RATIONAL EMOTIVE THERAPY (RET) OF Dr.

ALBERT ELLIS VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE: Rational-emotive therapy is based on the assumption that human beings are born with a potential for both rational/straight thinking, and irrational/ crooked thinking. People have predispositions for self-preservation, happiness, thinking and verbalizing, loving, communion with others, and growth and self-actualization. They also have propensities for self-destruction, avoidance of thought, procrastination, endless repetition of mistakes, superstition, intolerance, perfectionism and self-blame, and avoidance of actualizing growth potentials. Taking for granted that humans are fallible, RET attempts to help them accept themselves as creatures who will continue to make mistakes yet at the same time learn to live more at peace with themselves. Ellis (1979b) listed some of the key RET assumptions:

People condition themselves to feel disturbed, rather than being conditioned by external sources. People have the biological and cultural tendency to think crookedly and to needlessly disturb themselves. Humans are unique in that they invent disturbing beliefs and keep themselves disturbed about their disturbances. People have the capacity to change their cognitive, emotive and behavioral processes; they can choose to react differently from their usual patterns, refuse to allow themselves to become upset, and train themselves so that they can eventually remain minimally disturbed for the rest of their lives. There is no magical way for change. Basic personality change calls for hard work and constant practice. There is a strong emphasis on practice. Ellis (1984c) has concluded that humans are self-talking, self-evaluating, and self-sustaining. They develop emotional and behavioral difficulties when they take simple preferences (desires for love, approval, and success) and make the mistake of thinking of them as dire needs. Ellis also affirms that humans have inborn tendencies toward growth and actualization, yet they often sabotage their movement toward crooked thinking and also the self - defeating patterns they have learned. VIEW OF EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE: Psychopathology is originally learned by the inculcation of irrational beliefs from significant others during childhood, as well as by childrens creative inventing of irrational interpretations, dogmas and superstitions by themselves. Then we actively instill false beliefs by the processes of autosuggestion and self-repetition. Hence, it is largely our own repetition of early- indoctrinated irrational thoughts, rather than a parents repetition that keeps dysfunctional attitudes alive and operative within us. Emotions are viewed largely as the product of human thinking. When we think something is bad, we feel bad about that. Ellis (1967) maintains that emotional disturbance therefore, essentially consists of mistaken, illogical, unvalidatable sentences or meanings which the disturbed individual

dogmatically and unchallengingly believes, and upon which s/he therefore emotes or acts to her/his own defeat. RET insists that blame of others/self is the cause of most emotional disturbances. Anxiety usually stems from internal repetition of the sentence dont like my behaviour and would like to change and the self-blaming sentence because of my wrong behaviour and my mistakes, I am a rotten person and I am to be blamed and I deserve to suffer. According to Ellis, this anxiety is unnecessary. A person can be helped to see that precise, irrational sentences are false, selfblaming traps that s/he acquired. RET contends that people do not need to be accepted and loved, even though it might be desirable. The therapist teaches clients, how to feel unhurt and undepressed even when they are unaccepted and unloved by significant others. Although RET encourages people to experience sadness over being unaccepted, it attempts to help them find ways of overcoming all deep-seated manifestations of depression, hurt, loss of self-worth and hatred. Some of the main irrational ideas that we continually internalize and that inevitably lead to selfdefeat are that:

We must have love or approval from all people we find significant. We must prove to be thoroughly competent, adequate, and achieving. When people act offensively and unfairly, we should blame and damn them and see them as bad, wicked, or rotten. We have to view things as catastrophic when we are seriously frustrated, treated unfairly, or rejected.

A-

Emotional misery comes from external pressures, and we have little ability to control or change our feelings. If something seems dangerous or fearsome, we must become preoccupied with it and make ourselves anxious about it. It is easier to avoid facing lifes difficulties and responsibilities than to undertake more rewarding forms of self-discipline. Our past remains all-important and because something once strongly influenced our life, it has to keep determining our feelings today. People and things should turn out better than they do, that we must view life as awful if we do not find good solutions to lifes realities. B- C THEORY OF PERSONALITY: The basic tenet of RET is that emotional disturbances are largely the product of inappropriate or irrational thinking. The irrational quality comes from demanding that the universe should, ought to, and must be different. The client and the therapist work together to dispute the irrational beliefs that are causing negative emotional consequences. They work toward transforming an unrealistic, immature, demanding, and absolute style of thinking into a realistic, mature and logical, approach to thinking and behaving. This result is more appropriate feeling reactions to lifes situations.

