Albert Ellis Research Paper
Running Head: Albert Ellis
Albert Ellis
Metropolitan State University
Biography Albert Ellis was born into his Jewish family on September 17, 1913 in Pittsburgh where is father was a businessman. Growing up Ellis classified his parents as emotionally distant and barely showed mediocre affection to their children. His mother he describes as self-absorbed with a bi-polar affect, his father was mostly away on business. As a child Ellis suffered numerous health problems and hospitalized several time between the ages of seven and eight. During this time his parents provided little to no support, rarely visiting. Ellis was the eldest of three and took on the responsibility of caring for two younger siblings by purchasing his own alarm clock …show more content…
to wake on his own and dress them. Ellis first obtained a degree in business from the City University of New York and had a brief career in business followed by one as a writer. This is where he discovered his talent for non-fiction writing and began to write about the field of human sexuality, which is the field he developed expertise in. Due to the few experts in this field Ellis was sought out for advice which led him to a change his career towards clinical psychology. In 1943, while pursuing his Ph.D. at Columbia University, Ellis started a part time private practice as there was no psychological licensing at the time. Upon completing of hit Ph.D. Ellis sought additional training in Psychoanalysis and began working with Richard Hulbeck who was a leading training analyst at the Karen Horney Institute. Ellis’ psychological models were influenced by the writings of Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm, Harry Stack Sullivan and most of all Karen Horney. As his knowledge and experience grew in psychoanalysis he began to question its efficacy and scientific foundation and published articles commenting on the need for scientific support. While continuing his part-time practice Ellis also worked full time as a psychologist for the state of New Jersey and became chief psychologist of the state in 1950. As his recognition grew as an advocate for sexual freedom he was refused many teaching positions due to his ‘controversial’ sex based writings. He defended publishers of sex materials, gays, and other alleged s0065 offenders in court which game him the distinction of the first prominent psychiatrist to advocate gay liberation. Although trying to modify his techniques Ellis was primarily still using Psychoanalysis. Through Ellis’ practice he noted that essentially all people labeled as neurotic had the tendency to inititiate irrational and stringent thinking. He also observed that theoretically an intelligent person will act in ways that appear self-defeating and absurb and even though they are fully aware of the irrational behaviors they adamantly continue to maintain them despite the continued despair. This observation by Ellis went hand in hand with his reading on stoic philosophers who believed that destructive emotions were the result of errors in judgment and that a sage of person of “moral intellectual perfection” would not undergo such emotions. This meant that extreme, neurotic emotions are due to the individual’s perception of the situations not the situation itself. In 1953 Ellis officially broke from psychoanalysis and began calling himself a rational therapist and by 1955 he named his new approach Rational-Emotive Therapy which required therapists to help clients understand and actively change their self-defeating beliefs and behaviors by highlighting their irrationality. He began teaching his new technique to other therapists which led to formally setting the first cognitive behavioral psychotherapy by suggesting therapists help change client’s behavioral methods, however at that time behavioral and clinical psychology was the dominant interest in experimental psychology so Ellis was accepted with hostility at professional conferences and through print. Despite this slow adjustment Ellis founded his own institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy in 1959 which broke ground for an institute that was purely based on psychological control and principles. Early in Ellis’ career he was married twice, one of which ended in an annulment and the other after three years. He had numerous relationships that never provided him with children however it did benefit him with the necessary experience for the books and articles he wrote on human sexuality. His longest relationship began when he was in his 50’s with Janet Wolfe who was an intern at the Albert Ellis Institute, she later rose to become the Executive Director. Ellis’ last relationship was with Debbie Joffee, an Australian Psychologist who had come to the United States specifically to study at the Albert Ellis Institute. Their relationship culminated in marriage in 2004 and lasted until his death in 2007.
Rational-Emotive Behavioral Therapy Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy was born in 1955 as Rational Therapy.
