Arnold Lazarus

Arnold Allan Lazarus (27 January 1932 – 1 October 2013) was a South African-born clinical psychologist and researcher who specialized in cognitive therapy and is best known for developing multimodal therapy (MMT). A 1955 graduate of South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand, Lazarus' accomplishments include authoring the first text on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) called Behaviour Therapy and Beyond and 17 other books, over 300 clinical articles, and presidencies of psychological associations; he received numerous awards including the Distinguished Psychologist Award of the Division of Psychotherapy from the American Psychological Association, the Distinguished Service Award from the American Board of Professional Psychology, and three lifetime achievement awards. Lazarus was a leader in the self-help movement beginning in the 1970s writing books on positive mental imagery and avoiding negative thoughts. He spent time teaching at various universities in the United States including Rutgers University, Stanford University, Temple University Medical School, and Yale University, and was executive director of The Lazarus Institute, a mental health services facility focusing on CBT.

Lazarus was born in South Africa, where he spent his childhood through post secondary education. He is the son of Benjamin and Rachel Lazarus, the youngest of four children to a middle class family. After episodes of being bullied by his brother-in-law, Lazarus took up body building and boxing, leading to a life long interest in health and nutrition. Lazarus was married to Daphne for 57 years before his death. He had two children Linda and Clifford. He was a grandfather to a Linda's son, Taylor, and his son, Clifford, married his daughter-in-law, Donna.

Lazarus completed his undergraduate and graduate education at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Upon receiving his Ph.D. in 1960, he became a private practitioner in Johannesburg until 1963 when he was invited to Stanford University for a yearlong position as an assistant professor. He then returned to Johannesburg to teach at his alma mater until 1966 when he and his family returned to the United States for his position as the director of the Behavior Therapy Institute in Sausalito, California. He was a professor at Temple University Medical School from 1967-1970 and Yale University from 1970-1972 where he was director of Clinical training. Finally in 1972, Lazarus became a distinguished professor for the Graduate School of Applied Psychology at Rutgers University in New Jersey; Lazarus would remain in this position until 1999.

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