Aaron T. Beck developed which form of therapy?

Aaron T. Beck developed which form of therapy?

• A. Cognitive therapy
• B. Psychoanalysis
• C. Person-centered therapy
• D. Family therapy

Answer: (A)

Beck developed a therapy that centers on how our thoughts shape emotions and behavior. He proposed that people, especially those with depression, hold negative automatic thoughts and distorted beliefs that color their experience of reality. Therapy aims to identify these thoughts, examine their accuracy, and replace them with more realistic, balanced ways of thinking. Techniques include listening for cognitive distortions, using guided questioning (often Socratic in style), keeping thought records, and assigning homework to practice new ways of interpreting events. This approach emphasizes active, short-term interventions to change thinking patterns and daily behavior, and it sits at the foundation of cognitive therapy, which later broadened into cognitive-behavioral therapy by integrating behavioral techniques. It differs from psychoanalysis, which focuses on unconscious conflicts and past experiences; from person-centered therapy, which centers on the client’s self-directed growth in a nonjudgmental therapeutic relationship; and from family therapy, which looks at interaction patterns within family systems.

Beck developed a therapy that centers on how our thoughts shape emotions and behavior. He proposed that people, especially those with depression, hold negative automatic thoughts and distorted beliefs that color their experience of reality. Therapy aims to identify these thoughts, examine their accuracy, and replace them with more realistic, balanced ways of thinking. Techniques include listening for cognitive distortions, using guided questioning (often Socratic in style), keeping thought records, and assigning homework to practice new ways of interpreting events. This approach emphasizes active, short-term interventions to change thinking patterns and daily behavior, and it sits at the foundation of cognitive therapy, which later broadened into cognitive-behavioral therapy by integrating behavioral techniques. It differs from psychoanalysis, which focuses on unconscious conflicts and past experiences; from person-centered therapy, which centers on the client’s self-directed growth in a nonjudgmental therapeutic relationship; and from family therapy, which looks at interaction patterns within family systems.