Six years later Ellis revised the name of this new psychotherapy in order to accurately reflect the theory it is based on. Now with a new name, Rational Emotive Therapy continued to look at inaccurate cognitive perceptions, emotions, and maladaptive behavior. It took Ellis another thirty four years to add the word ‘behavioral’ to the name, now entitle Rational-Emotive Behavioral Therapy. Even with a number of changes to the name Ellis stated in an article that he would have changed the name to Cognitive Emotive Therapy, which would be a more concise name for the theories underlying premise (Why RET to REBT 1999). This change was never made due to the close relationship to Cognitive Therapy (Beck, 1976) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Meichenbaum, 1977). Ellis felt that autonomy must remain between these similar psychotherapies. These three styles of cognitive psychotherapy were founded on the premise that irrational thinking creates dysfunctional feelings. These feelings result in the eventual maladaptive behaviors and the individual begins to suffer from self-inflicted negative consequences. This paper will refer to Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) as the same as Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) and Rational Therapy …show more content…
(RT). To find the beginning of Rational Emotive Therapy, it is imperative to once again digress to his Ellis’ early childhood. He developed a fondness for books on philosophy, and psychology. These topics became the root of his “cognitive-philosophical approach” towards his therapeutic treatments (Ellis, 4). Applying philosophical debates and cognitive reorganization to behavioral therapy, RET lead the way for a unique style of treatment. Today, Ellis’ RET continues to mature and develop with the addition of multiple behavioral techniques, which help leads the way to successful cognitive behavioral therapy. The formula Ellis used as the framework for his theory is the A.B.C. model. ‘A’ represents the antecedent. Examples would include a fight with your spouse or significant other, a car cutting you off, death in the family, or simply waking up with a headache. ‘B’ represent perceptions, attitudes and feelings in regards to ‘A’. ‘C’ represents the emotional and behavioral response that ‘B’ has about ‘A’. People strive to be happy, but not necessarily in a hedonist way. We are drawn to positive friends and family, we strive to gain the ability to be self-supporting through employment, and education and enjoy our free time. The goal of Rational Emotive Therapy is to help the patient change the way they think about a situation. Ellis has defined specific ways the patient may have faulty thinking. This can be represented by the three musts. The first: I ‘must’ do well to be accepted. We strive to win the approval of others in order to validate who we are. Many, however, fall short of meeting this expectation. The second: ‘everyone must treat me the way I want him or her to treat me’. The third: ‘I want what I want when I want it’. Often when the individual’s entitlement expectations are not met, there is an emotional and behavior acting out. RET challenges the rigidness and demanding way we think. We are forced to re-evaluate our beliefs about the world. The therapist encourages the individual to ask why, this allows the patient to begin disputing their own belief systems. The act of challenging the three musts is the first step towards rearranging a perception that is irrational. Ellis’ contention is that we all have our moments of irrational thinking which creates distress in our lives. Those of us who are prone to more flexible and rational thoughts are actively working to reduce the rigidness in our thinking and therefore diminish the effects our behaviors and feelings have on us and the world around us. This is a possibility for those who understand Ellis’ three insights. The first insight is the idea that it is our ability to have the understanding, it is our inflexible belief system that creates the disorder, not the world around us. The second premise is that the continuation and unwillingness to let go of these faulty perceptions and beliefs cause us to continue to feel distressed. The third is that we need to develop a pattern of healthy thinking with hard work and patiently waiting for change. Rational Emotive Therapy can teach us acceptance for ourselves, and others around us. Ellis’ theory incorporates acceptance including: unconditional other-acceptance, unconditional self-acceptance, and unconditional life acceptance. Each of these models has core beliefs associated with them. Unconditional self-acceptance’s beliefs are as follows: I am human I will make mistakes, I have positive and negative attributes, and there is no reason why I have to be perfect and I am no better or worthy than anyone else despite the fact that I am not perfect. Unconditional other acceptance’s beliefs are as follows: you will be treated unfairly, those who do are no more worthy of a human being as you, there is no reason why someone would treat you fairly. Unconditional life acceptance’s beliefs are as follows: life has its vicissitudes, it will not always turn out the way I would like it to and there is no reason why things ought to go my way all the time. The conception of truth can be subjective in nature and is in opposition to rigid views (Dryden et al, 197). This view is the underpinning of the theory that states the need for flexible thinking to reduce distress, and