Early life and education
Leahy was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of James J Leahy, a salesman, and Lillian DeVita, an executive secretary. His parents separated when he was 18 months old and his mother moved Robert to New Haven, Connecticut. He was educated atCareer and research interests
Leahy became interested in Beck's Cognitive Therapy model after becoming disillusioned with the psychodynamic model which he felt lacked sufficient empirical support. Many of his clinical books have been instrumental in disseminating the cognitive therapy model in its application to the treatment of depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, jealousy, and emotion regulation. In addition, he has published widely on the application of the cognitive model to the therapeutic relationship, transference and counter-transference, resistance to change, and beliefs about emotion regulation that may underpin problematic strategies for coping with or responding to emotions in the therapeutic context. His clinical and popular audience books have been translated into 21 languages. Leahy has expanded the cognitive model with his social cognitive model of emotion which he refers to as Emotional Schema Therapy. According to this model individuals differ in their beliefs about the legitimacy of certain emotions, their duration, the ability to express emotions, the need to control emotions, how similar their emotions are to those of others and the ability to tolerate ambivalent feelings. These beliefs and the strategies connected to them are referred to as "emotional schemas". The Emotional Schema Model draws on Beck's cognitive model, the metacognitive model advanced byAwards and achievements
In 2014, Robert L. Leahy received the Aaron T. Beck Award from the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. In 2021 he received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.Organisational affiliations
He is Past President of The Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, The Academy of Cognitive Therapy, and The International Association of Cognitive Therapy. He is the former Editor of The Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy and current Associate Editor of the International Journal of Cognitive Theapy.Books
* Bipolar Disorder: A Cognitive Therapy Approach (2001) * Psychology And The Economic Mind: Cognitive Processes and Conceptualization (2002) * Psychological Treatment of Bipolar Disorder (2003) * Roadblocks in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities for Change (2003) * The Worry Cure: Seven Steps to Stop Worry from Stopping You (2005) * Contemporary Cognitive Therapy: Theory, Research, and Practice (2006) * The Therapeutic Relationship in the Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapies (2007) * Anxiety Free: Unravel Your Fears Before They Unravel You (2009) * Treatment Resistant Anxiety Disorders: Resolving Impasses to Symptom Remission (2009) * Emotion Regulation in Psychotherapy: A Practitioner's Guide (2011) * Treatment Plans and Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Disorders, 2e (2011) * Overcoming Resistance in Cognitive Therapy (2012) * Emotional Schema Therapy (2015) * Cognitive Therapy Techniques, Second Edition: A Practitioner's Guide (2017) * Science and Practice in Cognitive Therapy: Foundations, Mechanisms, and Applications (2018) * Emotional Schema Therapy: Distinctive Features (2019) * The Jealousy Cure: Learn to Trust, Overcome Possessiveness, and Save Your Relationship (2018) * Don't Believe Everything You Feel: A CBT Workbook to Identify Your Emotional Schemas and Find Freedom from Anxiety and Depression (2020) * If Only... Finding Freedom from Regret (2022)References
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