articles and authored or co-authored 25 books.

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