that truth, morals and values differ within cultures. This has a unique position on human nature, which allows humans to make choices for themselves. It presents with clarity a distinct model for behavior, emotions, and cognitive aspects of human existence, much like the ABC model. Ridged and inflexible thinking is the center for psychological distress and poor health. It has clear and different definitions for dysfunctional negative emotions and functional negative emotions. RET espouses on human worth and advocates unconditional self-acceptance. Irrational beliefs are a cognitive consequence for highly distorted thinking. While there are many differences between ego, distress and physical health, it is important to also acknowledge the interactions these have. It can be suggested that the biological component for human irrationality outweighs the social learning component. The power of choice often brings about therapeutic change. This is a well defined position on what is good mental health (flexibility). Based on the working alliance theory Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy is not curative (Dryden, 198), This tells us REBT must be based on agreed upon goals, and strategies to achieve the set goals. A therapeutic relationship must be developed. The need to approach the understanding of the clients issues with flexibility is imperative for effective treatment. It is important to note that it is not necessary to develop these formulations before any clinical interventions can take place. The process can take place simply through the course of the therapeutic relationship. This is a theory can be taught to clients who in turn can practice these learned techniques without the need of mental health professional. Rational Emotive Therapy has developed a hierarchy of needs which is addressed in a specific order. Disturbance, dissatisfaction and development are the needs (Dryden et al, 2008). RET’s immediate focus is the disturbance or irrational belief. This focus is not to dispute these irrational beliefs, it is to encourage the development of rational beliefs. RET as well as other CBT theories use a tested direct approach when disputing belief. RET alone uses logical debate, as well as blending many different therapeutic styles. RET is to be worked through quickly in order to reinforce the clients low frustration tolerance. The change that happens with quickly moving encourages the client to put forth the effort needed to accomplish the task at hand. This may require the therapist to be somewhat forceful yet not to damage or threaten the therapeutic relationship. When it is feasible for the client should be taught the philosophies of REBT. Help for the client in changing their irrational beliefs into rational beliefs should be given whenever needed. Therapists must be willing to compromise with the client when they are unable or unwilling to change their irrational beliefs. RET therapists are to focus misconceptions, misgivings, uncertainties, and objections of RET. This theory is flexible enough for a broad use of different techniques, with the ultimate goal of therapeutic effectiveness in the shortest amount of time. Albert Ellis’ most notable contribution to cognitive/ behavioral theory to personalities is rational emotive behavioral therapy also known as R.E.B.T. In 1955, Albert Ellis through his life experience planted the seed, which has grown into a widely accepted form of psychotherapy. Through nurture, he cultivated his beliefs about human behavior, referred to as Cognitive behavioral Therapy (C.B.T.). There are however other contributions, one that has challenged the traditional Unitarian view of distress. Ellis et al believes that distress has a duality to its nature, with its emphasis is on subjective understanding, communication, and empathy. (1). Ellis viewed this theory of distress within the framework of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This theory which breaks down into functional and dysfunctional negative feelings with the underlying premise behind, whether the distress is functional or dysfunctional lies within an individual’s subjective irrational or rational belief system and the enactment of those feelings. Dysfunctional feelings are defined, “subjective negative experiences” and irrational beliefs which presents as maladaptive behavior, whereas functional negative emotions, are derived from “subjective negative experiences” which are filtered through a rational belief system with the outcome being appropriate behavioral responses.
Criticisms of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Albert Ellis drew many criticisms in his psychological and psychiatric establishment because of his critical views of Freud and Psychoanalysis. Freudians were focused on childhood experiences as a source of a clients pain, but Ellis believed that a focus on the events that were presently occurring in the clients life to take immediate action to change their behavior. Criticisms of REBT have made the argument that it is too harsh and standard and fails to address deep underlying problems. However supporters of REBT and careful studies have shown that it is philosophically deep, individualized and driven by humanistic interest by collaboratively working with the client on their basic point of reference. Their concern is for the welfare of the client and to help them directly acknowledge their irrationalities by utilizing an integrated method of cognitive, emotive-experiential, and behavior interventions.
