Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) is based on the assumption that behaviours and emotions arise from cognitive processes and it is possible for human beings to alter such processes to achieve different ways of feeling and behaving.
REBT was originally named ‘Rational Therapy’, after that it was named ‘Rational-Emotive Therapy’ and again in the early 1990’s to ‘Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy’. It is one of a number of ‘cognitive-behavioural’ therapies..
BASIC ASSUMPTION
Our thoughts, belief and attitudes , the way we think about events and the meanings we give to them , directly affect how we feel and behave. REBT is the more user friendly than other therapies .It teaches that even though people are determined to some …show more content…
• Irrational beliefs takes place when the activating event (A) is an unpleasant one.
• Irrational beliefs (B) can then partly cause difficult feelings and behavioral consequences (C).
In brief it is
A – Activating event (Friend did not speak while crossing me)
B – Belief system (he does not like speaking to me)
C – Consequences ( I feel depressed)
ABC assumption
Ellis believes that it is not the activating event (A) that causes positive or negative feelings, emotional and behavioral consequences (C), but rather it is the interpretation of those events and therefore have irrational belief system (B) which helps cause the consequences (C). They are the “real” cause of upsets and not what happens to them.
“Man are disturbed not by things, but by their views of …show more content…
Ego disturbance
2. Discomfort disturbance
Ego disturbance represents an upset to the self-image. It emanates from holding demands about one’s ‘self’. For example - ‘I must … do well / not fail / get approval from others, followed by negative self evaluations such as: ‘When I fail / get disapproval / etc. this proves I am no good’ and so on.
Discomfort disturbance rises from demands about others. For example - ‘People must always treat me right’
TYPES OF EVALUATIVE BELIEF
REBT proposes that there are four types of evaluative thinking that are dysfunctional for human beings:
1. Demandingness. refers to the way people hold unconditional ‘shoulds’ and ‘absolute musts’ – believing that certain things must or must not happen, and that certain conditions are absolute necessities. Demands can be directed both internally and outwardly. Three basic musts are indicated below:
a. Demands about the self
b. Demands about others
c. Demands about the world
Demandingness has been seen as the main kind of irrational thinking, with the other three types developing from it.
LEVELS OF