REBT is bot h a psychot herapeut ic syst em of

t heory and pract ices and a school of t hought

est ablished by Ellis. He first present ed his
Rational emotive
ideas at a conference of t he American
Psychological Associat ion in 1956[9] t hen
behavior therapy
published a seminal art icle in 1957 ent it led
"Rat ional psychot herapy and individual MeSH D011617
psychology", in which he set t he foundat ion
for what he was calling rat ional t herapy (RT)
(https://
and carefully responded t o quest ions from
Rudolf Dreikurs and ot hers about t he meshb.nl
similarit ies and differences wit h Alfred Adler's
individual psychology.[10] This was around a
m.nih.go
decade before psychiat rist Aaron Beck first
set fort h his "cognit ive t herapy", aft er Ellis had
v/record/
cont act ed him in t he mid-1960s. Ellis' own
approach was renamed Rational Emotive
ui?ui=D0
Therapy in 1959, t hen t he current t erm in
1992.[2]
11617)
Precursors of cert ain fundament al aspect s of
rat ional emot ive behavior t herapy have been
ident ified in ancient philosophical t radit ions,
[edit on Wikidata]
part icularly t o St oics[11][12] Marcus Aurelius,
Epict et us, Zeno of Cit ium, Chrysippus,
Panaet ius of Rhodes, Cicero, and Seneca, and early Asian philosophers Confucius and Gaut ama
Buddha.[13] In his first major book on rat ional t herapy, Ellis wrot e t hat t he cent ral principle of his
approach, t hat people are rarely emot ionally affect ed by ext ernal event s but rat her by t heir
t hinking about such event s, "was originally discovered and st at ed by t he ancient St oic
philosophers."[14] Ellis illust rat es t his wit h a quot e from t he Enchiridion of Epict et us: "Men are
dist urbed not by t hings, but by t he views which t hey t ake of t hem."[15] Ellis not ed t hat
Shakespeare expressed a similar t hought in Hamlet: "There's not hing good or bad but t hinking
makes it so."[16] Ellis also acknowledges early 20t h cent ury t herapist s, part icularly Paul Charles
Dubois, t hough he only read his work several years aft er developing his t herapy.[11]
Theoretical assumptions
The REBT framework posit s t hat humans have bot h innat e rat ional (meaning self-helping, socially
helping, and const ruct ive) and irrat ional (meaning self-defeat ing, socially defeat ing, and
unhelpful) t endencies and leanings. REBT claims t hat people t o a large degree consciously and
unconsciously const ruct emot ional difficult ies such as self-blame, self-pit y, clinical anger, hurt ,
guilt , shame, depression and anxiet y, and behavior t endencies like procrast inat ion,
compulsiveness, avoidance, addict ion and wit hdrawal by t he means of t heir irrat ional and self-
defeat ing t hinking, emot ing and behaving.[17]

REBT is t hen applied as an educat ional process in which t he t herapist oft en act ive-direct ively
t eaches t he client how t o ident ify irrat ional and self-defeat ing beliefs and philosophies which in
nat ure are rigid, ext reme, unrealist ic, illogical and absolut ist , and t hen t o forcefully and act ively
quest ion and disput e t hem and replace t hem wit h more rat ional and self-helping ones. By using
different cognit ive, emot ive and behavioral met hods and act ivit ies, t he client , t oget her wit h help
from t he t herapist and in homework exercises, can gain a more rat ional, self-helping and
const ruct ive rat ional way of t hinking, emot ing and behaving.

One of t he main object ives in REBT is t o show t he client t hat whenever unpleasant and
unfort unat e act ivat ing event s occur in people's lives, t hey have a choice bet ween making
t hemselves feel healt hily or, self-helpingly, sorry, disappoint ed, frust rat ed, and annoyed or making
t hemselves feel unhealt hily and self-defeat ingly horrified, t errified, panicked, depressed, self-
hat ing and self-pit ying.[18] By at t aining and ingraining a more rat ional and self-const ruct ive
philosophy of t hemselves, ot hers and t he world, people oft en are more likely t o behave and
emot e in more life-serving and adapt ive ways.

A fundament al premise of REBT is t hat humans do not get emot ionally dist urbed by unfort unat e
circumst ances, but by how t hey const ruct t heir views of t hese circumst ances t hrough t heir
language, evaluat ive beliefs, meanings and philosophies about t he world, t hemselves and
ot hers.[19] This concept has been at t ribut ed as far back as t he St oic philosopher Epict et us, who
is oft en cit ed as ut ilizing similar ideas in ant iquit y.[11][20]
A-B-C-D-E-F Model
In REBT, client s usually learn and begin t o apply t his premise by learning t he A-B-C-D-E-F model of
psychological dist urbance and change. The following let t ers represent t he following meanings in
t his model:

A Adversity
B Beliefs about adversity
C Emotional consequences
D Disputations to challenge beliefs
about adversity
E Effective new rational beliefs
F New feelings
The A-B-C model st at es t hat it is not an A, adversit y (or act ivat ing event ) t hat cause dist urbed
and dysfunct ional emot ional and behavioral Cs, consequences, but also what people B, irrat ionally
believe about t he A, adversit y. A, adversit y can be an ext ernal sit uat ion, or a t hought , a feeling or
ot her kind of int ernal event , and it can refer t o an event in t he past , present , or fut ure.[21]

The Bs, irrat ional beliefs t hat are most import ant in t he A-B-C model are t he explicit and implicit
philosophical meanings and assumpt ions about event s, personal desires, and preferences. The
Bs, beliefs t hat are most significant are highly evaluat ive and consist of int errelat ed and
int egrat ed cognit ive, emot ional and behavioral aspect s and dimensions. According t o REBT, if a
person's evaluat ive B, belief about t he A, act ivat ing event is rigid, absolut ist ic, fict ional and
dysfunct ional, t he C, t he emot ional and behavioral consequence, is likely t o be self-defeat ing and
dest ruct ive. Alt ernat ively, if a person's belief is preferent ial, flexible, and const ruct ive, t he C, t he
emot ional and behavioral consequence is likely t o be self-helping and const ruct ive.

Through REBT, by underst anding t he role of t heir mediat ing, evaluat ive and philosophically based
illogical, unrealist ic and self-defeat ing meanings, int erpret at ions and assumpt ions in dist urbance,
individuals can learn t o ident ify t hem, t hen go t o D, disput ing and quest ioning t he evidence for
t hem. At E, effect ive new philosophy, t hey can recognize and reinforce t he not ion no evidence
exist s for any psychopat hological must, ought or should and dist inguish t hem from healt hy
const ruct s, and subscribe t o more const ruct ive and self-helping philosophies.[22] This new
reasonable perspect ive leads t o F, new feelings and behaviors appropriat e t o t he A t hey are
addressing in t he exercise.

Psychological dysfunction
One of t he main pillars of REBT is t hat irrat ional and dysfunct ional ways and pat t erns of t hinking,
feeling, and behaving are cont ribut ing t o human dist urbance and emot ional and behavioral self-
defeat ism and social defeat ism. REBT generally t eaches t hat when people t urn flexible
preferences, desires and wishes int o grandiose, absolut ist ic and fat alist ic dict at es, t his t ends t o
cont ribut e t o dist urbance and upset . These dysfunct ional pat t erns are examples of cognit ive
dist ort ions.
Core beliefs that disturb humans
Albert Ellis has suggest ed t hree core beliefs or philosophies t hat humans t end t o dist urb
t hemselves t hrough:[18]

"I absolutely MUST, under "Other people with whom I relate

practically all conditions and at
all times, perform well (or
outstandingly well) and win the and at all times, treat me nicely,
approval (or complete love) of
significant others. If I fail in
these important—and sacred—
respects, that is awful and I am
a bad, incompetent, unworthy
person, who will probably
always fail and deserves to
suffer."
"The conditions under which I
or associate, absolutely MUST,
live absolutely MUST, at
under practically all conditions
practically all times, be
favorable, safe, hassle-free,
considerately and fairly.
and quickly and easily
Otherwise, it is terrible and they
enjoyable, and if they are not
are rotten, bad, unworthy people
that way it's awful and
who will always treat me badly
horrible and I can't bear it. I
and do not deserve a good life
can't ever enjoy myself at all.
and should be severely
My life is impossible and
punished for acting so
hardly worth living."
abominably to me."

Holding t his belief when

faced wit h adversit y t ends
Holding t his belief when faced t o cont ribut e t o frust rat ion
Holding t his belief when faced
wit h adversit y t ends t o and discomfort , int olerance,
wit h adversit y t ends t o
cont ribut e t o feelings of self-pit y, anger, depression,
cont ribut e t o feelings of anger,
anxiet y, panic, depression, and t o behaviors such as
rage, fury, and vindict iveness.
despair, and wort hlessness. procrast inat ion, avoidance,
addict ive behaviors and
inact ion.

