Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy

REBT stands for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy or Training. It is a system of psychotherapy based on an active, directive, psycho-educational process, based on the philosophy that our behaviours and emotions are largely determined, not by external events, but rather by the view we take of these events.

REBT adopts the Stoic philosophy that people are disturbed not by things, but by their view of things. This makes sense when you consider that we do not make ourselves disturbed about things until we know that they have happened.

The way we view events usually follows a familiar pattern. That’s because our opinions are stored up, waiting to be triggered by the events that take place.

These stored opinions are called beliefs and we have many of them. They enable us to make sense of the world and to make quick decisions without having to rack our brains every time we encounter a familiar situation.

Beliefs can be considered like software in a computer. A computer will perform differently when it has different software installed - even if you are pressing the same sequence of keys. It’s output is not caused by it’s input - it is caused by how the software processes the input.

According to REBT, the disturbing emotions we feel - anxiety, anger, depression etc - are largely determined by our beliefs about the situation in which we are in.

So too are our behaviours - speaking too fast, shouting, crying - these actions will follow from whatever we believe about the circumstances we are in.

The strength of the feeling we have, is related to the strength of the belief we hold. For example, a person who believes that it is preferable but not essential, for colleagues to be on time for a meeting, may only be slightly annoyed if someone is late. However, were they to believe that others absolutely must be on time and it’s intolerable if they’re not, then they are more likely to disturb themselves with feelings of unhealthy anger. REBT defines this latter type of belief as irrational. Beliefs are considered irrational when they are:

Rigid
Inconsistent with reality
Inconsistent with the principles of logic
Blocking you from achieving your goals

According to REBT if you experience self-defeating emotions or behaviours, it will be because you are holding (often without knowing it), irrational beliefs.

The good news is that we can uncover and change our beliefs if we decide to.

The goal of REBT is to do the following:

Acknowledge the link between your beliefs, emotions and behaviours
Determine whether your beliefs are rational or not
Refute irrational beliefs
Integrate more rational beliefs into your belief system so that they operate automatically.

The end result of this process is that events which were once inevitably accompanied by unwanted behaviours and emotions, no longer trigger these results.

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy was founded by Dr. Albert Ellis in the mid- 1950s. It has become an internationally recognized comprehensive, integrative, and multi-modal system of psychotherapy and is supported by training, literature and research.