Another criticism of REBT is the argument that reason and logic are subjective characteristics, however the explanation by participants of REBT is that objections are raised to irrational choices and a conclusion is reached through collaborative efforts with the client. According to Burger a frequent criticism of this cognitive approach is the lack of agreement on clear practical and usable definitions to be able to study the influence on behavior and that the concepts sometimes are too abstract for observational research (Burger, 2008). It is also argued that introducing the use of schemas or possible selves is unnecessary and inhibits the understanding of personality (Burger, 2008). Along with the lack of a single model to organize and guide theory and research it is said that REBT does not define how various cognitive structures relate to one another or to other aspects of informational processing such as memory (Burger, 2008). The disputing strategy puts the responsibility on clients to prove what they are thinking is correct, but often times there is no actual evidence which is why the beliefs are irrational, instead the clients can be asked to provide more examples that justify their beliefs or thoughts to show their irrationalities. The last criticism of REBT is it’s limited usefulness when dealing with severely emotionally disturbed populations and with individuals that possess limited capability of reasoning.
Despite the criticisms of REBT it is still widely practiced and used in therapy to work with clients and identify their irrational reasoning and replace the irrationalities with rational ones.
Lasting Legacy
Not only does Albert Ellis leave behind the legacy of REBT and having earned the title father of cognitive therapy he also leaves behind the role he placed in the SMART recovery program.
This program was invented in the 1980s as a reaction to only having one 12 step program as a means to recover from addiction. SMART recovery incorporated a combination of REBT and ideas to cope with cravings. Ellis is credited as the foundation in which SMART recovery was developed as it is based on the cognitive-behavioral treatment of addiction as severe addictive behavior is an excellent example of irrationality. Ellis supported the program by reviewing the books and allowed the SMART recovery training to be held at his NYC facility. (Horvath T, Marlatt A,
2006).
Albert Ellis has been voted one of the most influential therapists of the last 100 years and has authored over 80 books, 800 academic papers and a part of over 12 divisions of the American Psychological Association (Thorburn, 2009). He is also known for his “talking cure” to take action of our thoughts or beliefs to stop complaining to get on with our lives. He strongly believed in his therapy and practiced it himself and worked to change what he disliked and unconditionally accepted others. He lived his life free of anxiety, anger and depression with the help of his own techniques.
Albert Ellis
Metropolitan State University
Biography Albert Ellis was born into his Jewish family on September 17, 1913 in Pittsburgh where is father was a businessman. Growing up Ellis classified his parents as emotionally distant and barely showed mediocre affection to their children. His mother he describes as self-absorbed with a bi-polar affect, his father was mostly away on business. As a child Ellis suffered numerous health problems and hospitalized several time between the ages of seven and eight. During this time his parents provided little to no support, rarely visiting. Ellis was the eldest of three and took on the responsibility of caring for two younger siblings by purchasing his own alarm clock …show more content…
to wake on his own and dress them. Ellis first obtained a degree in business from the City University of New York and had a brief career in business followed by one as a writer. This is where he discovered his talent for non-fiction writing and began to write about the field of human sexuality, which is the field he developed expertise in. Due to the few experts in this field Ellis was sought out for advice which led him to a change his career towards clinical psychology. In 1943, while pursuing his Ph.D. at Columbia University, Ellis started a part time private practice as there was no psychological licensing at the time. Upon completing of hit Ph.D. Ellis sought additional training in Psychoanalysis and began working with Richard Hulbeck who was a leading training analyst at the Karen Horney Institute. Ellis’ psychological models were influenced by the writings of Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm, Harry Stack Sullivan and most of all Karen Horney. As his knowledge and experience grew in psychoanalysis he began to question its efficacy and scientific foundation and published articles commenting on the need for scientific support. While continuing his part-time practice Ellis also worked full time as a psychologist for the state of New Jersey and became chief psychologist of the state in 1950. As his recognition grew as an advocate for sexual freedom he was refused many teaching positions due to his ‘controversial’ sex based writings. He defended publishers of sex materials, gays, and other alleged s0065 offenders in court which game him the distinction of the first prominent psychiatrist to advocate gay liberation. Although trying to modify his techniques Ellis was primarily still using Psychoanalysis. Through Ellis’ practice he noted that essentially all people labeled as neurotic had the tendency to inititiate irrational and stringent thinking. He also observed that theoretically an intelligent person will act in ways that appear self-defeating and absurb and even though they are fully aware of the irrational behaviors they adamantly continue to maintain them despite the continued despair. This observation by Ellis went hand in hand with his reading on stoic philosophers who believed that destructive emotions were the result of errors in judgment and