Rigid demands that humans make

REBT commonly posit s t hat at t he core of irrat ional beliefs t here oft en are explicit or implicit
rigid demands and commands, and t hat ext reme derivat ives like awfulizing, low frust rat ion
t olerance, people deprecat ion and overgeneralizat ions are accompanied by t hese.[21] According
t o REBT, t he core dysfunct ional philosophies in a person's evaluat ive emot ional and behavioral
belief syst em are also very likely t o cont ribut e t o unrealist ic, arbit rary and crooked inferences
and dist ort ions in t hinking. REBT t herefore first t eaches t hat when people in an insensible and
devout way overuse absolut ist ic, dogmat ic and rigid "shoulds", "must s", and "ought s", t hey t end t o
dist urb and upset t hemselves.[23]

Over-generalization
Furt her, REBT generally posit s t hat dist urbed evaluat ions t o a large degree occur t hrough
overgeneralizat ion, wherein people exaggerat e and globalize event s or t rait s, usually unwant ed
event s or t rait s or behavior, out of cont ext , while almost always ignoring t he posit ive event s or
t rait s or behaviors. For example, awfulizing is part ly ment al magnificat ion of t he import ance of an
unwant ed sit uat ion t o a cat ast rophe or horror, elevat ing t he rat ing of somet hing from bad t o
worse t han it should be, t o beyond t ot ally bad, worse t han bad t o t he int olerable and t o a
"holocaust ". The same exaggerat ion and overgeneralizing occurs wit h human rat ing, wherein
humans come t o be arbit rarily and axiomat ically defined by t heir perceived flaws or misdeeds.
Frust rat ion int olerance t hen occurs when a person perceives somet hing t o be t oo difficult ,
painful or t edious, and by doing so exaggerat es t hese qualit ies beyond one's abilit y t o cope wit h
t hem.

Secondary disturbances
Essent ial t o REBT t heory is also t he concept of secondary dist urbances which people
somet imes const ruct on t op of t heir primary dist urbance. As Ellis emphasizes:[18]

"Because of their self-consciousness and their ability to think about

their thinking, they can very easily disturb themselves about their
 disturbances and can also disturb themselves about their ineffective
attempts to overcome their emotional disturbances."

Origins of dysfunction
Regarding cognit ive-affect ive-behavioral processes in ment al funct ioning and dysfunct ioning,
originat or Albert Ellis explains:

"REBT assumes that human thinking, emotion, and action are not
really separate or disparate processes, but that they all significantly
overlap and are rarely experienced in a pure state. Much of what we
call emotion is nothing more nor less than a certain kind—a biased,
prejudiced, or strongly evaluative kind—of thought. But emotions and
behaviors significantly influence and affect thinking, just as thinking
influences emotions and behaviors. Evaluating is a fundamental
characteristic of human organisms and seems to work in a kind of
closed circuit with a feedback mechanism: First, perception biases
response, and then response tends to bias subsequent perception. Also,
prior perceptions appear to bias subsequent perceptions, and prior
responses appear to bias subsequent responses. What we call feelings
almost always have a pronounced evaluating or appraisal
element."[18]

REBT t hen generally proposes t hat many of t hese self-defeat ing cognit ive, emot ive and
behavioral t endencies are bot h innat ely biological and indoct rinat ed early in and during life, and
furt her grow st ronger as a person cont inually revisit s, clings and act s on t hem. Ellis alludes t o
similarit ies bet ween REBT and t he general semant ics when explaining t he role of irrat ional beliefs
in self-defeat ing t endencies, cit ing Alfred Korzybski as a significant modern influence on t his
t hinking.[24]

REBT differs from ot her clinical approaches like psychoanalysis in t hat it places lit t le emphasis
on exploring t he past , but inst ead focuses on changing t he current evaluat ions and philosophical
t hinking-emot ing and behaving in relat ion t o t hemselves, ot hers and t he condit ions under which
people live.

Irrational beliefs
REBT proposes four core irrat ional beliefs;

1. Demands: The tendency to demand

success, fair treatment, and respect
(e.g., I must be treated fairly).
2. Awfulizing: The tendency to consider
adverse events as awful or terrible (e.g.,
It's awful when I am disrespected).
3. Low Frustration Tolerance (LFT): The
belief that one could not stand or
tolerate adversity (e.g., I cannot stand
being treated unfairly).
 4. Depreciation: The belief that one event
reflects the person as a whole (e.g.,
When I fail it shows that I am a complete
failure).[25]

Disturbances
REBT sees dist urbances as caused by charact erist ics of a person, rat her t han a part icular past
event ;

"Almost all (neurotic clients) have innate tendencies to take their

strong desires and preferences (which they learn and which they also
have biological predispositions to construct) and to escalate them into
unrealistic, illogical, absolutist demands and to thereby disturb
themselves when these rigid imperatives are not fulfilled."[26]

Other insights
Ot her insight s of REBT (some referring t o t he ABCDEF model above) are:

Insight 1 – People seeing and accepting the reality that their

emotional disturbances at point C are only partially caused by the
activating events or adversities at point A that precede C. Although A
contributes to C, and although disturbed Cs (such as feelings of panic
and depression) are much more likely to follow strong negative As
(such as being assaulted or raped), than they are to follow weak As
(such as being disliked by a stranger), the main or more direct cores of
extreme and dysfunctional emotional disturbances (Cs) are people's
irrational beliefs—the "absolutistic" (inflexible) "musts" and their
accompanying inferences and attributions that people strongly believe
about the activating event.

