What are the Origins of Cognitive Therapy
Cognitive herapy was originated by Aaron Beck and, separately,
Albert Ellis. Ellis later developed Rational Emotive Behavioural
herapy, which has very similar themes and approaches to Beckâs
C . CB was later developed from these ideas.
Beck was a psychoanalyst who employed the free association
technique before realizing that his clients had another stream of
thought running parallel to it. hese were unreported and usually
self-critical and always affected the clientsâ emotions. Beck trained
his clients to report these negative automatic thoughts and from
this he developed Cognitive herapy, which believed that
cognitions, or thoughts, determined emotions and behaviour. It is
therefore, not so much the events themselves that cause
depression but the interpretation of events that lead to negative
emotional reactions and dysfunctional behaviours. he way
someone thinks about an event can cause dysfunction. Beck
(1976) believed that disordered thinking maintains emotional
disorders, such as depression. Beck later applied his theories to
anxiety and it has later been developed to treat people suffering
from many forms of mental and emotional problems e.g.
schizophrenia, eating disorders and chronic fatigue syndrome
amongst others.
