Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy REBT

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Rational Emotive Behavior TherapyREBT

• Albert Ellis

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Rational Emotive Behavior TherapyREBT

• REBTinterrelation of thought, feeling, and
  behavior
• Human thinking and emotion are not two different
  processesour thinking, emoting, and acting all
  interact together
• REBT is based on the concept that emotions and
  behaviors result from cognitive processes

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Rational Emotive Behavior TherapyREBT

• REBT seeks to help people understand that it is
  not past or present events that cause emotional
  disturbances
• It is the individuals belief system about the
  event, self, others and the world that cause such
  disturbanceswhat Ellis called irrational beliefs

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Rational Emotive Behavior TherapyREBT

• Unhealthy functioning occurs when a person places
  unrealistic and absolutist demands on self and
  othersmusturbatory thinking (e.g., I must be
  able to always get what I want I must be able
  to do everything perfectly)
• These demands often lead to feelings of unhealthy
  anger, rage, guilt, depression, anxiety or shame

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Rational Emotive Behavior TherapyREBT

• Irrational Beliefs are beliefs that are
  unrealistic, illogical, absolutist
• They arise from taking a sensible preference or
  desire and raising it to a grandiose, absolutist
  must or demand
• It is a persons irrational beliefs that lead to
  great anxiety, depression, shame, anger, guilt,
  not the event which he/she is experiencing

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Rational Emotive Behavior TherapyREBT

• People continuously reindoctrinate themselves
  with these irrational beliefs, upsetting
  themselves, making themselves feel miserable
• Because it is easy for people to make themselves
  miserable and hold on to self-defeating thoughts,
  feelings and behaviors, one can overcome such
  disturbances by vigorously disputing them

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Irrational Beliefs

• 1The idea that you must have, or that you need,
  love or approval from everyone, or from all the
  people you find significant

• It is irrational because . . .
• It is more rational to . . .

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Irrational Beliefs

• 2The idea that you must prove thoroughly
  competent, adequate, and achieving in all
  possible respects (or in one particular area) to
  consider yourself worthwhile

• It is irrational because . . .
• It is more rational to . . .

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Irrational Beliefs

• 3The idea that if something seems dangerous or
  fearsome, you must preoccupy yourself with it,
  keep dwelling on the possibility of its
  occurring, and make yourself anxious about it

• It is irrational because . . .
• It is more rational to . . .

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The A-B-Cs of Disputing Irrational Beliefs

• A. Activating Event
• B. Beliefs
• C. Consequences
• D. Disputing
• E. Effect