1. Cognitive Theories: Albert Ellis & Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
PSY 708: Cognitive Assessment & Psychotherapy

2. Brief History
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) was founded by Albert Ellis in 1955
Like others, Ellis was not impressed with the effectiveness of psychoanalytic therapies
Ellis was also philosophically influenced
“People are disturbed not by things but by their view of things” (Epictetus)
“People disturb themselves by the rigid and extreme beliefs that they hold about things”

3. Brief History Ellis claims that REBT has a humanistic outlook:
Helps people maximize their individuality, freedom, self-interest, and self-control
Helps people live in an involved, committed, and selectively loving manner
*Thus, strives to facilitate individual and social interest

4. Brief History
Therapeutic approach initially called “rational psychotherapy” (mid 1950s)
Stressed the cognitive-philosophical aspects of therapy (different from psychoanalytic therapies)
Some critics stated that emotions were neglected
Later called “rational emotive therapy” (RET) (1961)
Critics argued that behaviors were neglected
Finally renamed “rational emotive behavior therapy” (REBT) (1993)

6. Theory Basics
Although the role of cognitive factors is stressed in REBT, cognitions, emotions, and behaviors are not viewed as separate psychological processes, but rather as highly interdependent and interactive processes
“ABCs” of REBT
‘A’  “Activating” event
‘B’  Beliefs the person holds about this aspect (A)
‘C’  Emotional, behavioral, and cognitive consequences (from B)
*Similar to Bandura: A (environment), B (cognitions), C (emotions and behaviors) have reciprocal influence

7. Theory Basics
Rational – that which is true, logical, and/or aids people to achieve their basic long-term goals and purposes
Irrational – that which is false, illogical, and/or hinders or obstructs people from achieving their basic long-range goals and purposes
Humans have two major biological tendencies:
Think irrationally
Ability to think about thinking and ability to exercise power to choose to work toward changing irrational thinking
*Humans are not disturbed simply by our experiences; rather, we bring our ability to disturb ourselves to our experiences

8. Theory Basics
The tendency to create and hold rigid evaluative beliefs (i.e., psychological inflexibility) about actual or inferred events lies at the heart of disturbance
These beliefs (i.e., appraisals) come in the form of dogmatic “musts,” “shoulds,” “have to’s,” and “oughts”
This type of thinking is referred to “musturbation”
This is irrational thinking because such thoughts are false, illogical, extreme, and sabotage a person’s basic goals and purposes

9. Theory Basics
There are also secondary irrational processes that result from “musts”
Awfulizing – when an event (A) is rated as being more than 100% bad and/or as the worst thing that could happen
Low frustration tolerance – believing that one cannot cope if an event that must not happen actually occurs or threatens to occur, and that if it does, one cannot experience virtually any happiness at all
Depreciation – tendency to rate oneself and others as subhuman or undeserving if they do something that they “must” not do, or fail to do something that they “must” do

10. Theory Basics
Very similar to CBT, REBT agrees that cognitive distortions are a feature of psychological disturbance
*These distortions almost always stem from the “musts”
Common Cognitive Distortions
All-or-none thinking: “If I fail at any important task, as I must not, I’m a total failure and completely un-loveable.”
Jumping to conclusions: “Since they have seen me dismally fail, as I absolutely should not have done, they will view me as an incompetent worm.”
Fortune Telling: “Because they are laughing at me for failing, they know that I absolutely should have succeeded, and they will despise me forever.”
Focusing on the negative: “Because I can’t stand things going wrong, as they must not, I can’t see any good that is happing in my life.”

11. Theory Basics Common Cognitive Distortions
Disqualifying the positive: “When they compliment me on the good things I have done, they are only being kind to me and forgetting the foolish things that I absolutely should not have done.”
Allness and neverness: “Because conditions of living ought to be good and actually are so bad and so intolerable, they’ll always be this way and I’ll never have any happiness.”
Minimization: “My accomplishments are the result of luck and are unimportant. But my mistakes, which I absolutely should never have made, are as bas as could be and are totally unforgiveable.”
Emotional reasoning: “Because I have performed so poorly, as I absolutely should not have done, I feel like a total nincompoop, and my strong feeling proves that I am no damned good.”

12. Theory Basics Common Cognitive Distortions
Labeling and overgeneralization: “Because I must not fail at important work and have done so, I am a complete loser and failure.”
Personalizing: “Since I am acting far worse than I absolutely should act and they are laughing, I am sure they are only laughing at me, and that is awful.”
Phonyism: “When I don’t do as well as I ought to do and they still praise and accept me, I am a real phony and will soon fall on my face and show them how despicable I am.”
Perfectionism: “I realize that I did fairly well, but I absolutely should have done perfectly well on a task like this, and am therefore really an incompetent.”
“Perfectionism is the root of most human evils.”

14. Therapeutic Change
“The most elegant and long-lasting changes that humans can effect are ones that involve the philosophical restructuring of irrational beliefs”
Cognitive Techniques
“Disputation” (i.e., cognitive restructuring) of irrational beliefs
(1) Identify irrational beliefs associated with self-defeating emotions and behaviors
(2) Debate the truth or falsehood and/or the usefulness or lack of usefulness or irrational beliefs
(3) Discriminate between irrational and rational beliefs

15. Therapeutic Change Cognitive Techniques
“Debating” is often conducted through Socratic questioning {Disputation cont.}
“Where is the evidence that you must do this?”
“How does it follow that because you want this you must get it?”
“Is it useful for you to think this way?”
“How does thinking like this help you?”
Time projection imagery
Help the client image what life might be like at regular intervals after the “awful” event has occurred
A more indirect approach: Clients are able to “see” that life goes on after the awful event (and can recover and move on)

16. Therapeutic Change Emotive Techniques
Humor methods are used to encourage clients to think rationally by not taking themselves too seriously
Therapist self-disclosure of similar problems
Use of stories, mottos, parables, witticisms, poems
“Rational role reversal” – clients forcefully and dramatically adopt the role of their rational self
Shame-attacking exercises
Deliberately seek to act “shamefully” in public in order to accept themselves and to tolerate the discomfort
e.g., calling out the time in a crowded department store, wearing bizarre clothes to attract public attention, going into a hardware store and asking if they sell beer
Show that nothing awful results from such experiences

17. Therapeutic Change Behavioral Techniques
Focus more on ‘in vivo’ desensitization and flooding rather than gradual desensitization
Rationale: Better symbolizes real life experiences
“Stay in there” activities – remain in an uncomfortable situation for a long period of time
Anti-procrastination exercises – push oneself to start tasks sooner than later; tolerate discomfort
Therapist use of rewards and penalties to encourage clients to take on uncomfortable assignments
E.g., burn a one-hundred dollar bill
“Fixed role therapy” – act as if already thinking rationally