At some point all our lives, there is a good chance we may experience depression. It's far more common than you may think, and psychologists have come a long way in understanding it. Today, someone experiencing depression can find help from a very effective treatment thanks to the prolific work of Aaron Beck, the" father of cognitive-behavioral therapy".
First, we'll look at Aaron Beck's biography.
Then, we have a few Aaron Beck theories to explore.
As we continue, we'll discuss Aaron Beck's cognitive therapy.
Then, what is Aaron Beck's contribution to psychology?
Finally, we'll take a look at a few Aaron Beck quotes.
Aaron Beck: Biography
Aaron Beck's biography dates to July 18th, 1921. In Providence, Rhode Island, Aaron Temkin Beck was born to Elizabeth Temkin, his mother, and Harry Beck, his father.
Beck, the youngest of his other four siblings, remembered his mother's bouts of depression after two of her children passed away.
His mother's struggle with depression played a role in his interest in treating depression.
In 1942, Beck graduated with his bachelor's degree from Brown University, and in 1946, he graduated from Yale Medical School in psychiatry. Before taking a teaching position at the University of Pennsylvania, Beck served as Assistant Chief of the Department of Neuropsychiatry at the Valley Forge Army Hospital and as a fellow at the Austin Riggs Center.
In 1950, he married his wife, Phyllis W. Beck, the first female judge in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania appellate court. The two would have four children together: Judy, Alice, Dan, and Roy.
Dr Aaron Beck lived to be 100 years old. He passed away on November 1st, 2021.
In the early years of his career as a psychiatrist, Beck still strongly endorsed psychoanalysis, which was the dominant psychotherapeutic modality at that time.
Psychoanalysis is a psychology school of thought that suggests childhood experiences and conflicts within the psyche (mind) contribute to mental illnesses.
He thought that by conducting more research into the psychoanalytic explanation of depression, the medical community would take the discipline more seriously. However, Beck's research led him to develop his own theories of depression.
Fig. 1 - Aaron Beck is the founding father of cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.
Aaron Beck: Theories
Aaron Beck's theories begin with his cognitive model, which branches away from his original psychoanalytic views of depression. He developed his cognitive theory of depression, which focuses on how a person's schema can affect their mood.
A schema is a mental framework of our behaviour that we use as a template for our existing knowledge to dictate how we should think and behave.
Aaron Beck's Cognitive Model
Aaron Beck's theory of depression was formed based on his initial studies with depressed patients who were initially meant to support the psychoanalytic theory of depression.
The psychoanalytic theory of depression suggests that depressed patients have some underlying hostility toward themselves as well as an innate need to suffer.
Beck did not find this to be the case. His cognitive model suggests that how we perceive our experience can, in turn, impact our behavioral, emotional, and physiological reactions. Beck found that many of his depressed patients had formed negative beliefs, usually regarding failure and loss, and they often experienced what he called automatic thoughts.
According to Aaron Beck, automatic thoughts refer to spontaneous negative thoughts often experienced by a depressed person.
Beck's treatment method was to help patients assess the validity of their automatic thoughts and cognitive distortions.
If someone frequently had the thought, "No one loves me", Beck might help them assess the validity of this statement. Perhaps by exploring evidence that their friends and family did, in fact, love them.
Aaron Beck's Cognitive Theory of Depression
Now that we understand the cognitive model he uncovered, what exactly does Aaron Beck's cognitive theory of depression state?
Aaron Beck's cognitive theory of depression says that people develop depression due to the self-deprecating and inaccurate beliefs or schemas they make about themselves, the world, and others.
Beck argued that there are three types of "schemas" that rule over a person's depressed thinking, commonly referred to as Beck's cognitive triad:
The Self - "I'm a failure."
The World - "The whole world is against me."
The Future - "I'll never be successful in anything."
Beck believed these negative schemas might result from a traumatic event in a person's childhood.
He asserts that a depressed person's negative schemas can even shape what they pay attention to in their environment. He found that, often, depressed people will selectively pay attention to elements in their environment that can confirm their negative thinking and beliefs. Evidence that disproves their dysfunctional thinking could be directly in front of them, and they still can still fail to pay attention to it.
The frequency and severity of a person's negative thoughts are directly related to the severity of their depressive symptoms.
Aaron Beck's Cognitive Therapy
After discovering that psychoanalytic therapy for depression lacked scientific evidence, Aaron Beck found himself knee-deep in another discipline -- cognitive psychology. Beck took his cognitive model and cognitive theory of depression and developed one of the most effective psychotherapies today: cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a type of psychological treatment that identifies and reframes a person's dysfunctional thinking and encourages affirming behaviors.
