REBT

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RATIONAL EMOTIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY (REBT)- ALBERT
ELLIS

• Mrs. Deepali Gaurav Borde
• CSSM

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Introduction Who is Albert Ellis?
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• Albert Ellis (September 27, 1913 July 24, 2007)
  was an American psychologist who in 1955
  developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
  (REBT).
• He held MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology
  from Columbia University and the American Board
  of Professional Psychology (ABPP).
• He also founded and was the President of the New
  York City-based Albert Ellis Institute for
  decades.
• He is generally considered to be one of the
  originators of the cognitive revolutionary
  paradigm shift in psychotherapy and an early
  proponent of cognitive-behavioral therapies

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REBT

• Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is a
  short-term form of psychotherapy that helps you
  identify self-defeating thoughts and feelings,
  challenge the rationality of those feelings, and
  replace them with healthier, more productive
  beliefs.
• REBT focuses mostly on the present time to help
  you understand how unhealthy thoughts and beliefs
  create emotional distress which, in turn, leads
  to unhealthy actions and behaviors that interfere
  with your current life goals.
• Once identified and understood, negative
  thoughts and actions can be changed and replaced
  with more positive and productive behavior,
  allowing you to develop more successful personal
  and professional relationships.

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Basics of REBT

• The fundamental principles of REBT are best
  understood by an appreciation of the ABC model.
  This model assumes that as individuals we disturb
  ourselves about experiences by the beliefs we
  hold.
• REBT is a self-help / self-management type of
  therapy.
• REBT is popular because it makes sense to most
  people, and they can and do use it.
• REBT is also the only cognitive-behavioral
  therapy that encourages people to examine their
  philosophy of life their goals, values, etc.

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REBT The Basic

• R Rational Most people realize that when they
  think more rationally and reasonably, their life
  goes better. So this piece makes sense to them.
• E Emotive Most people understand that their
  emotions are affected by what happens to them
  and how they think about those events.
• B Behaviour Most people accept that what they
  do (their behavior) affects how they think and
  feel.
• T Therapy but it can also mean Teaching or
  Training.

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According to Ellis, these are other common
irrational assumptions

• The idea that one should be thoroughly
  competent at everything.
• The idea that is it catastrophic when things
  are not the
• way you want them to be.
• The idea that people have no control over their
  happiness.
• The idea that you need someone stronger than
  yourself to
• be dependent on.
• The idea that your past history greatly
  influences your present life.
• The idea that there is a perfect solution to
  human problems, and its a disaster if you dont
  find it.

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• REBT can be particularly helpful for people
  living with a variety of issues, including
• depression
• anxiety
• addictive behaviors
• phobias
• overwhelming feelings of anger, guilt, or rage
• procrastination
• disordered eating habits
• aggression
• sleep problems etc..

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A-B-C Model
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A-B-C MODEL
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CONTINUE..

• A - Activating Event or objective situation
• The first column records the objective situation,
  that is, an event that ultimately leads to some
  type of high emotional response or negative
  dysfunctional thinking.
• B - Beliefs
• In the second column, the client writes down the
  negative thoughts that occurred to them.
• C - Consequence
• The third column is for the negative feelings and
  dysfunctional behaviors that ensued. The negative
  thoughts of the second column are seen as a
  connecting bridge between the situation and the
  distressing feelings. The third column C is next
  explained by describing emotions or negative
  thoughts that the client thinks are caused by A.
  This could be anger, sorrow, anxiety, etc.

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• Ellis believes that it is not the activating
  event (A) that causes negative emotional and
  behavioral consequences (C), but rather that a
  person interprets these events unrealistically
  and therefore has an irrational belief system (B)
  that helps cause the consequences (C).

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REBT Example

• IRRATIONAL BELIEF
• A You are told by your boss that he is unhappy
  with your work
• B Im a failure
• C Anxiety and depression

• RATIONAL BELIEF
• A You are told by your boss that he is unhappy
  with your work
• B I did my best
• C Disappointmented but confident that things
  will get better

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continue..

• Here, we can interpret any event (A) according to
  rational/irrational beliefs (B).
• - If our beliefs(B) are irrational, we will
  suffer greatly (an undesirable C)
• -But if our beliefs(B) are generally rational, we
  will suffer less and rebound faster (a more
  desirable C)

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Therapeutic Relationship

• Ellis believes that the best way to develop a
  therapeutic relationship is to help solve the
  clients immediate problem.
• Ellis identifies the activating events,
  irrational beliefs, and emotional and behavioural
  consequences (ABC).
• Ellis may do this for 2 or 3 sessions and then
  possibly work on longer issues.
• The relationship between client and therapist is
  important in REBT.
• With patient who are unfamiliar with REBT, the
  therapist often introduces the purpose of
  therapy.

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Role of Counsellor

• Challenge the clients to validate his/her ideas
• Use logical analysis to minimize the clients
  irrational beliefs
• Show how this ideas can be replaced with more
  irrational ideas.
• teach the client how to apply the scientific
  approach to thinking so that he/she can observed
  and minimize the irrational ideas and illogical
  deductions which foster self-destructive ways of
  feeling and behaving.

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The methods involved in REBT include

• Disputing irrational beliefs in a systematic and
  logical way.
• Changing ones language from should and musts to
  preferences.
• Using humour to reduce the exaggerated effects
  of irrational thoughts and beliefs.
• Doing cognitive homework to identify absolutistic
  beliefs behind their problem. This can include
  assignments to observe their self-fulfilling
  prophecies, reading self-help books and listening
  to tapes of earlier counselling sessions to
  critique their original self-defeating beliefs.

I MUST come across well to others or else I'm
worthless. I MUST be socially competent or else
I am no good. I MUST not make mistakes in social
situations or I am a misfit.
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This theory tells us

• 1.How we think affects how we feel.
• 2.How we feel affects how we behave.
• 3.How we behave affects how we live our lives
• 4.Change the thought Change the Consequence.
• 5.REBT therapists while acknowledging the
  clients past work in the here and now.

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