Insight 2 – No matter how, when, and why people acquire self-

defeating or irrational beliefs (i.e. beliefs that are the main cause of
their dysfunctional emotional-behavioral consequences), if they are
disturbed in the present, they tend to keep holding these irrational
beliefs and continue upsetting themselves with these thoughts. They
do so not because they held them in the past, but because they still
actively hold them in the present (often unconsciously), while
continuing to reaffirm their beliefs and act as if they are still valid. In
their minds and hearts, the troubled people still follow the core
"musturbatory" philosophies they adopted or invented long ago or
ones they recently accepted or constructed.

Insight 3 – No matter how well they have gained insights 1 and 2,

insight alone rarely enables people to undo their emotional
disturbances. They may feel better when they know, or think they
know, how they became disturbed, because insights can feel useful and
curative. But it is unlikely that people will actually get better and stay
better unless they have and apply insight 3, which is that there is
usually no way to get better and stay better except by continual work
and practice in looking for and finding one's core irrational beliefs;
actively, energetically, and scientifically disputing them; replacing
one's absolute "musts" (rigid requirements about how things should
be) with more flexible preferences; changing one's unhealthy feelings
to healthy, self-helping emotions; and firmly acting against one's
dysfunctional fears and compulsions. Only by a combined cognitive,
 emotive, and behavioral, as well as a quite persistent and forceful
attack on one's serious emotional problems, is one likely to
significantly ameliorate or remove them, and keep them removed.

Intervention
As explained, REBT is a t herapeut ic syst em of bot h t heory and pract ice; generally one of t he
goals of REBT is t o help client s see t he ways in which t hey have learned how t hey oft en
needlessly upset t hemselves, t each t hem how t o "un-upset " t hemselves and t hen how t o
empower t hemselves t o lead happier and more fulfilling lives.[19] The emphasis in t herapy is
generally t o est ablish a successful collaborat ive t herapeut ic working alliance based on t he REBT
educat ional model. Alt hough REBT t eaches t hat t he t herapist or counsellor is bet t er served by
demonst rat ing uncondit ional ot her-accept ance or uncondit ional posit ive regard, t he t herapist is
not necessarily always encouraged t o build a warm and caring relat ionship wit h t he client . The
t asks of t he t herapist or counselor include underst anding t he client 's concerns from his point of
reference and work as a facilit at or, t eacher and encourager.

In t radit ional REBT, t he client t oget her wit h t he t herapist , in a st ruct ured act ive-direct ive manner,
oft en work t hrough a set of t arget problems and est ablish a set of t herapeut ic goals. In t hese
t arget problems, sit uat ional dysfunct ional emot ions, behaviors and beliefs are assessed in
regards t o t he client 's values and goals. Aft er working t hrough t hese problems, t he client learns
t o generalize insight s t o ot her relevant sit uat ions. In many cases aft er going t hrough a client 's
different t arget problems, t he t herapist is int erest ed in examining possible core beliefs and more
deep root ed philosophical evaluat ions and schemas t hat might account for a wider array of
problemat ic emot ions and behaviors.[21] Alt hough REBT much of t he t ime is used as a brief
t herapy, in deeper and more complex problems, longer t herapy is promot ed.

In t herapy, t he first st ep oft en is t hat t he client acknowledges t he problems, accept s emot ional
responsibilit y for t hese and has willingness and det erminat ion t o change. This normally requires a
considerable amount of insight , but as originat or Albert Ellis[18] explains:

"Humans, unlike just about all the other animals on earth, create
fairly sophisticated languages which not only enable them to think
 about their feeling, their actions, and the results they get from doing
and not doing certain things, but they also are able to think about
their thinking and even think about thinking about their thinking."

Through t he t herapeut ic process, REBT employs a wide array of forceful and act ive, meaning
mult imodal and disput ing, met hodologies. Cent ral t hrough t hese met hods and t echniques is t he
int ent t o help t he client challenge, disput e and quest ion t heir dest ruct ive and self-defeat ing
cognit ions, emot ions and behaviors. The met hods and t echniques incorporat e cognit ive-
philosophic, emot ive-evocat ive-dramat ic, and behavioral met hods for disput at ion of t he client 's
irrat ional and self-defeat ing const ruct s and helps t he client come up wit h more rat ional and self-
const ruct ive ones. REBT seeks t o acknowledge t hat underst anding and insight are not enough; in
order for client s t o significant ly change, t hey need t o pinpoint t heir irrat ional and self-defeat ing
const ruct s and work forcefully and act ively at changing t hem t o more funct ional and self-
helping ones.

REBT posit s t hat t he client must work hard t o get bet t er, and in t herapy t his normally includes a
wide array of homework exercises in day-t o-day life assigned by t he t herapist . The assignment s
may for example include desensit izat ion t asks, i.e., by having t he client confront t he very t hing he
or she is afraid of. By doing so, t he client is act ively act ing against t he belief t hat oft en is
cont ribut ing significant ly t o t he dist urbance.

