Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: It Works for Me - It Can Work for You.Albert Ellis Albert Ellis (September 27 1913 – July 24 2007) was an American psychologist who in 1955 developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. He held M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University and founded and was the president and president emeritus of the . Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is a comprehensive, active-directive, philosophically and empirically based psychotherapy which focuses on resolving cognitive, emotional and behavioral problems. : It Works for Me--It Can Work for You. Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2004. In this book, Albert Ellis, 91, founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT REBT Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy REBT Reglamento Electrotécnico de Baja Tensión (Spanish: Electrotechnical) REBT Real Estate Business Technologies LLC (Los Angeles, California) ), presents a forthright self-assessment of how he mastered his own physical and emotional challenges using the techniques of REBT. Those challenges included overcoming anxiety related to childhood hospitalizations, and coping with abysmal parental neglect parental neglect n. a crime consisting of acts or omissions of a parent (including a step-parent, adoptive parent, or someone who, in practical terms, serves in a parent's role) which endangers the health and life of a child or fails to take steps necessary to the , amatory am·a·to·ry adj. Of, relating to, or expressive of love, especially sexual love: an amatory mood; an amatory embrace. [Latin am defeats, writing failures, irritability, and anger; as well as developing a viable life philosophy. That philosophy, codified cod·i·fy tr.v. cod·i·fied, cod·i·fy·ing, cod·i·fies 1. To reduce to a code: codify laws. 2. To arrange or systematize. in the discipline of REBT, would eventually gain worldwide recognition as an effective system of psychotherapy. A key theme in this book, and in all of Ellis' work, is that when we are confronted with adversity, we can use rational or irrational approaches to solve the problem. The first choice leads to healthy consequences--healthy emotions such as sorrow, frustration, regret, or annoyance, which are reasonable reactions to difficult situations. The second choice leads to unhealthy emotions such as anxiety, depression, rage, and low self-acceptance. When we recognize irrational beliefs as such, we can employ our reason to dispute their inaccuracy in·ac·cu·ra·cy n. pl. in·ac·cu·ra·cies 1. The quality or condition of being inaccurate. 2. An instance of being inaccurate; an error. . Ellis draws on general semantics in various ways, and one technique he recommends in this regard is developing an awareness of the "is-of-identity." Ellis believes, as did the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, that people are not disturbed by things, but by the views they take of them. If those views include "catastrophizing," "musturbating," or "shoulding on oneself," we cannot achieve happiness. That state of mind, according to Ellis (and Korzybski), comes about through rational thinking--to which Ellis has devoted his whole life (the Albert Ellis Institute was formerly called the Institute for Rational Living). If you want to know more about rational thinking and how it can help you become happier and more productive, I suggest you read this book. Its insights are powerful and backed up by compelling anecdotes from Ellis' own life. EDITOR: MARTIN H. LEVINSON, PH.D. |
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