Dr. Aaron T. Beck's Biography
 Aaron T. Beck, M.D., is the President of the non-profit Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research, and University Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Brown University (1942) and Yale Medical School (1946). Dr. Beck developed cognitive therapy in the early 1960s as a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania. He had previously studied and practiced psychoanalysis. A researcher and scientist at heart, Dr. Beck designed and carried out a number of experiments to test psychoanalytic concepts of depression. Fully expecting research would validate these fundamental precepts, he was surprised to find the opposite. This research led him to begin to look for other ways of conceptualizing depression. Working with depressed patients, he found that they experienced streams of negative thoughts that seemed to pop up spontaneously. He termed these cognitions “automatic thoughts,” and discovered that their content fell into three categories: negative ideas about themselves, the world and the future. He began helping patients identify and evaluate these thoughts and found that by doing so, patients were able to think more realistically, which led them to feel better emotionally and behave more functionally.
Since that time, Dr. Beck and his colleagues worldwide have researched the efficacy of this form of psychotherapy in treating a wide variety of disorders including depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, drug abuse, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and many medical conditions with psychological components. Some of his most recent work has focused on cognitive therapy for schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder and for patients who are repeat suicide attempters
The recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees, Dr. Beck is the only psychiatrist to receive research awards from both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association. He is also a senior member of the Institute of Medicine and a recipient of the 2003 Sarnat International Award in Mental Health and the 2004 Grawemeyer Award for his role as “a revolutionary in psychology”. Dr. Beck has published over 500 articles, authored or co-authored seventeen books, and lectured throughout the world. He has been named one of the “Americans in history who shaped the face of American Psychiatry”1 and one of the “five most influential psychotherapists of all time” by The American Psychologist (July 1989).
Dr. Beck is the Honorary President of the non-profit Academy of Cognitive Therapy, an organization of over 500 cognitive therapists worldwide. As part of its mission, the Academy supports continuing education and research in cognitive therapy, provides a valuable resource in cognitive therapy for professionals and the public at large, and actively works towards the identification and certification of clinicians skilled in cognitive therapy.
Among his many activities, Dr. Beck is currently involved in a number of research studies at Penn, and conducts biweekly Case Conferences at Beck Institute for area psychiatric residents, graduate students, and mental health professionals.
1 Talbott, J.A. (2002). Dix Personalité Qui Ont Changé le Visage de la Psychiatric Américaine. L’Information Psychiatrique, 78(7), 667-675.
Awards and Honors
1942 Brown University
Phi Beta Kappa
Francis Wayland Scholar
Gaston Award (for Oratory)
Bennet Essay Prize
1948 Rhode Island Medical Society Award for Research
1978 Philadelphia Society of Clinical Psychologists:
Distinguished Researcher Award
1979 American Psychiatric Association: Foundation's Fund Prize for Research in Psychiatry
1983 American Psychopathological Association: Paul Hoch Award
1983 American Association of Suicidology: Louis Dublin Award for Suicide Research
1987 Royal College of Psychiatrists, Fellow
1989 American Psychological Association: Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology
1989 Brown University: William Rogers Award
1991 National Institute of Mental Health
Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award for
Research Grant #MH47383 Risk Factors for Suicide
in Psychiatric Outpatients
1991 American Suicide Foundation, Research Award for Lifetime Work on Hopelessness and Suicide
1992 Harvard University: The Karen Stone Lectureship
1992 New York Academy of Medicine: Honoree, Thomas
William Salmon Award
1992 Albert Einstein College of Medicine
The Einstein Award in Psychiatry
1993 American Psychological Society
James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award in Applied Psychology
1995 Assumption College, Doctor of Humane Letters (Honorary)
1996 California Psychological Association, Lifetime Achievement Award
1996 Society for Psychotherapy Research, Distinguished Scientist Award
1996 Belmont Behavioral Health System, Outstanding Researcher Award
1997 The Nicholas & Dorothy Cummings Foundation Cummings PSYCHE Award for Lifetime Achievement
1997 Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Senior Member
1998 Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy
Lifetime Achievement Award
1999 Society for Research in Psychopathology
The Joseph Zubin Award for Distinguished Contributions in Psychopathology
1999 Brown University, Distinguished Scientific Award for The Study and Treatment of Mental Disorders
2000 American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Greater Philadelphia Chapter, for Outstanding and Innovative Research into the Detection and Treatment of Suicidal Individuals
2001 Heinz Award for the Human Condition
2001 Philadelphia Psychiatric Society
Lifetime Achievement Award
2001 Columbia University; New York State Psychiatric Institute: Brickell Award
2002 Yale University: Cherlin Lectureship
2002 Treatment and Research Advancements National Association for Personality Disorders
First TARA Exemplary Achievement Award
2003 Institute of Medicine
Sarnat Award
2004 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Psychology
2005 International Academy for Suicide Research – Morselli Medal for Lifetime of Research in the Field of Suicide
2006 American Psychiatric Association – Adolf Meyer Award
2006 University of Pennsylvania Health System Strecker Award for outstanding contribution in the field of clinical psychiatry
2006 American Foundation for Suicide Prevention – Lifetime Achievement Award
2006
Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research
2006
For a longer biography of Dr. Aaron T. Beck, a Publications List, and other important information, please visit: http://www.med.upenn.edu/suicide/beck/index.html
To learn more about Dr. Beck’s research interests, please visit: http://www.med.upenn.edu/suicide/beck/research.html
For inquiries to Dr. Beck, please email: abeck@mail.med.upenn.edu
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