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What is Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy?
REBT is based on the assumption that people's problems are caused mainly by their own attitudes, beliefs, views, perceptions, and thoughts about themselves, others, and the world. Inappropriate emotions can be caused by self-defeating thoughts, while appropriate emotions result from rational thinking. By learning to alter dysfunctional beliefs and behaviours, which create upsetting emotions, individuals can improve their ability to deal with their everyday problems, and live more emotionally satisfying and productive lives. Many and varied techniques are used to modify distorted beliefs and behaviours depending on the type of problem the individual presents. Dr. Albert Ellis introduced REBT over 40 years ago. REBT is practiced by mental health workers, psychologists, counsellors, and educational professionals worldwide.
Basically, Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) is a system of psychotherapy, which shows individuals how their belief systems largely determine how they feel about and act towards events in their lives. The way we feel depends on the beliefs we hold about the specific event. To illustrate this idea, I will provide the following example:
Three people working for the same firm lose their jobs at the same time. The first person is angry because she believes she should have been promoted and not sacked; the second person is depressed because she believes that without a job she is worthless; and the third person is happy to have lost her job because she always found it boring. The important lesson to learn from this story is that although, the loss of the job contributes to the various emotional reactions, it does not cause them: how each individual perceives being made redundant is the key factor in determining these emotional reactions.
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Last Modified: 7 June 2008
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