Search

The author discusses three aspects of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) that occasionally make him wince. They are: REBT does not adequately address issues relating to diversity-sensitive counseling; there is a tendency for some REBT adherents to display poor interpersonel skills, and lack a philosophical commitment to the interdependence of humans on one another; and, there is a tendency for REBT to promise more than it can deliver. A list of 15 recommendations and wishes for a “new and improved” version of REBT are included.

Many therapists who subscribe to RET are converts from other approaches. Few master’s or doctoral training programs exclusively teach RET and many do not place any emphasis on it at all. Thus, many otherwise experienced therapists are novices when it comes to integrating RET techniques into their professional repertoire of interventions. And as novices, they experience many of the doubts and obstacles in trying something new. I am such a novice. My formal training in RET consists solely of a Five Day Intensive Practicum (Weinrach, 1977) conducted by Ellis and his staff in 1976 since neither my master’s nor doctoral programs paid much attention to this approach. It has taken me 4 years to feel secure enough to call myself a Rational Therapist. My reluctance was not a philosophical one. Philosophically, I’ve been there for a long time. But I have found it difficult to integrate various RET interventions into my counseling style and feel comfortable at the same time. The discomfort I experienced is similar to what my counselor-trainees experience during their first few years after training with me and my colleagues. It takes a while for a therapist to develop an internally consistent style apart from the role models experienced while in training. Many of the obstacles that I have encountered are probably rather common and especially so for those whose training has been limited to a Five Day Intensive Practicum in RET or less. Those with more formal training have probably dealt with these and similar issues within

Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is a pioneering form of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is part of the new wave of CBTs. In this article, I discuss the papers of Ciarrochi, Robb, and Godsell, and of Ciarrochi and Robb, who propose that REBT and ACT can be quite suitably integrated, and the paper of Steven Hayes, the originator of ACT and of Relational Frame Theory, who is skeptical about the feasibility of Ciarrochi, Robb, and Godsell’s proposals. My own view is that ACT and REBT significantly overlap in their theory and practice and that they can be successfully integrated if both therapies make some changes.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) seem to have much in common. For example, they both seek to increase client’s willingness to accept inevitable, unpleasant experience. However, the techniques the therapies use to increase acceptance are often quite different. Building on the philosophical and theoretical framework presented in the previous paper, we discuss the major practical differences between ACT and REBT. We then suggest some concrete ways that the two approaches can be integrated. Such integration may greatly expand the sorts of techniques that a therapist can effectively use in the therapy room.

This article presents a new written form for eliciting session feedback from children. The importance of session feedback is discussed and the specific written form is presented. Clinical applications and advantages of the session feedback form are also reviewed. Additionally, the uses of the session feedback form in supervision are explained. Finally, cautions and limitations are outlined.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be an effective approach for a wide range of problems affecting older adults. While a variety of empirical and clinical papers have examined modifications to the content and delivery of CBT to enhance its efficacy with older adults, changes to the structure of therapy with this population have not been as widely discussed. Issues around optimizing the structure of CBT with older adults are presented, along with suggestions for realizing these changes within a clinical context.

This paper outlines the numerous ways in which clinical outcomes in REBT/CBT can be enhanced and therapeutic impasses overcome through the regular and creative use of audiotherapy as a treatment adjunct. In particular therapy dosage intensity can be enhanced significantly and homework compliance improved. Audiotherapy also has a key role to play with clients who are isolated or are unsupported in their living environments. Such clients can be encouraged to use audio-taping as “therapist-assisted interventions,” so increasing the likelihood of their initiating therapeutic tasks such as graded activity assignments and disputing cognitive distortions and dysfunctional beliefs in vivo. The paper finally recommends that audio-taping of therapy sessions has sufficient major benefits to suggest its routine incorporation into therapeutic practice.

