Aaron T. Beck

A short biography

The US psychiatrist Beck played a pioneering role in developing cognitive therapy. His work on depression contributed to the systematic consideration of thoughts and meaning in psychotherapy.

In psychiatry and psychotherapy, he systematically examined patterns of thought in depression. Investigating interpretations collaboratively linked clinical work with testable hypotheses. Cognitive therapy subsequently developed through many researchers and practitioners.

What does this figure represent in psychology?

He represents investigating interpretations within relationships between thoughts, feelings and behaviour. He is one historical reference for the homepage’s connection with CBT.

Automatic thoughts and underlying beliefs help examine different meanings attached to events. The aim is not compulsory positive thinking, but evaluating evidence, alternatives and behavioural relationships while retaining social and bodily context.

Key concepts

Automatic thought: a rapidly arising interpretation. Cognitive triad: a framework concerning negative views of self, world and future in depression.

Selected works and publications

• Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders1976
• Cognitive Therapy of Depression1979A. T. Beck, A. J. Rush, B. F. Shaw, G. Emery

Links lead to original texts, institutional catalogues or publication records; not every link provides a free full text. Work titles are retained in their original or established language.

Reading in context

Cognitive therapy is not presented as forced positive thinking or as reducing every difficulty to thoughts.