BA Durham 1951; Dip Psychol Lond 1953, PhD 1956.
Beech studied psychology at the Universities of Durham and London. After four years as a research psychologist at London, he was appointed lecturer in clinical psychology in the Institute of Psychiatry, becoming senior lecturer in 1961. In 1969 he was appointed consultant psychologist at Netherne Hospital Surrey before taking on a similar role at Withington Hospital. Concurrently with this position, Beech was also a part time reader in clinical psychology in the department of psychiatry at the University of Manchester, where he was appointed to be professor in 1980.