Cognitive Therapy And The Emotional Disorders

Description

Is the emotionally disturbed person a victim of forces beyond his awareness, over which he has no control? This is the belief on which neuropsychiatry, psychoanalysis, and behavior therapy are all based. But what if this premise is wrong? What if a person’s psychological difficulties stem from his own erroneous assumptions and faulty concepts of himself and the world? Such a person can be helped to recognize and correct distortions in thinking that cause his emotional disturbance. Now one of the founders of cognitive therapy has written a clear, comprehensive guide to its theory and practice, highlighting such important concepts as: · Learning the meaning of hidden messages · Listening to your automatic thoughts · The role of sadness, anger, and anxiety · Understanding and overcoming phobias and depression · Applying the cognitive system of therapy to specific problems “A book by a significant contributor to our knowledge… immensely readable, logical, and coherent… This is Beck at his best.”—Psychiatry

About the Author

Aaron Temkin Beck was an American psychiatrist who was a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He is regarded as the father of cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). 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, psychologistJudith 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.Beck was noted for his writings on psychotherapy, psychopathology, suicide, and psychometrics. He published more than 600 professional journal articles, and authored or co-authored 25 books. 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. His work at the University of Pennsylvania inspiredMartin E.P. Seligmanto refine his own cognitive techniques and later work on learned helplessness.