that a sage of person of “moral intellectual perfection” would not undergo such emotions. This meant that extreme, neurotic emotions are due to the individual’s perception of the situations not the situation itself. In 1953 Ellis officially broke from psychoanalysis and began calling himself a rational therapist and by 1955 he named his new approach Rational-Emotive Therapy which required therapists to help clients understand and actively change their self-defeating beliefs and behaviors by highlighting their irrationality. He began teaching his new technique to other therapists which led to formally setting the first cognitive behavioral psychotherapy by suggesting therapists help change client’s behavioral methods, however at that time behavioral and clinical psychology was the dominant interest in experimental psychology so Ellis was accepted with hostility at professional conferences and through print. Despite this slow adjustment Ellis founded his own institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy in 1959 which broke ground for an institute that was purely based on psychological control and principles. Early in Ellis’ career he was married twice, one of which ended in an annulment and the other after three years. He had numerous relationships that never provided him with children however it did benefit him with the necessary experience for the books and articles he wrote on human sexuality. His longest relationship began when he was in his 50’s with Janet Wolfe who was an intern at the Albert Ellis Institute, she later rose to become the Executive Director. Ellis’ last relationship was with Debbie Joffee, an Australian Psychologist who had come to the United States specifically to study at the Albert Ellis Institute. Their relationship culminated in marriage in 2004 and lasted until his death in 2007.
Rational-Emotive Behavioral Therapy Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy was born in 1955 as Rational Therapy.
Six years later Ellis revised the name of this new psychotherapy in order to accurately reflect the theory it is based on. Now with a new name, Rational Emotive Therapy continued to look at inaccurate cognitive perceptions, emotions, and maladaptive behavior. It took Ellis another thirty four years to add the word ‘behavioral’ to the name, now entitle Rational-Emotive Behavioral Therapy. Even with a number of changes to the name Ellis stated in an article that he would have changed the name to Cognitive Emotive Therapy, which would be a more concise name for the theories underlying premise (Why RET to REBT 1999). This change was never made due to the close relationship to Cognitive Therapy (Beck, 1976) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Meichenbaum, 1977). Ellis felt that autonomy must remain between these similar psychotherapies. These three styles of cognitive psychotherapy were founded on the premise that irrational thinking creates dysfunctional feelings. These feelings result in the eventual maladaptive behaviors and the individual begins to suffer from self-inflicted negative consequences. This paper will refer to Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) as the same as Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) and Rational Therapy …show more content…
(RT). To find the beginning of Rational Emotive Therapy, it is imperative to once again digress to his Ellis’ early childhood. He developed a fondness for books on philosophy, and psychology. These topics became the root of his “cognitive-philosophical approach” towards his therapeutic treatments (Ellis, 4). Applying philosophical debates and cognitive reorganization to behavioral therapy, RET lead the way for a unique style of treatment. Today, Ellis’ RET continues to mature and develop with the addition of multiple behavioral techniques, which help leads the way to successful cognitive behavioral therapy. The formula Ellis used as the framework for his theory is the A.B.C. model. ‘A’ represents the antecedent. Examples would include a fight with your spouse or significant other, a car cutting you off, death in the family, or simply waking up with a headache. ‘B’ represent perceptions, attitudes and feelings in regards to ‘A’. ‘C’ represents the emotional and behavioral response that ‘B’ has about ‘A’. People strive to be happy, but not necessarily in a hedonist way. We are drawn to positive friends and family, we strive to gain the ability to be self-supporting through employment, and education and enjoy our free time. The goal of Rational Emotive Therapy is to help the patient change the way they think about a situation. Ellis has defined specific ways the patient may have faulty thinking. This can be represented by the three musts. The first: I ‘must’ do well to be accepted. We strive to win the approval of others in order to validate who we are. Many, however, fall short of meeting this expectation. The second: ‘everyone must treat me the way I want him or her to treat me’. The third: ‘I want what I want when I want it’. Often when the individual’s entitlement expectations are not met, there is an emotional and behavior acting out. RET challenges the rigidness and demanding way we think. We are forced to re-evaluate our beliefs about the world. The therapist encourages the individual to ask why, this allows the patient to begin disputing their own belief systems. The act of challenging the three musts is the first step towards rearranging a perception that is irrational. Ellis’ contention is that we all have our moments of irrational thinking which creates distress in our lives. Those of us who are prone to more flexible and rational thoughts are actively working to reduce the rigidness in our thinking and therefore diminish the effects our behaviors and feelings have on us and the world around us. This is a possibility for those who understand Ellis’ three insights. The first insight is the idea that it is our ability to have the understanding, it is our inflexible belief system that creates the