Rational Emotive
Behavior Therapy
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Introduction
• Founded In the mid-1950s
Cognition Emotion behavior
• Cognitive philosophical approach
combined with in vivo desensitization
and homework assignment
• Behavior + humanistic therapy
(Corey G., 2004; Sapora Sipon, 2003)
Albert Ellis (1913-2007)
• Behavior + psychoanalytic therapy
(Posthuma B. W., 2002)
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Assumptions
IR Thinking Feeling behaving
Absolutist & Dogmatic Thinking Past Events
Shoulds, musts, oughts Unfortunate events, etc
Self-defeating thoughts
If we hope to change
1. Acknowledge that we are mainly responsible for our own disturbed
thoughts, emotions and actions
2. Look at how we are thinking, feeling and behaving when we needlessly
disturb our selves
3. Commit ourselves to the hard work that it will take to change
Corey. G, 2012
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Key Concepts
A B C
Activating event Belief Consequence
Emotional &
behavioral
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13 List of Irrational Beliefs
1. I the approval of everybody who matters to me or I will be a worthless person.
2. Other people must treat me kindly and fairly or else they are bad.
3. I must have an easy, enjoyable life or I cannot enjoy living at all.
4. All the people who matter to me must love me and approve of me or it will be
awful.
5. I must be a high achiever or I will be worthless.
6. Nobody should ever behave badly and if they do I should condemn them.
7. I mustn’t be frustrated in getting what I want and if I am it will be terrible.
8. When things are tough and I am under pressure I must be miserable and there is
nothing I can do about this.
9. When faced with the possibility of something frightening or dangerous happening
to me I must obsess about it and make frantic efforts to avoid it.
10. 10. I can avoid my responsibilities and dealing with life’s difficulties and still be
fulfilled.
11. 11. My past is the most important part of my life and it will keep on dictating how
I feel and what I do.
12. 12. Everybody and everything should be better than they are and, if they’re not,
it’s awful.
13. 13. I can be as happy as is possible by doing as little as I can and by just enjoying
myself.
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Key Concepts
A B C
Activating event Belief Consequence
Emotional &
behavioral
Origins of Emotional Disturbance: Three Main Forms of Demand
• Demand on self
• Demand on others
• Demand on life conditions
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Goals
Replace rigid demands with flexible preferences & Identify
IR & replace them with rational beliefs
• Unconditional seld-acceptance (USA) & Unconditional other
acceptance (UOA)
• Realistic VS unrealistic goals
• Self-defeating VS self enhancing goals
• Teach group members how to change dysfunctional emotions
and behaviors into healthy ones
• Provide group members with tools for reducing or eliminating
unhealthy emotions
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Roles of Group Leaders
Teaching in theoretical model, proposing methods of coping
• Helps group member to identify and challenge the IR beliefs
• Teach members how to stop the vicious circle of the self-blaming
and other-blaming process.
• Directive role in encouraging members to commit themselves to
practice what they learn in group sessions in their daily life.
• Skills: questioning, confronting, negotiating homework
assignments
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Group Process
Initial Stage
Group members are taught the
Working Stage
ABC concept and how they Group members learn to think
develop and change their realistically and avoid self-
disturbed thinking. defeating thoughts.
They learn that unfortunate They identify and challenge their
events are not what causing IR beliefs with different methods
emotional disturbances
Continuously challenge and adapt
new belief.
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Group Process
Final Stage
Group members adapt rational beliefs and extend
the practice from group to daily life.
They are actively involved in practicing new
behaviors, and are taught with more functional
methods in managing their everyday lives.
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Techniques
Cognitive Method Emotive Method Behavioral Method
1. Teaching A-B-C 1. Unconditional 1. Role-Playing
Method Acceptance
2. Homework
2. Active Disputation of 2. Rational Emotive Assignment
irrational beliefs Imagery
3. Reinforcement &
3. Teaching Coping Self- 3. Use of Humor Penalties
Statements
4. Shame-attacking 4. Skills Training
4. Psychoeducational Experience
Method
5. Cognitive Homework
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Techniques – Cognitive Method
Teaching A-B-C Model
• Group members are taught and shown ways to apply the A-B-C model to
practical problems they encounter in everyday life
Active disputation of Irrational Beliefs
• Group
I mustparticipants are taught People
perform well will give
how to check memodify
and approval
theirand
rigid and
extreme beliefs about themselves, love when
othersI am
andperfect
lie conditions.
