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Raymond A. Digiuseppe, Kristene A. Doyle, Windy Dryden, Wouter Backx: A

Practitioner’s Guide to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

Article  in  Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy · June 2014

DOI: 10.1007/s10942-014-0188-1

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J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther (2014) 32:181–182
DOI 10.1007/s10942-014-0188-1

Raymond A. Digiuseppe, Kristene A. Doyle, Windy

Dryden, Wouter Backx: A Practitioner’s Guide
to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
3rd Edition, Oxford University Press, New York

Walter J. Matweychuk

Published online: 3 April 2014

Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

The third edition of A Practitioner’s Guide to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy is

a five part guide to contemporary theory and practice of this distinct and pioneering
form of cognitive behavior therapy. Part one provides a historical overview of Ellis,
his theory and the philosophy, which spawns this action-oriented therapy. Part two
covers general therapeutic strategies starting with the ABC model, introducing the
REBT view of the relationship between beliefs and disturbance, and identifying
target problems and goals of therapy. Part three focuses on clinical assessment skills
especially the required strategies for assessing dysfunctional beliefs that map to the
client’s functional problems and therapy goals. Part four is devoted to the art of
disputing. The final section part five covers the important topic of homework
assignments in REBT and expanding the focus of therapy in order to facilitate
maximal clinical impact before discontinuing formal therapy.

Purpose

The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive resource for developing

skill in practicing Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. A secondary purpose is to
draw distinctions between REBT and other popular cognitive behavioral therapies
which historically followed REBT in their conception and development. Finally, the
guide serves to identify fruitful areas of research which young clinical investigators
could pursue to enhance the practice of REBT and CBT in general.

W. J. Matweychuk (&)
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
e-mail: walterma@mail.med.upenn.edu

123
182 W. J. Matweychuk

Audience

There are a number of suitable audiences for this book. The first is those who have
some clinical interest in REBT and who wish to get a solid grounding in the
necessary skills to do REBT therapy. The second audience is those clinicians who
have been practicing cognitive behavior therapy and wish to better appreciate how
REBT has distinct ways of addressing common clinical problems. The final group is
those REBT therapists who desire to reflect on how REBT therapy has evolved over
the decades and evaluate whether they may improve their skills and could avoid
self-defeating clinical habits.

Features

This book provides a full array of clinical strategies from four seasoned REBT
practitioners. It covers cognitive, emotive, and behavioral strategies from the REBT
perspective and teaches these strategies through the use of clinical transcripts. Side
boxes sprinkled throughout provide thought provoking tips and ideas which enrich
and extend the text. The guide thoroughly outlines how to do REBT, how to think as
you do REBT, and what to do and say when confronted with difficult choice points
in REBT therapy. Part four which is titled Therapy: Getting Down to D—
Disputation, and E—the New Effective Response is a well-conceived chapter on a
difficult and essential aspect of REBT therapy. The art of REBT is in learning how
to do this complex skill in an effective and efficient way. The 120 pages devoted to
doing disputing provide a thorough roadmap for the clinician to follow. It covers the
primary styles of cognitive disputing such as the didactic, Socratic, humorous, and
metaphoric style. It clearly delineates how to use these distinct styles from a logical,
empirical, or functional perspective.

Assessment

The 3rd Edition of the Practitioner’s Guide is an exceptionally well-written volume

that shows the richness and depth of REBT therapy. It is practical and effective in
providing a single resource that can serve as a systematic guide for anyone wishing
to do Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Practitioners of other popular cognitive
behavior therapies would be well advised to read this important book in order to
better appreciate the unique strengths of the philosophy and therapy which ushered
in the now popular tradition of cognitive behavior therapy.

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