The following diagram will clarify the interaction of the various components being discussed: A (activating event) consequence) B (belief) C (emotional and behavioural

D (disputing intervention)

E (effect)

The A- B- C theory of personality is central to RET theory and practice. A is the existence of a fact, an event, or the behaviour or attitude of an individual. C is the emotional and behavioral consequence, either appropriate or inappropriate. A (the activating event does not cause C (the emotional consequence). Instead, for example, if a person experiences depression after a separation, it may not be the separation itself that causes the depressive reaction but the persons beliefs about being a failure, or being rejected, for losing a mate. Ellis would maintain that the beliefs about the rejection and failure (at point B) are what mainly cause the depression (at point C) not the actual event of the separation (at point A). Thus, human beings are largely responsible for creating their own emotional reactions and disturbances. Showing people how they can change the irrational beliefs that directly cause their disturbed emotional consequences, is the heart of RET. How is an emotional disturbance fostered? It is fed by the illogical sentence that the person continually repeats to himself or herself, such as I am totally to be blamed for the separation, I am a miserable failure, and everything I did was wrong, I am a worthless person, I feel lonely and rejected, and that is a terrible catastrophe Ellis repeatedly makes the point that you feel the way you think. Disturbed emotional reactions such as depression and anxiety are initiated and perpetuated by the self-defeating belief system, which is based on irrational ideas that one has incorporated and invented. Although Ellis (1974) contends that emotional disturbances can be eliminated or modified by directly working with the feelings (depression, anxiety, hostility, fear, and so on), he adds that the quickest, most deep-seated, most elegant, and longest lasting technique of helping people to change their dysfunctional emotional responses is probably through enabling them to see clearly what they are strongly telling themselves at B, their belief system, about the stimuli that are impinging on them at A (their Activating experiences) and teaching them how actively and vigorously Dispute (At D) their irrational beliefs. After D comes E, or the effect of disputing the relinquishing of self-destructive ideologies, the acquisition of a more rational and realistic philosophy of life, and a greater acceptance of oneself, of others, and of the inevitable frustrations of everyday life. This new philosophy of life has, of course, a practical side - a concrete E, if you wish. Thus, instead of berating oneself and punishing oneself with depression over the separation, one would reach a rational and empirically based conclusion: Well, I am genuinely sorry that our marriage did not work out and that we separated. While I wish that we could have worked things out, we did not, and that is not the end of the world. Because our marriage failed does not mean that I am a failure in life, and it is foolish for me the break-up. According to RET theory, the ultimate effect is the elimination of feelings of depression and self-condemnation, leading to happiness and ones purposes in life. THE RET PRACTITIONER:

Pins clients down to a few basic irrational ideas that motivate much disturbed behaviour. Challenges clients to validate their ideas. Demonstrates to clients the illogical nature of their thinking. Uses a logical analysis to minimize clients irrational beliefs Shows how these beliefs are inoperative and how they will lead to future emotional and behaviour disturbances. Uses absurdity and humour to confront the irrationally of clients thinking. Explains how these ideas can be replaced with more rational ideas that are empirically grounded. Teaches clients how to apply the scientific approach to thinking so that they can observe and minimize present or future irrational ideas and illogical deductions that foster self-destructive ways of feeling and behaving. Uses several emotive and behavioral methods to help clients work directly on their feelings and to act against their disturbances. THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES: Cognitive Methods: RET demonstrates what it is that the clients are continuing to tell themselves to keep themselves emotionally disturbed. RET teaches how to deal with these self- statements so that they no longer believe in them. RET relies heavily on thinking, disputing, debating, challenging, interpreting, explaining and teaching. Some of the cognitive Techniques:

1.

Disputing of Irrational Beliefs: The therapist shows clients that they are disturbed because of their perceptions of these events and the nature of their self-statements. These are challenged by asking relevant questions such as, Where is the evidence for your beliefs? What is it terrible and horrible if life is not the way you want it to be? Through a series of reputations, therapists are instrumental in raising the consciousness of their clients to a more rational level. Clients go over a particular must, should, or ought to until they no longer hold the irrational belief, or at least it is diminished in strength.

2.

