Author: Alex Thompson

Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy REBT

The therapist will ask the client to imagine the thing they fear the most actually happening. This involves questioning the validity of these beliefs, asking for evidence, and exploring alternative, more rational perspectives. REBT emphasizes personal responsibility for emotions and encourages the use of constructive language. Mantra Care aims at providing affordable, accessible, and professional health care treatment to people across the globe. One study found that REBT was particularly helpful in treating patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study found that those who received REBT had significantly lower levels of PTSD symptoms than those who did not receive REBT.

1. Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is a type of psychotherapy introduced by Albert Ellis in the 1950s.
2. Another factor contributing to the brevity of REBT is that the therapist seeks to empower the client to help himself through future adversities.
3. Together with a therapist, REBT helps patients to identify and dismantle unhealthy thought patterns and behaviors.
4. For some, disputation may feel aggressive or confrontational, and facing irrational thought patterns can be difficult, as it’s not easy to accept these beliefs as unhealthy.

REBT may be effective in reducing symptoms for people with depression or anxiety. It is important to talk to your doctor or mental health professional before you start any treatment. REBT has been developed, revised and augmented through the years as understanding and knowledge of psychology and psychotherapy have progressed. The teaching of scientific thinking, reasonableness and un-dogmatism has been inherent in REBT as an approach, and these ways of thinking are an inextricable part of REBT’s empirical and skeptical nature. Though the specific tasks used to alter irrational thought patterns vary from person to person, they often include a combination of journaling or some other form of introspective exploration, guided imagery, meditation, and/or emotional expression. From a neuroscience perspective, it can be questioned whether REBT sufficiently addresses emotional processing in the limbic system of the brain.

What are the principles of REBT?

The assignments may for example include desensitization tasks, i.e., by having the client confront the very thing he or she is afraid of. By doing so, the client is actively acting against the belief that often is contributing significantly to the disturbance. Being more open to change and willing to challenge your thoughts/behaviors means you’re likely to benefit more. The confrontational style is not intended to attack you but to question your harmful thought patterns.

The Bs, irrational beliefs that are most important in the A-B-C model are the explicit and implicit philosophical meanings and assumptions about events, personal desires, and preferences. The Bs, beliefs that are most significant are highly evaluative and consist of interrelated and integrated cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects and dimensions. According to REBT, if a person’s evaluative B, belief about the A, activating event is rigid, absolutistic, fictional and dysfunctional, the C, the emotional and behavioral consequence, is likely to be self-defeating and destructive.

Choosing the right therapist is an important decision, so be sure to take your time to find your right fit. REBT is also unique because it sometimes uses humor as a therapeutic tool to help you take things less seriously or look at things differently. REBT also has many interfaces and applications through self-help resources, phone and internet counseling, workshops & seminars, workplace and educational programmes, etc.

Read on to learn more about REBT, including its core principles and effectiveness. More recently, the reported use of REBT in sport and exercise settings has grown,[27] with the efficacy of REBT demonstrated across a range of sports. “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.” Assess the effectiveness of rebt on academic stress Among Adolescent Girls.

These mantras should reflect a shift in consciousness from negative, self-defeating views to ones that reflect rational acceptance of self, others, and the world. Ellis took a different, more philosophical, approach when developing REBT. REBT is based on the idea that certain thought processes, particularly imperative thoughts that say we “must” or “should” do something, are irrational.

Is Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Right for Me?

Once identified, understood, and adjusted to more rational thoughts, this can help people develop better relationships and approaches to situations and events. Another factor contributing to the brevity of REBT is that the therapist seeks to empower the client to help himself through future adversities. REBT only promotes temporary solutions if more fundamental solutions are not found. An ideal successful collaboration between the REBT therapist and a client results in changes to the client’s philosophical way of evaluating himself or herself, others, and his or her life, which will likely yield effective results. The client then moves toward unconditional self-acceptance, other-acceptance and life-acceptance while striving to live a more self-fulfilling and happier life. REBT posits that the client must work hard to get better, and in therapy this normally includes a wide array of homework exercises in day-to-day life assigned by the therapist.

Saul Mcleod, Ph.D., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years experience of working in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology. Some of the concepts of Rational Behavior Therapy is ABC Emotion scale, Five Rules for Healthy Thinking (5RHT), and Healthy Semantics. Another key component is Rational Self-analysis (RSA) which helps structure the patient. This is better known as being given a homework assignment that creates a routine for the patient.

From Irrational to Rational: Practical Applications

It can be used to restore and maintain athletes’ mental health, helping them learn how to change their outlook and manage their emotions. This often improves their athletic performance, though the goal of REBT in sports psychology is to care for the athlete’s mental well-being first and foremost. Because it’s focused on education and taking action, it may be effective for a variety of situations and mental health conditions. It may even lead to lasting change in those who undergo this form of therapy. REBT has also shown promise in sports psychology, where it can be used to help athletes overcome irrational beliefs that may be negatively impacting their mental health and performance. While each therapist may approach disputation differently, challenging your beliefs is part of the process.

By using different cognitive, emotive and behavioral methods and activities, the client, together with help from the therapist and in homework exercises, can gain a more rational, self-helping and constructive rational way of thinking, emoting and behaving. It’s important to speak with a licensed therapist, especially one with experience using REBT, to determine whether rational emotive behavior therapy is right for you. With your therapist, you can work through a plan of action and learn more about how REBT can help you challenge irrational thoughts and work on unconditional acceptance of yourself and the world around you. The therapist helps the client see that their irrational beliefs are not based on facts and encourages them to adopt more rational, evidence-based thinking, which can lead to healthier emotional responses and behaviors.

How REBT Can Be Used to Treat Mental Health Disorders

Alternatively, if a person’s belief is preferential, flexible, and constructive, the C, the emotional and behavioral consequence is likely to be self-helping and constructive. Research has shown that rational emotive behavior therapy is helpful for a variety of people. It has been used effectively with numerous patients, groups, and organizations. REBT is effective at reducing symptoms of alcohol use disorder, mitigating distress about school performance, and helping patients with mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. If you’re feeling depressed due to a conflict in your relationship, for example, a rational emotive behavior therapist may help you identify the activating event for your problem before encouraging you to figure out which beliefs led to your negative feelings. They would then work with you to change those beliefs and, ultimately, your emotional response to the conflict.

Still, this approach can feel aggressive if proper trust is not built between you and the therapist. Rather than the therapist being warm and supportive all the time, Ellis suggests that therapists should sometimes be blunt and honest to push people toward challenging their thoughts. The therapist will usually discourage people from using these statements as they are unhelpful and irrational. Ellis believed that humans are naturally goal-directed, but they are also self-defeating and irrational. He believed that most people are unaware that many of their thoughts about themselves are irrational and negatively affect how they behave in relationships and situations.