007 Albert Ellis and REBT

ALBERT ELLIS AND RATIONAL EMOTIVE BEHAVIOR THERAPY (REBT)

HISTORIC ASPECTS OF REBT

REBT was first introduced in 1955 by Albert Ellis as Rational Therapy (RT). Later it became Rational Emotive Therapy (RET; Ellis, A., 1999). It finally changed to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) because it involves not only rationality and emotions but includes behavioral change as well.

Ziegler (1999) sets forth the argument that if REBT is to survive the 21st century, a base that has a detailed theory of personality needs to be developed. The theory needs to be broad-based and capable of being empirically tested. While this is an interesting proposition, we already have many defined personality theories. I'm not sure there is much left to be said regarding personality. It will be interesting to see if Albert Ellis is able to come up with new concepts relative to personality that reflect his REBT concepts.

BASIC CONCEPTS

REBT holds that human disturbance is composed of biological and environmental factors that manifest as irrational beliefs. The client is a whole person with the ability to think, feel, and behave. All parts of the person need to be addressed in therapy, especially the interaction with the environment.

According to Ellis (1998), early childhood conditioning is composed of musturbatory philosophies (the evolutionary origin of grandiose must's), verbalizations and self-talk (such as importantizing and sacredizing), and secondary disturbances or stressors. Reframing is an important tool in revisiting these irrational thoughts during adulthood. As an adult with broadened intellectual and emotional experience, the must's and should's presented in childhood can be addressed with new perspective.

APPLICATIONS

In a study looking at the relationship between rational thinking and intelligence in children, it was found that intelligence was not a significant factor. All of the 65 third graders were able to grasp the concepts behind REBT. Further, intelligence was not a predictor of possessing rational beliefs. They made no mention of whether higher intelligence was a predictor of irrational beliefs. This would be an interesting variable to measure.

REBT has been expanded to include grief therapy. In REBT, death is viewed as a negative and traumatic event that affects the belief system and relative consequences. There is a distinction between functional and dysfunctional grief. Dysfunctional grief is operationally defined as a specific focus on and ruminating of pain. The goal of REBT grief therapy is facilitating a functional, healthier course of grief.

Both REBT and CBT have been adapted for the elderly. Since the elderly is the fastest growing segment of our population, it is good that these powerful therapies can be used with them. Often the elderly feel abandoned. This can be an irrational belief that is based on the fear of being alone. Also, letting go of some of the rigid beliefs of the must's and should's will be useful when dealing with the elderly. The world and its values have drastically changed in the last 60-80 years. REBT would be a great help in the elderly accepting the behavior of the younger generation.

APPLIED TO VARIOUS DISORDERS

REBT has been adapted for use with many psychological disorders. DiGiuseppe and Mascolo (1999) developed a treatment model for the poly-substance abuser. In this case study, a 35-year-old male with alcohol and cocaine abuse had a moderate improvement with REBT. This study should have been longitudinal. I was left with not knowing if REBT could be helpful with this case study had it been longer.

Solomon (1998) found clients that suffered from recurrent depressive episodes have a trait-like irrationality as part of their personalities. Whereas, those that have singe episodes with major depression have a trait-like vulnerability. This study is very interesting in that it discovers trait instead of just measuring behaviors. The researchers used multiple measures of irrationality and compared depressed and never depressed individuals. They suggest that those likely to have depression may have irrationally primed negative mood states. REBT should be quite successful in addressing negative moods. This is a promising finding for treatment of depression.

Gandy (1999) used REBT to assist clients with disabilities to accept and adjust to their condition. This article just discusses the new model being developed for those with disabilities becoming more quickly adjusted. There is no data offered for our review. It seems reasonable that REBT would be useful in this arena.

Cowan and Scott (1997) conducted a pilot study with clients with anxiety disorders and found REBT to be successful in modifying the irrational beliefs and anxiety. This study was small, with only 17 subjects. The pre and post measurements indicate that REBT is useful in treating anxiety.

