It is with a heavy heart that we learned of the passing of our dear friend,
brilliant colleague and esteemed mentor Arthur Freeman in 19 august 2020. His role in the foundation and development of the Journal of Evidence-Based Psychotherapies, previously Journal of Cognitive and Behavioral Psychotherapies, was crucial and valued in so many ways. He served as member in the advisory editorial board of the journal right from its beginning and offered priceless support. Art was an active member in the board, participating in conference calls, attending conferences, and commissioning prominent authors to publish in the journal. He
wrote himself original papers that were published in the journal and contributed to promoting the journal for being indexed in the main international scientific data bases and growing its impact factor.
Art was one of the key founders of cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT) –
the core of evidence-based psychotherapy today –, a giant of the clinical/
psychotherapy field, fully recognized and appreciated worldwide. He has served as president of both the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies and the International Association for Cognitive Psychotherapy. He was a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Distinguished Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, and a fellow of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. In addition to more than 100 book chapters, reviews and journal articles, he has contributed to the growth of cognitive-behavioral therapy with over seventy-five professional books, including work translated from English into 20 other languages.
As a member of the International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health, in 2017 (http://iccp2017.org/) and in 2019 (http://www.rebt2019.org/), he was a main organizer and speaker at our international cognitive-behavioral therapy congresses held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. We have thus recently had the chance of sharing academic and personal time together, during the 4th International Congress of Rational Emotive and Cognitive Behavioral Therapies in 2019. He had a memorable keynote in the closure of the Congress on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: Past, Present, and Future in the CBT Community, which he ended by bringing a musical tribute to Albert Ellis. Art had a truly unique personality, with a joy of life that lightened up the room and the spirits, always providing support, telling a joke, or an anecdote at the right time. We have collaborated on several international publications and grants/projects, and, over time, Art became a part of our clinical/psychotherapy school in Cluj-Napoca, helping us to rebuild and develop it on solid, modern grounds after the communist period.
The journal, the Institute and our team owe Art a great debt of gratitude. May he rest in peace.
Oana David, Daniel David
