Wolpe, Joseph

Wolpe, Joseph (1915–  ) psychiatrist; born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He earned an M.D. at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and taught there before moving to the psychiatry faculties of the University of Virginia (1960–65) and Temple University (1965–84). His therapeutic techniques for curing phobias and anxiety and his published works, such as The Practice of Behavior Therapy (1969, later revised), provided the basis (with B. F. Skinner's work) for modern behavior therapy, which cures emotional problems by changing patients' behavior.