Tafrate and Kassinove (1998) found some improvement with REBT in situational anger producing experiences for men already in anger counseling. The therapeutic relationship and rehearsal techniques are credited for the change in irrational or irrelevant self-statements. This study worked with 45 men aged 20-56 years of age who received 12 sessions of repeated anger-provoking verbal barbs while they rehearsed rational, irrational, or irrelevant self-statements. Those who practiced rational self-statements measured less angry on a questionnaire and a dynamometer frequency machine. It appears that systematic desensitization may have been working here as well as REBT. I'm not sure what they were measuring, perhaps a confound is at work.

Aeschleman and Imes (1999) found only limited success with REBT in adults with traumatic brain injury. This is reasonable, since they would have compromised cognitive abilities and REBT requires keen cognitions.

COMPARISON TO OTHER THERAPIES

In a study that encompassed 6 sessions of both Person-Centered and Rational-Emotive Therapy, judges found no difference in the client emotional involvement achieved in either therapy. This study was interesting because the sessions were conducted by Carl Rogers and Albert Ellis respectively. The judges did agree that emotional involvement is an important factor for successful therapy. If the founders could not invoke differences, it appears we are free to use the type of therapy that most closely resembles the client's world view.

A dissertation compared Alcoholic's Anonymous (AA) to REBT. Although AA has been very successful for many alcoholics, there are some that do not succeed with the program. This study looked at locus of control as a possible explanation for the known lack of success in AA. The study found that those with an internal locus of control found the REBT more conducive to success than AA. This study could be useful in determining the course of treatment for an internal locus of control client from a new perspective. Perhaps locus of control should be measured before determining a specific treatment plan.

Bishop and Fish (1999) conducted a study with 115 undergraduates using Socratic disputing, REBT, and solution-focused questioning (the miracle question). All subjects preferred the collaborative style of the solution-focused questioning to the other two types of questioning. While REBT can be confrontational, it can also be used in a more collaborative style as well. This study may need to be expanded for additional data.

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REFERENCES

Aeschleman, S.R., & Imes, C. (1999). Stress inoculation training for impulsive behaviors in adults with traumatic brain injury. Journal of Rational Emotive and Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 17(1), 51-65.

Bishop W., & Fish, J.M. (1999). Questions as interventions: Perceptions of Socratic, solution-focused, and diagnostic questioning styles. Journal of Rational Emotive and Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 17(2), 115-140.

Cowan, D., & Scott, B. (1997). Group therapy for anxiety disorders using rationale emotive behaviour therapy. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 6, 164-168.

DiGiuseppe, R., & Mascolo, J. (1999). Thinking your way clean: Rational emotive behavior therapy with a poly-substance abuser. In E.T. Dowd (Ed.); L. Rugle (Ed.), Comparative treatments of substance abuse. (pp. 127-143). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co., Inc.

Ellis, A. (1998). Early theories and practices of rational emotive behavior therapy and how they have been augmented and revised during the last three decades. Journal of Rational Emotive and Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 17(2), 69-93.

Ellis, A. (1999). Why rational-emotive therapy to rational emotive behavior therapy? Psychotherapy, 36(2), 154-159.

Gandy, G.L. (1999). Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT): A cognitive-behavioral approach to acceptance and adjustment to disability. In G.L. Gandy (Ed.); E.D. Martin, Jr. (Ed.), Counseling in the rehabilitation process: Community services for mental and physical disabilities. (pp. 234-350). Springfield, IL:Charles C. Thomas Publisher

Solomon, A. (1998). Primed irrational beliefs of formerly depressed and never depressed individuals. Dissertation Abstracts International, 58(9-B), 5141.

Tafrate, R.C., & Kassinove, H. (1998). Anger control in men: Barb exposure with rational, irrational, and irrelevant self-statements. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 12(3), 187-211.

Ziegler, D.J. (1999). The construct of personality in rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) theory. Journal of Rational Emotive and Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 17(1), 19-32.