Anot her fact or cont ribut ing t o t he brevit y of REBT is t hat t he t herapist seeks t o empower t he
client t o help himself t hrough fut ure adversit ies. REBT only promot es t emporary solut ions if
more fundament al solut ions are not found. An ideal successful collaborat ion bet ween t he REBT
t herapist and a client result s in changes t o t he client 's philosophical way of evaluat ing himself or
herself, ot hers, and his or her life, which will likely yield effect ive result s. The client t hen moves
t oward uncondit ional self-accept ance, ot her-accept ance and life-accept ance while st riving t o
live a more self-fulfilling and happier life.

Applications and interfaces

Applicat ions and int erfaces of REBT are used wit h a broad range of clinical problems in
t radit ional psychot herapeut ic set t ings such as individual-, group- and family t herapy. It is used as
a general t reat ment for a vast number of different condit ions and psychological problems
normally associat ed wit h psychot herapy.

In addit ion, REBT is used wit h non-clinical problems and problems of living t hrough counselling,
consult at ion and coaching set t ings dealing wit h problems including relat ionships, social skills,
career changes, st ress management , assert iveness t raining, grief, problems wit h aging, money,
weight cont rol et c. More recent ly, t he report ed use of REBT in sport and exercise set t ings has
grown,[27] wit h t he efficacy of REBT demonst rat ed across a range of sport s.

REBT also has many int erfaces and applicat ions t hrough self-help resources, phone and int ernet
counseling, workshops & seminars, workplace and educat ional programmes, et c. This includes
Rat ional Emot ive Educat ion (REE) where REBT is applied in educat ion set t ings, Rat ional
Effect iveness Training in business and work-set t ings and SMART Recovery (Self Management
And Recovery Training) in support ing t hose in addict ion recovery, in addit ion t o a wide variet y of
specialized t reat ment st rat egies and applicat ions.

Efficacy
REBT and CBT in general have a subst ant ial and st rong research base t o verify and support bot h
t heir psychot herapeut ic efficiency and t heir t heoret ical underpinnings. Met a-analyses of
out come-based st udies reveal REBT t o be effect ive for t reat ing various psychopat hologies,
condit ions and problems.[18][28][29] Recent ly, REBT randomized clinical t rials have offered a
posit ive view on t he efficacy of REBT.[29]

In general REBT is arguably one of t he most invest igat ed t heories in t he field of psychot herapy
and a large amount of clinical experience and a subst ant ial body of modern psychological
research have validat ed and subst ant iat ed many of REBTs t heoret ical assumpt ions on
personalit y and psychot herapy.[30][23][31][29]

REBT may be effect ive in improving sport s performance and ment al healt h.[32][33]

Ellis himself lat er in life accept ed t hat REBT was not universally effect ive; "I hope I am also not
a devout REBTer, since I do not t hink it is an unmit igat ed cure for everyone and do accept it s
dist inct limit at ions." [34]
Limitations and critique
The clinical research on REBT has been crit icized bot h from wit hin and by ot hers. For inst ance,
originat or Albert Ellis has on occasions emphasized t he difficult y and complexit y of measuring
psychot herapeut ic effect iveness, because many st udies only t end t o measure whet her client s
merely feel bet t er aft er t herapy inst ead of t hem get t ing bet t er and st aying bet t er.[17] Ellis has
also crit icized st udies for having limit ed focus primarily t o cognit ive rest ruct uring aspect s, as
opposed t o t he combinat ion of cognit ive, emot ive and behavioral aspect s of REBT.[30] As REBT
has been subject t o crit icisms during it s exist ence, especially in it s early years, REBT t heorist s
have a long hist ory of publishing and addressing t hose concerns. It has also been argued by Ellis
and by ot her clinicians t hat REBT t heory on numerous occasions has been misunderst ood and
misconst rued bot h in research and in general.[23]

Some have crit icized REBT for being harsh, formulaic and failing t o address deep underlying
problems.[31] REBT t heorist s have argued in reply t hat a careful st udy of REBT shows t hat it is
bot h philosophically deep, humanist ic and individualized collaborat ively working on t he basis of
t he client 's point of reference.[19][31] They have furt her argued t hat REBT ut ilizes an int egrat ed
and int errelat ed met hodology of cognit ive, emot ive-experient ial and behavioral
int ervent ions.[19][30] Ot hers have quest ioned REBTs view of rat ionalit y, bot h radical
const ruct ivist s who have claimed t hat reason and logic are subject ive propert ies and t hose who
believe t hat reason can be object ively det ermined.[31] REBT t heorist s have argued in reply t hat
REBT raises object ions t o client s' irrat ional choices and conclusions as a working hypot hesis and
t hrough collaborat ive effort s demonst rat e t he irrat ionalit y on pract ical, funct ional and social
consensual grounds.[18][31] In 1998 when asked what t he main crit icism on REBT was, Albert Ellis
replied t hat it was t he claim t hat it was t oo rat ional and not dealing sufficient ly enough wit h
emot ions. He repudiat ed t he claim by saying t hat REBT on t he cont rary emphasizes t hat t hinking,
feeling, and behaving are int errelat ed and int egrat ed, and t hat it includes a vast amount of bot h
emot ional and behavioural met hods in addit ion t o cognit ive ones.[35]