Cognitive Homework: The homework helps to track down the absolutistic shoulds and musts that are a part of their internalized self-messages. A person with a talent for acting but afraid to act because of fear of failure may be asked to do something in front of an audience. They are instructed to replace negative self-statements such as I will fail, I will look foolish, no one will like me with more positive messages such as I can act, I will do the best I can, I am capable; it is nice to be liked, but not everybody will like me, and that is not the end of the world. People often create a negative self-fulfilling prophecy and actually fail because they told themselves in advance that they would. Clients are encouraged to carry out specific assignments during and between the sessions. In this way they gradually learn to deal with anxiety and challenge basic irrational thinking. Changing ones language: RET contents that imprecise language is one of the causes of distorted thinking processes. Language shapes thinking and that thinking shapes language. The clients

learn that musts, oughts, and shoulds can be replaced by preferables, instead of saying, It would be absolutely awful if Instead of using language of helplessness, they can replace their shoulds and musts and assume personal power. Emotive Techniques: Even though their behaviour may be difficult to accept, they, as persons do have intrinsic worth, hence can accept unconditionally. They are taught how destructive it is to engage in putting oneself down for perceived deficiencies. By proper modelling, the therapist teaches this self-acceptance by avoiding seeking the approval of the clients and by not living by shoulds and musts.

RET SELF- HELP FORM (A) ACTIVATING EVENTS, thoughts or feelings that happened just before I felt emotionally disturbed or acted self - defeatingly: _____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _________ (C) CONSEQUENCE or CONDITION disturbed feeling or self-defeating behaviour - which I produced and would like to change _____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ ___________________
(B)

BELIEFSIRRATIONAL BELIEFS (IBS) Leading to my CONSEQUENCE (emotional) disturbance or self- defeating Behaviour) Circle all that apply

(D)

DISPUTES for each

(E)

circled IRRATIONAL BELIEF Examples: Why MUST I do very well? Where is it written that I am a BAD PERSON? Where is the evidence that I MUST BE approved or accepted?

EFFECTIVE RATIONAL BELIEFS (RBs) to replace my IRRATIONAL BELIEFS (IBs) Examples: Id PREFER to do very well But I dont HAVE TO I am a PERSON WHO acted badly, not a BAD PERSON There is no evidence that I HAVE TO be approved, though I would like to be.

1. I must do well or very well

I am a BAD OR WOR THLESS PERSON when I act weakly or stupidly. I MUST be approved or accepted by people I find important! I NEED to be loved by someone who matter to me a lot I am a BAD UNLOVABLE PERSON if I get rejected. People MUST treat me fairly and give me what I NEED
7.

People MUST live up to my Expectations or it is TERRIBLE People who act immorally are undeserving ROTTEN PEOPLE. I CANT STAND really bad things dont go may way! Its AWFUL or HORRIBLE when major things dont go may way! I CANT STAND IT when life is really unfair! 12. I NEED a good deal of immediate gratification and HAVE to feel miserable when I dont get it!

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Additional Irrational Beliefs:

(F)

FEELING and BEHAVIOURS I experienced after arriving at my EFFECTIVE RATIONAL BELIEFS: _____________________________________________________________________________ ______________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________ I WORK HARD TO REPEAT MY EFFECTIVE RATIONAL BELIEFS FORCEFULLY TO MYSELF ON MANY OCCASIONS SO THAT I CAN MAKE MYSELF LESS DISTURBED NOW AND ACT LESS SELFDEFEATINGINLY THE FUTURE ROLE-PLAY: Showing inappropriate and self-defeating re-actions and appropriate REBT responses in each case.

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Samira was to marry Santosh on 3rd January. But he comes over to tell her that he wants to break off their engagement Michael always stands 1st in Class X. However, the harder he works the more demanding his parents get for him to improve his percentage. He feels unappreciated, and very bitter about his parents pressure and unreasonable expectations. Sunday after Sunday Fr. Peter observes that the congregation is drowsy and disinterested in his sermon. He is trying his best and even now he sees how inattentive and restless they are for him to finish Your neighbors are an absolute nuisance! Even their children are outrageous - The way they dress, the awful music Intolerable nonsense! Sr. Priscilla is agitated about the attitude of her Provincial towards her even since she completed her Ph.D. The provincial passes snide remarks and constantly picks on her. She gets over anxious about what she may say next when they meet and how the Provincial will hurt her Soman is secretly in love with a girl who is in the same graduate class. But he has never spoken to her. Since last week he is increasingly upset because he can see another classmate get pally with her. Soman is getting desperate Sheilas husband is constantly complaining about her inefficiency and lack of interest in the home. He flies into a rage because the laundry is not done properly

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Motu is on a strict diet to loose weight. At work his colleague is celebrating the birth of his 1st child and when Motu refuses to eat the pedas and samosas his friend offers, he gets so annoyed he refuses to look at his face anymore. It was my 25th Wedding Anniversary celebration. I worked so hard to make it a perfect success. I saw to the decorations, the snacks and the dinner. But somehow, the biriyani was pish-pash and that spoilt my evening entirely. How could I make such a stupid mess? Its unforgivable!

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