A Special Feature in Commemoration of Aaron T. Beck’s Contributions to the Science and Practice of CBT

• Published in: Cognitive and behavioral practice 2022-08, Vol.29 (3), p.501-504
• Main Author: Kazantzis, Nikolaos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aaron T. Beck; CBT; cognitive behavior therapy; cognitive therapy
• ISSN: 1077-7229; 1878-187X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpra.2022.03.003

This special feature in Cognitive and Behavioral Practice is a commemoration to Aaron T. Beck’s contributions to the science and practice of CBT. The fact that so many leading scholars, including several Past Presidents of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies participated speaks volumes about the high regard held for Beck. Included are papers that cover the Beckian model of depression, its refinement and application to obsessions, compulsions, hoarding, as well as how the model addresses interpretational biases in emotional psychopathology and has been adapted for youth. Additionally there are papers conveying how Beck’s phenomenological approach to understanding the client’s perspective is useful in attending to cultural differences, and in mitigating the mental health impact of marginalization and discrimination. Expert commentaries are extended to relational processes (case formulation, therapeutic relationship, collaboration and guided discovery, alliance, rupture repair, homework), change processes (cognitive reappraisal, dialectical thinking, acceptance and defusion, emotional schemas), and to important scientific advances (conceptualizing processes within techniques, data analytic advances that bridge the scientist-practitioner gap, and technology augmentation). Many of the contributions herein also include brief personal stories to help illustrate the enormity of Beck’s contributions.