Ellis has himself in very direct t erms crit icized opposing approaches such as psychoanalysis,
t ranspersonal psychology and abreact ive psychot herapies in addit ion t o on several occasions
quest ioning some of t he doct rines in cert ain religious syst ems, spirit ualism and myst icism. Many,
including REBT pract it ioners, have warned against dogmat izing and sanct ifying REBT as a
supposedly perfect psychological panacea. Prominent REBTers have promot ed t he import ance
of high qualit y and programmat ic research, including originat or Ellis, a self-proclaimed "passionat e
skept ic". He has on many occasions been open t o challenges and acknowledged errors and
inefficiencies in his approach and concurrent ly revised his t heories and pract ices.[18][31] In general,
wit h regard t o cognit ive-behavioral psychot herapies' int ervent ions, ot hers have point ed out t hat
as about 30–40% of people are st ill unresponsive t o int ervent ions, t hat REBT could be a
plat form of reinvigorat ing empirical st udies on t he effect iveness of t he cognit ive-behavioral
models of psychopat hology and human funct ioning.[23]

REBT has been developed, revised and augment ed t hrough t he years as underst anding and
knowledge of psychology and psychot herapy have progressed. This includes it s t heoret ical
concept s, pract ices and met hodology. The t eaching of scient ific t hinking, reasonableness and
un-dogmat ism has been inherent in REBT as an approach, and t hese ways of t hinking are an
inext ricable part of REBT's empirical and skept ical nat ure.

I hope I am also not a devout REBTer,

since I do not think it is an unmitigated
cure for everyone and do accept its
distinct limitations. Albert Ellis[36]

Mental wellness
As would be expect ed, REBT argues t hat ment al wellness and ment al healt h t o a large degree
result s from an adequat e amount of self-helping, flexible, logico-empirical ways of t hinking,
emot ing and behaving.[17] When a perceived undesired and st ressful act ivat ing event occurs, and
t he individual is int erpret ing, evaluat ing and react ing t o t he sit uat ion rat ionally and self-helpingly,
t hen t he result ing consequence is, according t o REBT, likely t o be more healt hy, const ruct ive and
funct ional. This does not by any means mean t hat a relat ively un-dist urbed person never
experiences negat ive feelings, but REBT does hope t o keep debilit at ing and un-healt hy emot ions
and subsequent self-defeat ing behavior t o a minimum. To do t his, REBT generally promot es a
flexible, un-dogmat ic, self-helping and efficient belief syst em and const ruct ive life philosophy
about adversit ies and human desires and preferences.

REBT clearly acknowledges t hat people, in addit ion t o dist urbing t hemselves, also are innat ely
const ruct ivist s. Because t hey largely upset t hemselves wit h t heir beliefs, emot ions and
behaviors, t hey can be helped t o, in a mult imodal manner, disput e and quest ion t hese and develop
a more workable, more self-helping set of const ruct s.

REBT generally t eaches and promot es:

That the concepts and philosophies of

life of unconditional self-acceptance,
other-acceptance, and life-acceptance
are effective philosophies of life in
achieving mental wellness and mental
health.
That human beings are inherently fallible
and imperfect and that they are better
served by accepting their and other
human beings' totality and humanity,
while at the same time they may not like
some of their behaviors and
characteristics. That they are better off
not measuring their entire self or their
"being" and give up the narrow,
grandiose and ultimately destructive
notion to give themselves any global
rating or report card. This is partly
because all humans are continually
evolving and are far too complex to
accurately rate; all humans do both self-
defeating / socially defeating and self-
helping / socially helping deeds, and
have both beneficial and un-beneficial
attributes and traits at certain times and
in certain conditions. REBT holds that
ideas and feelings about self-worth are
 largely definitional and are not
empirically confirmable or falsifiable.
That people had better accept life with
its hassles and difficulties not always in
accordance with their wants, while trying
to change what they can change and live
as elegantly as possible with what they
cannot change.

