Therapy
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REBT is a humanistic, practical, action-oriented therapy originated by Albert Ellis in 1955. It was the first of the cognitive behavior therapies (CBTs). All of these therapies say that how we think and what we believe — our attitudes — are crucial to how we feel and how we act.
REBT emphasizes our
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ultimate responsibility for our emotions and actions;
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ability to change and grow beyond the past by focusing on the present and future;
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power to choose and construct helpful new habits as alternatives to current self-defeating patterns.
In contrast with the other CBTs, REBT
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puts more emphasis on developing a workable philosophy of life;
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focuses more on the here and now and where you’d like to go instead of where you’ve been;
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puts more emphasis on acceptance of reality as a method for coping with it, and as a method for readying yourself to change the things you can change.
REBT gives us reason for optimism in coping with problems and enhancing personal growth. One reason for REBT’s optimism is its viewpoint about the past. We cannot change the past; it is gone forever. But we can change how we let the past influence the way we are today and the way we want to be tomorrow. The more we see the past as all important, the more we may limit our growth and ability to change.
According to REBT, we keep the past alive in the form of our present beliefs and habits. REBT zeroes in on beliefs and habits harmful to us currently, whether they arose long ago or recently. It then teaches us a format for interrupting unhelpful patterns and for learning, building, and practicing more useful alternatives.
A second key reason for optimism in REBT is that it promotes personal growth and actualization through self-reliance. REBT teaches us to become less conditionable and suggestible, to consider what others think and feel, but to think largely for ourselves, and to minimize our dire needs for approval and success that may lead us into constrictive conformity.
A third reason for optimism in REBT is its philosophy of unconditional self-acceptance. REBT considers that when we esteem ourselves (that is, pat ourselves on the back), we do so only when certain conditions are met, usually achievement or approval. When we esteem ourselves, we may unknowingly feed defensive fears about growing, the tendency to get stuck blaming others and the past, and feelings of anxiety, hostility, and depression. How so? Because if we "have" worth when certain conditions are met, we will have lack of worth when conditions change or when we slip or encounter people who do better than we do.
REBT, therefore, aims to help us rid ourselves of self-rating and to replace it with unconditional self-acceptance. It shows us how to rate our actions according to how they help or hinder us in reaching our goals and realizing our values, but not to rate our worth as human beings.