As we mentioned earlier, Beck often treated his depressed patients by helping them reframe or disprove their negative thinking about themselves, the world, and their future. But he also found that patients also benefited from engaging in more adaptive behaviors that help them feel better. These together form the basis of cognitive-behavioral therapy.
A cognitive-behavioral therapist often assigns homework to their patients such as journaling to help them identify issues in their thinking.
Several research studies have been designed to test the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy as a treatment for depression. The results are indisputable -- CBT is incredibly effective in treating depression. In fact, Beck and other researchers found that CBT is the first form of talk therapy that is as effective as antidepressant medication for treating depression. Research also found that CBT is twice as effective in preventing relapse than antidepressant medication.
But it doesn't stop there! Beck's cognitive-behavioral therapy has been proven effective in treating several other types of mental health conditions, including generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder (PD), eating disorders, and phobias.
Aaron Beck: Contribution to Psychology
By now, we have a pretty good idea of Aaron Beck's contribution to psychology. His work on treating depressed patients and the development of cognitive-behavioral therapy has transformed the field and, not to mention, has helped many people overcome mental health conditions beyond depression.
Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy
But Beck's contributions to psychology do not stop there. Beck found that while CBT proved to be an effective treatment, very few psychologists were properly trained in the practice. So in 1994, Dr Aaron Beck and his daughter, Dr Judith Beck, co-founded the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy.
Since then, the nonprofit has trained over 28,000 mental health professionals in CBT across 130 countries. These professionals include students, researchers, clinicians, and students.
Dr Aaron Beck has been more than recognized for his contributions. He received numerous awards throughout his lifetime, including the following:
- Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research.
- Gustave O. Lienhard Award from the Institute of Medicine.
- Sarnat Award.
- Kennedy Community Health Award.
- Prince Mahidol Award in Medicine.
- Grawemeyer Award for Psychology.
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)
Back in 1954, when Beck was teaching at the University of Pennsylvania in the psychiatry department, he was able to run the depression research clinic. He continued to fine-tune his cognitive approach to depression, and in 1961, he developed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).
The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is a 21-item scale that determines the severity of depression symptoms using a Likert scale, a psychometric scale that uses a questionnaire.
Each question is assigned a number from 0 to 3, and the total score is used to determine a person's degree of depression.
0-9: minimal depression
10-18: mild depression
19-29: moderate depression
30-63: severe depression
The BDI is now one of the most common psychometric tests used to assess depression.
Fig. 2 - Aaron Beck studied several patients with depression.
Aaron Beck: Quotes
Beck wrote 25 books and over 600 scientific articles. The first article was entitled "Thinking and Depression", published in 1963 and discussed Cognitive Therapy. Many of his publications discussed his research on depression, cognitive therapy, or CBT.
However, he also published two non-academic books that applied CBT to conflict and relationships: Love is Never Enough and Prisoners of Hate. Here are a few Aaron Beck quotes from his exthese titles.
There is a dearth of conversation that revolves simply around expressions of caring, sharing, and loving" 1
Your spouse is your closest relative and is entitled to depend on you as a committed ally, supporter, and champion." 1
The tendency to compare oneself with others further lowers self-esteem. Every encounter with another may be turned into a negative self-evaluation." 2
The manners that apply specifically during courtship come to be replaced over the course of marriage by a different set of manners, embodying the residual pettiness, complaining, and faultfinding of childhood." 1
... to be of greater use, the rules need to be remolded so that they are more precise and accurate, less egocentric, and more elastic. When rules are discovered to be false, self-defeating, or unworkable, they have to be dropped from the repertoire." 2
Aaron Beck - Key takeaways
- In the early years of his career as a psychiatrist, Beck still strongly endorsed psychoanalysis, which was the dominant psychotherapeutic modality at that time. However, Beck's research led him to develop his own theories of depression.
- Aaron Beck's theories were based on many of his depressed patients who had formed negative beliefs, usually regarding failure and loss, and they often experienced what he called automatic thoughts. Automatic thoughts are the spontaneous negative thoughts a depressed person often experiences.
- Aaron Beck's cognitive therapy is a type of psychological treatment that identifies and reframes a person's dysfunctional thinking and encourages affirming behaviors.
- Beck found that while CBT proved to be an effective treatment, very few psychologists were properly trained in the practice. So in 1994, Dr Aaron Beck and his daughter, Dr Judith Beck, co-founded the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy.
- Aaron Beck's contributions to psychology include writing over 25 books and over 600 scientific articles. The first article was entitled "Thinking and Depression", published in 1963 and discussed Cognitive Therapy.
References
- Beck, A. T. (1989). Love is never enough. HarperPerennial.
- Beck, A. T. (1979). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. Meridian Book.
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