References

1. Ellis, A. (1994) Reason and Emotion in

Psychotherapy: Comprehensive Method of
Treating Human Disturbances : Revised and
Updated. New York, NY: Citadel Press
2. Ellis, Albert (1995). "Changing rational-
emotive therapy (RET) to rational emotive
behavior therapy (REBT)". Journal of
Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior
Therapy. 13 (2): 85–89.
doi:10.1007/BF02354453 (https://doi.org/
10.1007%2FBF02354453) . ISSN 0894-
9085 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0894
-9085) . S2CID 143101900 (https://api.sem
anticscholar.org/CorpusID:143101900) .
3. Ellis, A. (2004) Rational Emotive Behavior
Therapy: It Works for Me—It Can Work for
You. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
4. McMahon, J., &d Vernon, A. (2010) Albert
Ellis: Evolution of a Revolution: Selections
from the Writings of Albert Ellis, Ph.D. Fort
Lee, NJ: Barricade Books.
5. Ellis, A. (2007) All Out! An Autobiography.
Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
6. Velten, E. (2010) Under the Influence:
Reflections of Albert Ellis in the Work of
Others. Tucson, AZ: See Sharp Press
7. Velten, E. & Penn, P. E. REBT for People
With Co-occurring Problems: Albert Ellis in
the Wilds of Arizona. Sarasota, FL:
Professional Resource Press.
8. Epstein, R. (2001). "The Prince of Reason".
Psychology Today.
9. [ELLIS, A. Rational Psychotherapy. Paper
read at Amer. Psychol. Ass. Chicago,
August, 1956. Also J. gen. Psychol., in
press]
10. Rational Psychotherapy and Individual
Psychology. (http://www.all-about-psycholo
gy.com/rational-psychotherapy.html) Ellis,
Albert. 1957. Journal of Individual
Psychology 13: 38-44.
11. Robertson, D (2010). The Philosophy of
Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy: Stoicism as
Rational and Cognitive Psychotherapy (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=XsOFyJaR
5vEC) . London: Karnac. ISBN 978-1-
85575-756-1.
12. Boone, Stephanie (2017-03-03).
"Psychotherapy for Anxiety Disorders" (http
s://psychcentral.com/anxiety/psychotherap
y-for-anxiety-disorders/) . Psych Central.
Retrieved 2019-06-17.
13. Ellis, Albert, Bernard, Michael Edwin (1985).
Clinical applications of rational-emotive
therapy. New York: Plenum Press. p. 9.
ISBN 9781461324850. OCLC 567413740
(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56741374
0) .
14. Ellis, A. (1962). Reason and Emotion in
Psychotherapy (https://archive.org/details/
reasonemotioninp00elli) . New York, L.
Stuart.
15. Ellis, Albert (1997). The practice of rational
emotive behavior therapy (2nd ed.). New
York, N.Y.: Springer Publishing Company.
p. 112. ISBN 0826154719. OCLC 35223015
(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3522301
5) .
16. Ellis, Albert (1962) Reason and Emotion in
Psychotherapy. p. 54
17. Ellis, A. (2001). Feeling better, getting
better, staying better. Impact Publishers
18. Ellis, Albert (2003). Early theories and
practices of rational emotive behavior
theory and how they have been augmented
and revised during the last three decades.
Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-
Behavior Therapy, 21(3/4)
19. Ellis, Albert (2001). Overcoming Destructive
Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors: New
Directions for Rational Emotive Behavior
Therapy. Prometheus Books.
20. "Quotes for Therapy" (http://www.getselfhel
p.co.uk/epictetus.htm) .
www.getselfhelp.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April
2018.
21. Dryden W., & Neenan M. (2003). Essential
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy. Wiley.
22. Ellis, Albert. (1994). Reason and Emotion In
Psychotherapy, Revised and Updated.
Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group
23. David D. et al. (2005). A synopsis of
rational-emotive behavior therapy:
Fundamental and applied research. Journal
of rational-emotive and cognitive-behavior
therapy 2005, vol. 23
24. "REBT particularly follows Korzybski in this
respect..." Albert Ellis in The Albert Ellis
reader: A guide to well-being using rational
emotive behavior therapy, p. 306. Google
Books preview (https://books.google.com/
books?id=LorJYkPSQOwC&vq) retrieved
August 18, 2010.
25. REBT; Ellis, 1957,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
336613187_iPBI_Scoring_Sheet_-
_28_and_20_items
26. Ellis, The Road To Tolerance p26
27. Turner, Martin (2016). "Rational Emotive
Behavior Therapy (REBT), Irrational and
Rational Beliefs, and the Mental Health of
Athletes" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p
mc/articles/PMC5028385) . Frontiers in
Psychology. Frontiers Media. 07: 1423.
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01423 (https://doi.
org/10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2016.01423) .
PMC 5028385 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g
ov/pmc/articles/PMC5028385) .
PMID 27703441 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/27703441) .
28. Lyons, L. C., & Woods, P. J. (1991). The
efficacy of rational-emotive therapy: A
quantitative review of the outcome
research. Clinical Psychology Review, 11,
357–369.
29. David, Daniel; Cotet, Carmen; Matu, Silviu;
Mogoase, Cristina; Stefan, Simona (2018).
"50 years of rational-emotive and cognitive-
behavioral therapy: A systematic review
and meta-analysis" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.n
ih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5836900) .
Journal of Clinical Psychology. 74 (3): 304–
318. doi:10.1002/jclp.22514 (https://doi.or
g/10.1002%2Fjclp.22514) . PMC 5836900
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article
s/PMC5836900) . PMID 28898411 (http
s://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28898411) .
30. Colin Feltham (ed) (1997). Which
Psychotherapy?: Leading Exponents
Explain Their Differences. SAGE, 1997
31. Ellis A., Abrams M. & Abrams L. (2008).
Theories of Personality. Sage Press
32. Wood, A. G.; Barker, J. B.; Turner, M. J.;
Sheffield, D. (2018). "Examining the effects
of rational emotive behavior therapy on
performance outcomes in elite paralympic
athletes" (https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/
28213) . Scandinavian Journal of Medicine
& Science in Sports. 28 (1): 329–339.
doi:10.1111/sms.12926 (https://doi.org/1
0.1111%2Fsms.12926) . PMID 28581692
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2858169
2) . S2CID 22809279 (https://api.semantic
scholar.org/CorpusID:22809279) .
33. Turner, M. J. (2016). "Rational Emotive
Behavior Therapy (REBT), Irrational and
Rational Beliefs, and the Mental Health of
Athletes" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p
mc/articles/PMC5028385) . Frontiers in
Psychology. 7: 1423.
doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01423 (https://doi.
org/10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2016.01423) .
PMC 5028385 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g
ov/pmc/articles/PMC5028385) .
PMID 27703441 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/27703441) .
34. The Myth of Self-Esteem, 2005, p258
35. Ask Dr. Ellis Achieve (1996–2001). Albert
Ellis Institute
36. The Myth of Self-Esteem, 2005, p258
Further reading