disorder, not the world around us. The second premise is that the continuation and unwillingness to let go of these faulty perceptions and beliefs cause us to continue to feel distressed. The third is that we need to develop a pattern of healthy thinking with hard work and patiently waiting for change. Rational Emotive Therapy can teach us acceptance for ourselves, and others around us. Ellis’ theory incorporates acceptance including: unconditional other-acceptance, unconditional self-acceptance, and unconditional life acceptance. Each of these models has core beliefs associated with them. Unconditional self-acceptance’s beliefs are as follows: I am human I will make mistakes, I have positive and negative attributes, and there is no reason why I have to be perfect and I am no better or worthy than anyone else despite the fact that I am not perfect. Unconditional other acceptance’s beliefs are as follows: you will be treated unfairly, those who do are no more worthy of a human being as you, there is no reason why someone would treat you fairly. Unconditional life acceptance’s beliefs are as follows: life has its vicissitudes, it will not always turn out the way I would like it to and there is no reason why things ought to go my way all the time. The conception of truth can be subjective in nature and is in opposition to rigid views (Dryden et al, 197). This view is the underpinning of the theory that states the need for flexible thinking to reduce distress, and that truth, morals and values differ within cultures. This has a unique position on human nature, which allows humans to make choices for themselves. It presents with clarity a distinct model for behavior, emotions, and cognitive aspects of human existence, much like the ABC model. Ridged and inflexible thinking is the center for psychological distress and poor health. It has clear and different definitions for dysfunctional negative emotions and functional negative emotions. RET espouses on human worth and advocates unconditional self-acceptance. Irrational beliefs are a cognitive consequence for highly distorted thinking. While there are many differences between ego, distress and physical health, it is important to also acknowledge the interactions these have. It can be suggested that the biological component for human irrationality outweighs the social learning component. The power of choice often brings about therapeutic change. This is a well defined position on what is good mental health (flexibility). Based on the working alliance theory Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy is not curative (Dryden, 198), This tells us REBT must be based on agreed upon goals, and strategies to achieve the set goals. A therapeutic relationship must be developed. The need to approach the understanding of the clients issues with flexibility is imperative for effective treatment. It is important to note that it is not necessary to develop these formulations before any clinical interventions can take place. The process can take place simply through the course of the therapeutic relationship. This is a theory can be taught to clients who in turn can practice these learned techniques without the need of mental health professional. Rational Emotive Therapy has developed a hierarchy of needs which is addressed in a specific order. Disturbance, dissatisfaction and development are the needs (Dryden et al, 2008). RET’s immediate focus is the disturbance or irrational belief. This focus is not to dispute these irrational beliefs, it is to encourage the development of rational beliefs. RET as well as other CBT theories use a tested direct approach when disputing belief. RET alone uses logical debate, as well as blending many different therapeutic styles. RET is to be worked through quickly in order to reinforce the clients low frustration tolerance. The change that happens with quickly moving encourages the client to put forth the effort needed to accomplish the task at hand. This may require the therapist to be somewhat forceful yet not to damage or threaten the therapeutic relationship. When it is feasible for the client should be taught the philosophies of REBT. Help for the client in changing their irrational beliefs into rational beliefs should be given whenever needed. Therapists must be willing to compromise with the client when they are unable or unwilling to change their irrational beliefs. RET therapists are to focus misconceptions, misgivings, uncertainties, and objections of RET. This theory is flexible enough for a broad use of different techniques, with the ultimate goal of therapeutic effectiveness in the shortest amount of time. Albert Ellis’ most notable contribution to cognitive/ behavioral theory to personalities is rational emotive behavioral therapy also known as R.E.B.T. In 1955, Albert Ellis through his life experience planted the seed, which has grown into a widely accepted form of psychotherapy. Through nurture, he cultivated his beliefs about human behavior, referred to as Cognitive behavioral Therapy (C.B.T.). There are however other contributions, one that has challenged the traditional Unitarian view of distress. Ellis et al believes that distress has a duality to its nature, with its emphasis is on subjective understanding, communication, and empathy. (1). Ellis viewed this theory of distress within the framework of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This theory which breaks down into functional and dysfunctional negative feelings with the underlying premise behind, whether the distress is functional or dysfunctional lies within an individual’s subjective irrational or rational belief system and the enactment of those feelings. Dysfunctional feelings are defined, “subjective negative experiences” and irrational beliefs which presents as maladaptive behavior, whereas functional negative emotions, are derived from “subjective negative experiences” which are filtered through a rational belief system with the outcome being appropriate behavioral responses.