My concerns about Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) began over a decade ago. I find its concepts lack adequate and consistent definitions, its distinctive hypotheses are not confirmed by empirical data and are untestable, and its scientific foundations fall outside mainstream psychology. Contrary to what it claims, its practice and philosophy are not consisten with the use of reason in psychotherapy. These criticisms are discussed and documented. Practitioners may not be aware of the unsubstantiated claims and theoretical assumptions inherent in REBT, and that they adopt these assumptions when practicing REBT.

This article argues that two of REBT's central hypotheses, the core and the primacy of the musts hypotheses, are untestable. One reason that these hypotheses are untestable concerns the interdependence principle that REBT maintains. This principle suggests that cognitions, emotions, and behaviour are part of an interdependent system, and as such, none of the three elements of that system can be measured separately from the others. Due to this interdependence principle, it cannot be established that cognitions are at the core of psychological disturbance and health (the core hypothesis); furthermore, the interdependence principle prevents the primacy of the musts hypothesis from being examined, as well. This hypothesis states that of the four irrational beliefs purported by REBT theory, musts are at the very core of psychological disturbance and the other three irrational beliefs are derived from these musts. Irrespective of the interdependence principle and the core hypothesis, the primacy of the musts hypothesis is also apparently untestable due to the current inability to measure musts adequately.

Incarceration results after a person cannot or will not adapt to societal rules. Inmates often hold irrational beliefs and practice self-defeating behaviors, which then lead to incarceration. By using REBT as a treatment modality, a forensic therapist can easily identify irrational thinking and teach the inmates to challenge these thoughts on both a cognitive and behavioral level.

Reasons are given for changing the name of Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET) to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and for bringing its behavioral aspects into more prominence.

To explore the potential of Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) with clients of Chinese background, a brief review is conducted with respect to parallels between RET philosophy and some key components of Chinese culture and ways in which Chinese think. Arguments are advanced as to why RET is particularly suitable for use within a Chinese cultural context. Issues involved in using RET with Chinese clients are addressed including the appreciation many Chinese have for the logical and rational aspects of RET, the most appropriate type of client-counselor relationship to facilitate RET therapeutic progress, appropriate ways to dispute, and some cautionary words on the use of “emotive methods”. Areas where the RET counselor needs to be particularly sensitive to the cultural background of the client are highlighted.

A rational-emotive-hypnotherapy (REH) treatment was administered to five bulimic females who were concurrently participating in electic group psychotherapy. A within-group time series analysis design was employed to examine subjects' binge and purge symptoms. The combined treatments produced a declining frequency in symptoms for four subjects across three phases of the study. REH was responsible for 4 out of 8 possible treatment effects and appeared to potentiate the group psychotherapy. A theoretical explanation is offered for the REH effects along with recommendations for future REH with bulimics.

The present study evaluated the efficacy of a new intervention, Guided Imaginal Coping (GIC), compared to imaginal exposure (IEX), and a waiting-list control (WLC) condition among 24 clinic outpatients meeting DSM-III-R criteria for panic disorder (PD) or PD with agoraphobia. GIC was the more consistently effective intervention, with individuals demonstrating significant improvement in frequency and severity of panic attacks (Pas) as well as significant reductions in physiological and subjective arousal to provocative imagery. Individuals in the IEX intervention demonstrated less consistent improvement on the dependent measures, while individuals in the WLC condition essentially remained unchanged. Both GIC and IEX were effective according to a composite measure of clinically significant improvement. However, only GIC was superior to the WLC condition when clinical improvement was defined as zero PAs at follow-up. These findings, while preliminary, suggest that GIC can be added to the armamentarium of effective approaches to treating PD.

Developing innovative treatment approaches for psychiatric inpatient settings is an emerging area of interest. This paper delineates the detours and circuitous paths treatment with difficult patients often takes. Differences between typical outpatient and inpatient care are described and the obstacles to cognitive therapy that inpatients present are discussed. The role of case conceptualization is emphasized as a way to promote increased effectiveness. Finally, methods for maximizing therapeutic opportunities with inpatients are suggested.

This paper gives three important grandiose demands and absolutistic musts by which therapists and supervisors of therapy commonly disturb themselves and how the author manages to make himself aware of and to surrender these demands both inside and outside of the office.