Arnold Lazarus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Arnold Lazarus - Essay Example Central to his work has been the phrase that started this report "Think Well-Act Well-Feel Well-Be-Well". This is his model and it is prominently displayed on his website. His contributions to the field have moved counselors into a better understanding of the "best practices" for certain disorders. Not only has he been a pioneer in the field but he has received hundreds of honors and opportunities in the past and in the world today. Lazarus was born in 1932 in Johannesburg South Africa. Not much is known about his life in South Africa but it is known that his early education started at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. While he was there he studied psychology and earn a B.A. degree. His interests lay in psychology and behavior. In 1956 he published his first paper in psychotherapy as his [perhaps] his Masters thesis entitled, "Behavior Therapy (Novel Guide, 2009). Lazarus came to America in 1963 to become a "visiting assistant professor" in psychology at Stanford University for one year. After that he went back to Witwatersrand University to lecture at their medical school for psychiatry. In 1966 he moved to America again to become the director of the Behavior Therapy Institute in Sausalito, California. He continued writing and in that year he published, Behavior Therapy Techniques with his colleague Joseph Wolpe (Novel Guide). By 1970, Lazarus became a visiting professor at Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as a behavioral science professor. In each situation he continued to focus on human behavior and psychology. Lazarus is credited with being a pioneer in the field of psychotherapy. Prior to his work most psychotherapists used a "token economy" or other behavior technique that often took a lot of time and energy for the client to find relief. Lazarus saw that behavior therapy alone was not effective in treating some