Criticisms of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Albert Ellis drew many criticisms in his psychological and psychiatric establishment because of his critical views of Freud and Psychoanalysis. Freudians were focused on childhood experiences as a source of a clients pain, but Ellis believed that a focus on the events that were presently occurring in the clients life to take immediate action to change their behavior. Criticisms of REBT have made the argument that it is too harsh and standard and fails to address deep underlying problems. However supporters of REBT and careful studies have shown that it is philosophically deep, individualized and driven by humanistic interest by collaboratively working with the client on their basic point of reference. Their concern is for the welfare of the client and to help them directly acknowledge their irrationalities by utilizing an integrated method of cognitive, emotive-experiential, and behavior interventions.
Another criticism of REBT is the argument that reason and logic are subjective characteristics, however the explanation by participants of REBT is that objections are raised to irrational choices and a conclusion is reached through collaborative efforts with the client. According to Burger a frequent criticism of this cognitive approach is the lack of agreement on clear practical and usable definitions to be able to study the influence on behavior and that the concepts sometimes are too abstract for observational research (Burger, 2008). It is also argued that introducing the use of schemas or possible selves is unnecessary and inhibits the understanding of personality (Burger, 2008). Along with the lack of a single model to organize and guide theory and research it is said that REBT does not define how various cognitive structures relate to one another or to other aspects of informational processing such as memory (Burger, 2008). The disputing strategy puts the responsibility on clients to prove what they are thinking is correct, but often times there is no actual evidence which is why the beliefs are irrational, instead the clients can be asked to provide more examples that justify their beliefs or thoughts to show their irrationalities. The last criticism of REBT is it’s limited usefulness when dealing with severely emotionally disturbed populations and with individuals that possess limited capability of reasoning.
Despite the criticisms of REBT it is still widely practiced and used in therapy to work with clients and identify their irrational reasoning and replace the irrationalities with rational ones.
Lasting Legacy
Not only does Albert Ellis leave behind the legacy of REBT and having earned the title father of cognitive therapy he also leaves behind the role he placed in the SMART recovery program.
This program was invented in the 1980s as a reaction to only having one 12 step program as a means to recover from addiction. SMART recovery incorporated a combination of REBT and ideas to cope with cravings. Ellis is credited as the foundation in which SMART recovery was developed as it is based on the cognitive-behavioral treatment of addiction as severe addictive behavior is an excellent example of irrationality. Ellis supported the program by reviewing the books and allowed the SMART recovery training to be held at his NYC facility. (Horvath T, Marlatt A,
2006).
Albert Ellis has been voted one of the most influential therapists of the last 100 years and has authored over 80 books, 800 academic papers and a part of over 12 divisions of the American Psychological Association (Thorburn, 2009). He is also known for his “talking cure” to take action of our thoughts or beliefs to stop complaining to get on with our lives. He strongly believed in his therapy and practiced it himself and worked to change what he disliked and unconditionally accepted others. He lived his life free of anxiety, anger and depression with the help of his own techniques.