Cognitive

Behavior Therapy
Albert Ellis Aaron Beck
Introduction
Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) was the first of
the cognitive behavior
therapies, and today it continues to be a major cognitive
behavioral approach.
REBT has a great deal in common with the therapies that
are oriented toward cognition and behavior as it also
emphasizes thinking, assessing, deciding, analyzing, and
doing.
REBT’s basic hypothesis
is that our emotions are
mainly created from our
beliefs, which influence
the evaluations and
interpretations we make
and fuel
the reactions we have to
life situations.
Ellis’s reformulation of Epictetus’s dictum can be
stated as, “People disturb themselves as a result of the rigid and
extreme beliefs they hold about events more than the events
themselves.”.

REBT’s basic hypothesis is that our emotions are mainly created

from our the reactions we have to life situations.

They learn how to replace such detrimental ways of thinking

with effective and rational cognitions, and as a result they change
their emotional experience and their reactions to situations.
A large part of the therapy is seen as an educational
process. The therapist functions in many ways like
teacher, collaborating with the client on homework
assignments and introducing strategies for constructive
thinking. The client is the learner who then practices
these new skills in everyday life.
View of human nature:

• REBT is based on the assumption that human beings are

born with potential for both rational, or “straight,” thinking
and irrational, or “crooked,” thinking.
• REBT 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 has conclude that humans are self-talking, self-
evaluating, and self-sustaining.
View of emotional Disturbance:

 REBT is based on the premise that we learn irrational beliefs from

significant others during childhood and then re-create these
irrational beliefs throughout our lifetime.
 Ellis asserted that blame can be at the core of many emotional
disturbances.
 Ellis hypothesizes that we have strong tendencies to transform our
desires and preferences into dogmatic “shoulds,” “musts,”
“oughts,” demands, and commands. When we are feeling
disturbed, it is a good idea to look to our hidden dogmatic “musts”
and absolutist “shoulds.” Such demands create disruptive feelings
and dysfunctional behaviors.
1. “I must do well and be loved and approved by others.”
2. “Other people must treat me fairly, kindly, and well.”
3. “The world and my living conditions must be
comfortable, gratifying, and just, providing me with all that
I want in life.”
Therapeutic Goals
The therapist’s task is to help clients differentiate
between realistic and unrealistic goals and also between
self-defeating and life-enhancing goals.
To assist clients in the process of achieving unconditional
self-acceptance (USA), unconditional other-acceptance
(UOA), and unconditional life-acceptance (ULA).
A famous saying of Ellis (A.
Ellis & Ellis, 2011) is: “Life has
inevitable suffering as well as
pleasure. By realistically
thinking, feeling, and acting to
enjoy what you can, and
unangrily and unwhiningly
accepting painful aspects that
cannot be changed, you open
yourself to much joy”
The therapist has specific tasks, and the first step is to show clients
how they have incorporated many irrational absolute “shoulds,”
“oughts,” and “musts” into their thinking.
A second step in the therapeutic process is to demonstrate how
clients are keeping their emotional disturbances active by
continuing to think illogically and unrealistically.
The fourth step in the therapeutic process is to strongly encourage
clients to develop a rational philosophy of life so that in the future
they can avoid hurting themselves again by believing other
irrational beliefs.
 Client’s Experience in
Therapy
REBT emphasizes here and-now experiences and clients’
present ability to change the patterns of thinking and
emoting that they constructed earlier. The therapist may not
devote much time to exploring clients’ early history and
making connections between their past.
Clients are encouraged to actively work outside therapy sessions.
By carrying out behavioral homework assignments, clients
become increasingly proficient at minimizing irrational thinking
and disturbances in feeling and behaving.
Relationship Between Therapist and Client

The therapist takes the mystery out of the therapeutic process,

teaching clients about the cognitive hypothesis of disturbance
and helping clients understand how they are continuing to
sabotage themselves and what they can do to change. Insight
alone does not typically lead to psychotherapeutic change, action
is also required.
The therapist frequently acknowledges any progress clients have
made due to their own efforts. REBT practitioners accept their
clients (and themselves!) as imperfect beings who can be helped
through a variety of techniques including teaching, bibliotherapy,
and behavior modification.
Application: Therapeutic Techniques and
Procedures
The Practice of Rational Emotive Behavior
Therapy
Cognitive Methods REBT practitioners usually
incorporate a persuasive cognitive methodology in the
therapeutic process. They demonstrate to clients, often in
a quick and direct manner, what it is that they are
continuing to tell themselves.
Here are some cognitive techniques available to the therapist.

Š Disputing irrational beliefs.

Š Doing cognitive homework.
Š Changing one’s language.
Š Psychoeducational methods.
Emotive Techniques REBT practitioners use a variety of emotive
procedures, including unconditional acceptance, rational emotive
role playing, modeling,
rational emotive imagery, and shame-attacking exercises. These
emotive techniques tend to be vivid and evocative in nature, and
their purpose is to dispute clients’ irrational beliefs. These strategies
are used both during the therapy sessions and
as homework assignments in daily life. Their purpose is not simply
to provide a cathartic experience but to help clients change some of
their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Let’s look at some of these
evocative and emotive therapeutic techniques in more detail.
Š Rational emotive imagery.
Š Humor.
Š Role playing.
Š Shame-attacking exercises.
Applications of REBT as a Brief Therapy

Ellis originally developed REBT to try to make

psychotherapy more efficient than other systems of therapy.
He maintained that the best and most effective therapy
quickly teaches clients how to tackle present as well as
future problems. REBT is well suited as a brief form of
therapy, whether it is applied to individuals, groups, couples,
or families.