Albert Ellis et al., A Guide to Rational

Living (3rd rev ed.); Wilshire Book
Company, 1997. ISBN 0-87980-042-9
Albert Ellis, Overcoming Destructive
Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors: New
Directions for Rational Emotive Behavior
Therapy; Prometheus Books, 2001.
ISBN 1-57392-879-8
Albert Ellis, Feeling better, getting better,
staying better; Impact Publishers, 2001.
ISBN 1-886230-35-8
Albert Ellis and Michael Abrams, PhD,
and Lidia Abrams, PhD. Theories of
Personality: Critical Perspectives, New
York: Sage Press, 7/2008 ISBN 978-1-
4129-1422-2 (This was his final work,
published posthumously).
Albert Ellis & Windy Dryden, The Practice
of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
(2nd ed.); Springer Publishing, 2007.
ISBN 978-0-8261-2216-2
Albert Ellis & Catharine MacLaren,
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: A
Therapist's Guide (2nd ed.); Impact
Publishers, 2005. ISBN 978-1-886230-
61-3
Windy Dryden & Michael Neenan, Getting
Started with REBT; Routledge, 2005.
ISBN 978-1-58391-939-2
Windy Dryden, Rational Emotive
Behaviour Therapy in a Nutshell
(Counselling in a Nutshell); Sage
Publications, 2005. ISBN 978-1-4129-
0770-5
Windy Dryden, Fundamentals of Rational
Emotive Behaviour Therapy: A Training
Manual; John Wiley & Sons, 2002.
ISBN 1-86156-347-7
Windy Dryden, Rational Emotive
Behaviour Therapy; Theoretical
Developments; Brunner-Routledge, 2003.
ISBN 1-58391-272-X
Windy Dryden et al., A Practitioner's
Guide to Rational-Emotive Therapy;
Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-
19-507169-7
Windy Dryden, Raymond Di Giuseppe &
Michael Neenan, A Primer on Rational-
Emotive Behavior Therapy (2nd ed.);
Research Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-
87822-478-4
 Stevan Lars Nielsen, W. Brad Johnson &
Albert Ellis, Counseling and
Psychotherapy With Religious Persons: A
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Approach; Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001.
ISBN 0-8058-2878-8.

External links

The Albert Ellis Institute (http://www.alb

ertellis.org)
Association for Rational Emotive
Behaviour Therapy (https://web.archive.
org/web/20170402083022/http://www.
arebt.eu/)
UK Centre for Rational Emotive
Behaviour Therapy (https://www.ukcentr
eforrebt.com/)
International Institute for the Advanced
Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied
Mental Health (https://web.archive.org/
web/20150618230345/http://www.psyc
hotherapy.ro/)
Journal of Rational-Emotive and
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (https://arc
hive.today/20130104203301/http://ww
w.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=10493
7)
Wife of Dr Albert Ellis (http://www.debbi
ejoffeellis.com/)
 REBT Information site (http://www.ellisre
bt.com)

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