• I Group
can stillleaders
acceptfocus
myselfonindisputing theimperfections.
spite of my rigid and extreme ideas
I don’t have of to
individuals.
do
everything perfectly well to feel worthwhile as a person.”
Teaching Coping Self-Statement
• Group members are taught how self-destructive beliefs can be countered
by sensible, rational, coping self-statements.
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Techniques – Cognitive Method
Psychoeducational Methods
• Leaders educate group members about the nature of their problem and
how treatment is likely to proceed.
• Group member are taught to become their own therapists.
Cognitive Homeworks
• A ways to apply the A-B-C theory
• REBT Self-Help Form
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
A C
B D E
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Techniques – Emotive Method
Unconditional Acceptance
• Group member often burden themselves with fears of being “discovered”
for what they are really are ad then being rejected.
• Group leader creates a group atmosphere that allows members to feel
personally accepted
Rational-Emotive Imagery
• Imagine one of the worst things where they experience disturbing feeling
and train themselves to develop healthy emotion in place of disruptive
ones.
• Within group, members can share their fears, gain emotional insight on
how such fears control much of what they do and say, and eventually
respond in different ways.
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Techniques – Emotive Method
Use of Humor – CAUTION: only when trust is build
• One of the main techniques to combat kind of exaggerated thinking that
lead people in trouble.
• It teach group member to laugh (at their self defeating beliefs)
Shame Attack Exercise
• Often use to overcome the emotion disturbance cause by feelings of
shame, guilt, anxiety and depression.
• Groups members are often encouraged to participate in risk-taking
activities as a way to challenge their fear of looking foolish.
• These exercise are aimed at increasing self acceptance and mature
responsibility
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Techniques – Behavioral Method
Role Playing
• Reverse roles or play roles in two stance
• They can become emotionally involved if they allow themselves to
role-play.
• Can result in modifying a member’s way of thinking, feeling and
behaving
Homework Assignments
• Activity-oriented homework assignments are frequently negotiated to help
group make the changes they desire.
• An effective homework are able to clarify what they are going to do, how
often they will do tasks, and in which contexts.
• In- group assignment where person is supposed to reported the results in
the group or practice in group.
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Techniques – Behavioral Method
Reinforcement and Penalties
• Member can reward themselves somethings when they complete the
homework assignment.
• A method to increases self-management
Skills Training
• Group members are encouraged to acquire personal and interpersonal
skills.
• By acquiring skills, members will fell more confident about themselves and
will experience significant changes in the way they think, feel, and behave.
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Conclusion
The different between CT and REBT
• Philosophic. REBT addresses the philosophic basis of emotional
disturbance as well as the distorted cognitions (the focus of CBT
too).
• Secondary disturbance. REBT highlights the significance of
secondary disturbance. Most CBT ignores secondary disturbance
.
• Unconditional Self Acceptance (USA). REBT presents an
elegant solution to the self-esteem problem. It teaches
unconditional self-acceptance (USA) rather than any type of self-
rating. Most CBT therapists focus on bolstering their clients’ self-
esteem by reinforcing some of their positive qualities.
(Michael R Edelstein, 2017)
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References
• Beck, A. T., & Dozois, D. J. (2011). Cognitive therapy: Current status and future
directions. Annual Review of Medicine, 62, 397–409.
• Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. (2019). Cognitive Model.
Retrieved from https://beckinstitute.org/cognitive-model/
• Bieling, P. J., McCabe, R. E., & Antony, M. M. (2006). Cognitive-Behavioral
Therapy in Groups. New York, USA: Guilford Press.
• Corey, G. (2008). Theory and Practice of Group Counseling (8th ed). California,
USA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
• Corey, G. (2016). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (10th ed).
California, USA: Brooks/Cole.
• Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2015). Counseling and
Psychotherapy Theories in Context and Practice, with Video Resource Center:
Skills, Strategies, and Techniques (2nd ed.). New Jersey, USA: Wiley & Sons.
• Wright, J. H., Brown, G. K., Thase, M. E. & Basco, M. R. (2017). Learning
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy: An Illustrated Guide (2nd ed.). Virginia, USA:
American Psychiatric Association Publishing. 21
